Branding

The colour scheme consists of a monochromatic palette of pastel green with varying accent shades of grey and white. The soft green evokes a pleasant calming feeling helping to harmonise the brand design. The less-saturated colours offer a soothing sensation and do not overwhelm the user, whilst still commanding a strong presence.

The logo utilises the Alpaca Scarlett font, giving the letter 'Y' a centralised position. This unlocks the opportunity to explore aspects of the typography in order to accommodate a graphic logo. The logo itself drew inspiration from its context, an application that focuses on social drinking naturally accommodates a logo that envisages the ‘Y’ as a cocktail glass. The bubble elements within the glass are proportioned according to the golden ratio.

Screenshots

The initial screen within the application is the feed, here the user is immediately presented with the live deals within their immediate vicinity. Each entry displays key definitive information including: Offer information, venue category, venue name, distance, activity status, and venue imagery.

Once the user selects an offer on the feed screen, they are presented with the details screen. Here users can view extended offer details, contact the venue through various media outlets and also navigate to the venue through guided map directions.

The core features for each page can be accessed in the header bar. Other less commonly used features can be accessed via the menu icon. This reveals a simplistic monochromatic array of headings paired with icons.

The favourites screen contains a user’s ‘favourite’ venues. This allows users to accumulate their own list of venues specific to their preferences. Venues can be 'favourited' by pressing the heart icon on their listing.

The map screen indicates the status of venue deals through map pin aesthetics. In conjunction with this the user’s location and orientation are also displayed to give the user an indication of proximity.

The search screen allows the user to search for specific venues and offers through keyword search. To further filter the search results the user can select a venue category.

Graphical User Interface

The contact bar is shown at the bottom of the venue details page and gives the user numerous methods of interacting with the venue. The buttons are graphically indicitive of their purpose, relating to 'Facebook', 'Twitter', 'Email', 'Website', 'Phone' and 'Error Reporting' respectively. Functions that require external applications prompt the user before progressing, this is especially useful when dealing with user error.

Aesthetically, the buttons respond to other elements within the application due to their rounded shape. A softened pastel theme has also been applied to visually connect the buttons to the branding and colour scheme of the application. In conjunction with this a visual link between the Happyhour branding and the respective external linked brandings has been retained by incorporating releant icons and colour matching.

The cells within the application relate to an individual venue, each of the entries are assigned venue information, offer information, and a time of operation. The status of the offer is indicated through the cell aesthetics:

• A venue with inactive offers will display a small faded cell.

• A venue with inactive offers that will start within 30 minutes will display a small opaque cell with a countdown until activation.

• A venue with active offers will display an expanded opaque cell, a full sized image of the venue and text that depicts the offer expiration time.

• A venue with active offers that will expire within 30 minutes will display an expanded opaque cell, a full sized image of the venue and red bold text that depicts the time that the offers are valid until, signifying urgency and need for action.

The loading indicator echoes resemblance of the aesthetic style of the native iOS operating system. This is an intentional design decision to give the user familiarity in a unified design approach across the platform.

The loading animation utilises the application logo and colour scheme to display a satisfying, continious loop of the bubble elements rising and bursting within the glass.

Marketing