Introduction
For my design degree capstone project, I created a social cataloging platform for SNL sketches called Catalog 8H. Catalog 8H lets you track sketches you’ve watched, rate them, leave comments, view the cast, and see what your friends and the SNL community think.
Deliverables
My three deliverables for this project were a responsive and interactive prototype, component library, and brand system. I focused on a protoype because I wanted to improve my hard UI skills, and I created a component library because I was interested in design systems and wanted to try making one myself. I made a brand system because this semester I also took Brand and Identity Design and was really enjoying it, so I wanted to incorpate some kind of branding. We needed to identify an advisor for the project to serve as a gut check, and I chose my Brand and Identity Design professor as he was an SNL viewer and could advise me on the brand system.
General Thoughts
Something new I tried in this project was layout constraints. While I stopped short of a full grid, I constrained myself to a consistent layout that was replicated throughout the website, giving it a cohesive feeling. The gutter between my content and the edge of the phone was determined by the Apple Human Interface Guidelines.
I decided to make a website instead of an app because I planned to code this at some point. A website would mean a single code base for mobile and desktop experiences, lowering the amount of resources required to produce the product. I also wanted to experiment with multi-page websites with API-populated content. I fleshed out a database system in STRAPI, but this extra part of the project on hold to work on other priorities. I hope to revisit this when my other projects are completed!
Details about specific stages can be found in the presentation deck below