Paradesmith

The primary objective of Paradesmith is to give the user the ability to collect and curate all of the content related to their unique interests. Information today is so readily available, but tough to corral into a single location so one can see it all. The founder of paradesmith reached out to me with an idea for an app that he wanted to make a reality, based off of this principle.

Paradesmith logo featuring a stylized elephant mascot in orange and blue color scheme

Users can create parades, or repositories, which can be shared with others so that everyone can capture and experience everything going on. In this way paradesmith can build a global community of likeminded people who have a parade topic in common.

Together, we conducted research on the industry, opportunities in the market not well represented, and clarified detailed requirements before beginning with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) that he could use to help find investors.

The Logo

We began this journey by working on a logo for paradesmith. An elephant was chosen for because they are sociable, intelligent, and likable animals. They travel and communicate in herds and with other herds. Elephants follow one another in a single file line, similar to a parade procession. The adage "an elephant never forgets" represents paradesmith perfectly as it is a repository for all of your photos and videos and events, even if you've forgotten them.

Logo exploration showing multiple iterations and variations of the Paradesmith elephant logo design with different styles, orientations, and color treatments

Logo exploration

Paradesmith brand style guide displaying color palette of orange and blue tones, typography specifications using sans-serif fonts, and logo usage guidelines

Styleguide

Hand-drawn initial sketches showing rough layouts and user flow concepts for the Paradesmith mobile app interface with annotations and notes

After a clear direction for the brand was established for the style of the brand, the design for the app was expanded through the use of personas based off of initial research. From data in the personas, mood boards and style tiles were created to help define the look and feel of the app. Sketches were then made to help outline the app visually and to get all the information into one place.

Low-fidelity wireframes displaying the information architecture and screen layouts for multiple app views including home feed, profile, parade creation, and navigation structure

Wireframes were developed from my initial sketches and helped me to arrange interface elements and to focus on the functionality and requirements of all the screens in the app without worrying as much about how everything was going to look.

After several iterations and a simple prototype to test the main functionality, I moved on to the high fidelity designs.

High-fidelity mobile app screens showing user profile interface with parade collections, follower statistics, and navigation tabs featuring the orange and blue brand colors
Polished product shots of Paradesmith app displaying on multiple iPhone mockups showcasing various screens including feed, search, and content discovery features
Create new parade flow showing step-by-step screens for parade setup including title input, privacy settings, category selection, and invite collaborators interface

The explore tab lets users discover new things in paradesmith.

Instead of a "like", thumbs up, or heart to show your appreciation for a photo you enjoy, "applause" was the action used.

Photos inside of a parade can be viewed from full sized, to the breakdown of time when the photos were taken.

Paradesmith iOS app icon featuring simplified elephant logo on gradient background from orange to blue, designed for iPhone home screen display
Animated GIF of Paradesmith branded baseball cap with embroidered elephant logo, rotating to show front and side views

R.I.P. Paradesmith 🪦

More Work