MMEXP: Portfolio Site, Round 2.5

Refined home screen.

ahhrealdesign.com is a fun name that's not exactly conventional. I'm not quite conventional myself.

I would like to build it in Flash. I understand that the best.

The homepage will contain the links to 10 portfolio sorting methods. The initial navigation will switch between portfolio, short stories, narcissism, and my sketches.

The narcissism is an inside joke between me and myself. I want a bit of humor on my site, and I want to incorporate sketches because I enjoy the process I use to get some of my best ideas. I'm not normal, and I don't want my naming to be normal either, but I don't want to force unconventional.

The short stories are something that I enjoy. The page will be split between fiction and non.

As of right now I plan on hosting through godaddy :)

MMEXP: Portfolio Site, Round 2

Once refinements are made, this is going to be the general look and feel of the site. Each of the little sketchy things will be a roll over state for each of the showcased images.

MMEXP: Portfolio Site, Round 1

MMEXP: The Blind Tiger (The final presentation)

The Blind Tiger from Abby Gallagher on Vimeo.

MMEXP: Final screens, minor tweaks, In context

MMEXP: Script, R02

A dive is an unchanged, well-worn establishment with quirky nick-knacks, a distinctive smell, and a collection of regulars. They often have a jukebox in the corner or boast live shows. The reputation and friendly service of the dive are generally unknown, but once discovered they have a story to share.

Many people go to dives. This is Evan, a typical member of our community, he’s a 23 year old print maker that has been going to dives since he was 16. He started going to dives for the live shows and continues to go to hang out with friends, get a drink or two, and relax after a long day.

Like many members of our community, Evan wants a place nearby where he can hang out. The convenience of easy scheduling and night-by-night planning is something that Evan would like better access to, as well as an easy way to hook up with his friends in a comfortable atmosphere.

All and all, he enjoys the stories he gathers from his experiences, whether it’s due to the friendly service, the shows he goes to see, or the locals he encounters. It’s all about the experience.

Back in the days of prohibition, speak-easys would sell tickets to an attraction (such as viewing an animal) and then give away “Free” drinks, thus skirting the law and avoiding penalty for selling alcohol. That’s where the name for our community collective came from.

The Blind Tiger (show logo type) is an online solution for offline needs that fosters the motivations of people like Evan in a fashion that strengthens the dive-locating community through finding, sharing, and collaborating.

The online community keeps in mind personal budgets, transportation, location, and ultimately the relationships created and how they promote the comfort and reliability that is signature to the dive atmosphere. This cultivates shared values within The Blind Tiger; it becomes a space were individuals can further exploit their passion for dives and share it with others of common interest.

On the homepage, Evan is greeted with a blank canvas where he can start customizing his experience complete with a few tips that help explain the space. Since he's been here before, he knows to click on the asterisk and hide the notes.

The Blind Tiger allows each user to tailor their space based on their own interests which creates more meaningful connections, not only for individuals but for the dive establishments themselves. This helps sustain the quirky culture of the dive. As an individual such as Evan “dives” through the site, he is continually intrigued by the unfolding of information.

Evan is looking for a new place to unwind on a Saturday night. Utilizing the “find” feature, he is able to view dives in four different categories. Since he's looking for a new place to hang out, he drags the "area" tab out and onto his personal space where it gives him more specific options to help narrow his overwhelming search.

He lives close to Westport, so he pulls this option out as well which then expands to a visual representation of dives in the area. The scale of the images indicates how near Evan is to each establishment. The larger the image- the closer he is. Since he’s not sure he wants to visit Westport, Evan decides to check out “midtown” as well.

Not seeing anything of interest in the Midtown area, he decides to scale the window back to save space, but when he decides he doesn't want to go anywhere in Midtown right now, he collapses the window and goes back to focusing on Westport. He can scroll through Westport to see the entire collection of dives in that area.  

Hovering over the image of Harling’s he is able to view a brief breakdown of basic geographic information as well as the next event the dive is hosting. Interested, Evan decides to view Harling’s full profile which, at first glance, gives an overview of the establishment, its overall rating, and whether it utilizes local goods.

The profile also contains multimedia features, links to ratings, and specials. He can also reveal information pertaining to scheduled events, stories from other users, and directions to the dive. Evan thinks he’s going to like Harlings, so he adds the profile page to his "favorites" in order to easily return to it later. This automatically syncs with his iphone and ipad.

While Evan’s out and about, he can access The Blind Tiger from his Ipad.
From the app, Evan is able to search for dives in a similar fashion. The images that appear once he’s selected “find dives” is based on his current location, again showing him the largest images as the dives closest to him.

While looking through the dives, Evan notices one he isn’t fan of. He is able to drag the image off the screen and remove it and another dive image slides in to fill the gap. One tap on an image shows the at-a-glance profile, and a double tap takes him to the full profile.

Back on the hub, Evan is viewing HARLING’S profile and notices the star in the corner. This indicates that the establishment supports local goods such as brews, food, and music. If he supports these local goods he can use them to earn "local points." interested in seeing how many points he has already earned, Evan navigates to  "my points".

From here, he has several options. He can either redeem his points for a reward such as a free drink from his favorite dive, view the breakdown of which items he has earned points for based on a certain night or location and view his rank amongst his friends.

While at his favorite dive, Evan hears a song come on the jukebox that he wants to know more about. With the blind tiger on his iPhone, Evan is able to use the “song id” feature to find out the name and artist of the song. He enjoys the song so much that he decides to add it to his personal jukebox.

While viewing his Jukebox, Evan is able to see his entire playlist including the song he just added. He also has the ability to delete songs, change the order of them, or listen to the songs he’s gathered.

Done with the jukebox, Evan decides to see what his friends are up to. He taps the arrow to flip the space and view the back of the board. If he's on the ipad, flipping the board reveals his nightly schedule and the live feed.

By tapping and dragging slots on the schedule, he's able to delete items, or add them by tapping the "join" button on the live feed below.

He's also able to add things to his profile when he's on the website. While viewing Harling’s event schedule, Evan is able to either add events (like a concert) or the regular specials. Since Harling's has Pool Sharking tonight, like every Saturday night, Evan can either add the event once, or add it on as a reoccurring weekly event.

Now that he's got his destination in mind, Evan's off to a night of friends and good music. Cheers.

MMEXP: very tenative script

SCRIPT

Evan is part of a community that enjoys finding dives. He enjoys finding places where he can relax and feel like he belongs. He goes to dives for cheap drinks, friendly service, random stories, and live shows.

Evan doesn't want to drive far to a dive, so it's important for him to have a resource where he can find dives close to him, as well as to see what each particular dive has to offer.

Currently, there is no catalogue of dives that offers a deeper understanding to what dives are. There is no one location where people like Evan can go to get all of their dive needs met.

Evan has found The Blind Tiger, an online resource for dive finding and the sharing of all dive experiences. It's a way for him to simplify  his life and organize his dive goings. Upon reaching the website, Evan uses his log-in information to access the home page.

On the homepage, Evan is given a blank space where he can start customizing his experience, complete with a few helpful tips that explains the space. Since he's been here before, he knows to click on the astrix and hide the notes.

He's looking for a new dive today. Rolling over the "find tabs" which reveals his choices. Since he's looking for a new place, he clicks and drags "Area" onto the work area. He lives close to westport, so he clicks and drags that option onto work area. This shows a list of dives via photograph. The bigger the photo, the closer he is to that particular bar. Just for curiosity's sake, he clicks and drags midtown over to see if there is some place he'd be more interested in visiting.

Not seeing anything too eye catching in the Midtown area, he decides to scale the window back to save space, but when he decides he doesn't want to go anywhere in Midtown right now, he collapses the window and goes back to focusing on Westport. He can scroll the window up to view other options. When he hovers over a particular image, he is given a brief profile on the Dive. In order to view a full profile, he can click and drag the image onto the work area.

On the profile, Evan can see a general overview of the profile, but could also view the upcoming events the dive is going to host, see a map to get to the dive, or view stories that others have posted in relation to the dive. In the top left corner, there is an over-all rating of the dive (one to five).

If Evan were already out and about, he could access The Blind Tiger with his Ipad. From the home page, he's able to drag a drawer open and make his selection. If he's still looking for a die, he can select Find Dives and view the same size-oriented list of dives based on his current location. Since he's already in the westport area at this time, the westport dives are the ones that show up. He notices a dive that he knows he doesn't enjoy, so he is able to drag the image off the screen and delete it. The spot is filled with a different dive that he can view. One click on an image shows the mini-profile, and a double tap takes him to the full profile.

Back on the hub, Evan is viewing a dive profile and notices the star in the corner. This indicates that the bar has things that he could use to earn "local points." Interested in seeing how many points he already has, Evan hovers over "Local," then drags and drops "my points" in order to see the general overview. From this window, he can either redeem his points for something cool (like a free drink from his favorite bar) or he can view the breakdown of how he got each point.

While at a dive one night, Evan was sitting at the bar of his favorite dive and a song came on the radio that he wanted to know more about. From the iphone app, Evan drags the "jukebox" drawer open and selects "song id." When he hit's "record," the app searches for the song it's hearing and then shows him the title of the song and the artist. He really likes the song "Hype" by Tegan and Sara so he adds the song to his jukebox.

While viewing his Jukebox, evan is able to see the song he just added, delete songs (by dragging them away), change the order of the songs, or play the songs on the list. The jukebox is also viewable by selecting the "playlist" option from the homepage on the app.

Done with the jukebox, Evan decides to see what his friends are up to. He clicks the arrow to flip the space and view the back of the board. If he's on the ipad, flipping the board reveals his nightly schedule and the live feed. By clicking and dragging slots on his schedule, he's able to delete things, or add them by clicking "join" on the live feed.

He's also able to add things to his profile when he's on the website. While viewing a dive's schedule from the profile page, Evan is able to either add something like a concert, or add something like a weekly special. Since Harling's has $3 draft beers every Saturday night, Evan is able to either add the event once, or add it on as a reoccurring weekly event.

Evan loves going to Harlings, so he's going to click and drag the photo into his "favorites" section at the bottom of the page. This automatically syncs with his iphone and ipad.

Now that he's got his destination in mind, Evan's off to a night of friends and good music. Cheers.

MMEXP: iphone/ipad design R02