“Art direction can help you improve engagement and encourage customer retention. It connects your brand with an audience, improves conversions and brings your customers’ journeys to life.”

Art direction is like a journey as it uses design techniques to evoke an emotional response and create a lasting memorable impression and experience from someone when they read an article, use a product or visit a website. It helps our work convey clarity and definition to the work for a particular group of people. Art direction combines art and design to evoke a cultural and emotional response and without it the experiences easily forgotten. In UX design, if an experience is not memorable or leave a lasting impression, it isn’t successful.

An example of art direction we looked at is the journey to Venice. One way you could go is by the Orient Express, a glamourous journey on a timeless train with a history for hosting parties and journeys that have developed a reputation for memorable connections made over fine dining and late night toasts. Guests are surrounded by unrivalled furnishings, marquetry design and legendary artefacts, each with their own history and story. On the other hand there is a Ryanair flight, a less comfortable experience which always incurs extra charges because your carry on bag is too big or there is a crying baby screaming the whole time before you have the bumpiest landing ever! Both these journeys have the same destination but it is the art direction which shapes the journey and the users feelings and experience.

Other more relevant examples of art direction is how in the 1960’s when the Apollo missions happened, a lot of the images were black and white or very bad colour due to cameras still being developed so using this style of art direction through our immersive prototypes would bring people back to that certain time or feeling and reflect that timeframe.

<aside> 💭 This is something which I can apply to my Apollo project as different art directions can enhance the experience for different people and the way they understand and access information. For example, the Orient Express is used for more upper class individuals who are posher where as the more normal person would be found on a Ryanair flight. This is the same for websites, we must adapt the art direction and content based on our target user and telling the story of Apollo in an appropriate way.

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Examples of Art Direction

• GOV.UK

  The experience on the GOV website is so successful because it is fluid due to it having really good art direction and creating a good lasting impression. People tend not to need to remember how to use the website because it flows so well, it might not be very aesthetically pleasing at times but it provides functionality and a good experience.

  

• App Store

  Art direction in the Apple App Store refers to the visual design and presentation of the apps. Despite there being so many different types of apps that all look so different, they use art direction so it all looks similar and tells you a story as your browse through. Creating an effective and visually appealing presence in the App Store is crucial for attracting users and encouraging downloads.

  

• Apple Store

  The Apple store uses a variety of art direction techniques to create a visually appealing and user-friendly experience for customers. They use clean, minimalist design and high quality product imagery alongside easy user friendly navigation and interactive elements to create a visually uncluttered and elegant interface and dynamic browsing experience. By incorporating these art direction principles, the Apple online store not only showcases its products effectively but also creates an aesthetically pleasing and user-centric environment for online shoppers which evokes emotions and tells a story. This approach aligns with Apple's commitment to delivering a premium and seamless user experience across its digital platforms.

  

<aside> 💭 All these examples demonstrate well the importance of incorporating art direction into our designs and how successful they are as they evoke emotions and feelings from its user, encouraging them to use their product or services from a memorable experience and long lasting impression. This will be important to implement within my Apollo project as art direction can help enhance it and create a lasting impression on not only my work but understanding the Apollo missions and their achievements.

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How can art direction help to enhance our designs?

When designing, many designers forget that a website is a form of communication and tend to want to start straight into the visual language of the website, although that is also an essential part without paying attention to the users emotions and feelings, the website can lack, becoming replicas of others and being unmemorable as it fails to establish a deep emotional connection with the users.

Some of the most successful websites and apps are heavily influenced by art direction by defining and having a unique identity which draws in and keeps users drawn in, this is through a lasting first impression whether that is from a strong visual identity, a good navigation system or optimised accessibility. All of these elements help to enhance a users engagement and further encourage exploration and interaction. However this art direction goes beyond these visual features as the best art direction leaves a lasting impression and feeling on a user, making them want to return time and time again due to its engaging visuals and imagery which helps create a narrative that resonates with users, creating a deeper connection with the brand or message.

<aside> 💭 Before this lecture I had never heard of art direction before but after todays lecture it has really shown me how important it is to adding character and personality to my designs using art direction. Art direction has the potential to guarantee coherent and memorable experiences across any device which is a small thing which can help enhance my work.

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