Tools used: Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe AfterEffects, Google Surveys
Introduction
As I returned from my attempted around-the-world bicycle trip in Fall 2022, I turned my attention towards projects I could dedicate my efforts to off of the bicycle. Arriving home in Chicago, I spoke with some of my musician friends about what they were up to, asking if they had any shows coming up. In speaking with them about their schedules, I was taken by a question that kept coming up again and again: Why is it so hard to book live music shows?
What resulted from this simple question was a full-scale product design that hoped to address this age-old issue for musicians and venues alike.
Want to see the finished product right away? Skip to the goods here.
Research
Certainly, as a musician myself with some light experience booking shows for my own bands, I echoed this same experience – it always felt more difficult than it really needed to be to connect with venues and schedule shows. And anecdotally, a lot of my peers that I spoke to about this shared many of the same specific complaints – it felt like applying for a job, discouraged by a lack of replies, felt bothered by an inequitable power dynamic, et cetera.
So, I set out to put some hard numbers to these feelings. Does the broader community of both artists and venues feel the same way? And if so, what specific measures could be addressed by a product to help ameliorate the situation? I designed a short survey in order to learn more about the answers to these questions.
Clearly, there’s a problem here to be solved!
Design
After synthesizing the results of the surveys, I developed a broad strategy for the goals this product would need to meet in order to be effective in its task.
With these goals established, I began conceptualizing basic user flows on paper in order to begin to shed light on the work to be done.
Working through these early stages on paper allows me to iterate quickly and get to a workable design faster.
From there, I moved on to wireframes in Figma, to allow for some more substantive prototyping.
This interactive prototype was highly informative to the final design, culling ineffective and highlighting effective interaction design.
Final Design
Satisfied with the flow in medium-fidelity wireframe format, I moved on to developing a memorable, vibrant brand and equally likeable design system with which to present these structurally sound user flows.
Leaning on the vibrancy of the local music scene as a metaphor, I chose a memorable, prominently orange palette with carefully considered complementary accents. An approachable set of typeface selections helped convey the ‘friendliness’ I hoped to portray in order to dispel some of the feelings of atomization and disconnectedness around booking shows attested to in my research.
Users can register as an artist or as a venue, but much of the functionality remains the same between types – you can tailor your profile with your promo photos, copy, and audio, even connect your Spotify artist profile. With a quick and easy set up, you can begin building your own bills and submitting them directly to venues, or join up with an existing show. A complete 180 from the days of sending an email and waiting for no reply.
And thus, concerty was born!
