C.A.R.L. App
University of Florida
George A. Smathers Libraries
Team Members
Kendall Brandt
Visual Development Team
Janelys Camelo
Visual Development Team
Sarah Cantor
UX/UI Team
Ian Costello
UX/UI Team
Brand Development
UX/UI + VR
C.A.R.L is an immersive and interactive tour experience centered on the University of Florida campus, designed in collaboration with UF George A. Smathers Libraries and MINT Design Studio. C.A.R.L stands for Collections through Augmented Reality Learning, and combines augmented reality technology with the university’s rich history to create a tour experience like no other. Use the app remotely or on campus, and follow along with the historian-approved digital tours.
Research Findings
Pre-Existing Tour Goal:
To teach existing students, prospective students, faculty, and community members important and interesting facets of UF History (we still want to continue this!)
Pre-Existing Problems:
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The opportunity to take Carl’s tour is not well known
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The tour can only be taken when Carl is available
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Can only take the tour in person, no opportunities for a remote audience
Design Challenge
Design Solution
Digitize Carl’s historic walking tour in an innovative way and make its existence clear to the UF community and the greater Gator Nation.
Create a mobile app with engaging features and interactive access points on UF's campus
Creating the C.A.R.L. Brand
Objectives
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Showcase and integrate historic content in a clear, innovative, and fresh way
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Design a universally-appealing aesthetic that will withstand design trends
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Integrate flexibility within the visual system to allow for organization and categorization
Primary Logo
Because the app stemmed from a historic campus tour, we centered the logo around a map marker icon. We combined it with a bold, sans serif C for C.A.R.L. The logo is easily reproducible and extremely flexible, and is clean, distinct, and timeless, like the app.
Alternate Logos
Typography
We utilized the two UF official fonts Quadon and Gentona to make the content and subject matter recognizable to members of the UF community, but used multiple secondary typefaces to distinguish C.A.R.L's identity
Color Pallet
The color palette utilizes variations of the visible spectrum and the official UF secondary color palette to create an identity flexible enough to include every category of the UF's rich history and the app while still feeling unified.
Because elements of the app are intended for use outdoors in Gainesville, it is designed on an off black background to assist with visibility in bright sunlight.
Image Treatment
Half-toning images allowed for a cohesive look and feel for a large collection of images that may be from various times, as well as increased visibility on screens.
Single color halftones are utilized in C.A.R.L.’s categorization system. For example, half-toned images that are Peabody Purple are associated with the Buildings + Spaces category/tour.
Home Screen Navigation
The home screen serves as a dashboard where users can access the app settings, read about featured items from the archives, and find nearby access points to scan.
Access Point + AR
The Scan feature allows users to access augmented reality timelines of the location in view via kiosks placed around the University of Florida campus.
C.A.R.L. Brand at Work
Onboarding
The onboarding screen is used to introduce users to the app and its main features: Linear Tours, Achievements, Archives, Map & Scan.
The C.A.R.L. Collective
