A Case Study for The Peach Files Podcast
Like most post college millennial's eager to find their footing in the professional world, I found myself pinned to a job I hated. Determined for change I quit and started doing ride share until I could discover my next move.
As if living in the eclectic city of Atlanta wasn’t enough, I quickly learned this job is truly like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get. The idea of a podcast inspired me and using my creative writing skills encouraged me, here we have a case study of the design process for the scripted podcast that I call The Peach Files.
The Brand
The coolest part is that I was starting from the beginning, honestly that was also the scariest part. With the journalist in me eager to the stories of these everyday experiences I knew I had to strategize.
My Objectives:
- Create brand equity and online reach through branded storytelling
- Create a website with overall site architecture and navigation to enable easier browsing and a more friction less experience
- Make a responsive website.
- Make it cool.
Programs used: Adobe XD, Adobe Spark, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Visual Studio Code, Github
Navigation
The primary reasons people would visit the site are to gain information about the podcast, or listen to it. I selected a layout for those needs.
As of now the sitemap is simple, as the podcast grows and gets added to the website.
Style guide
The style of the podcast was intended to be mysterious and obviously peachy. The selected design for The Peach Files website began with an inspiration of 1920’s film noir, Dick Tracy, and a dash of The X Files inspired weirdness.
The colors began with black and peach (#FFCBA4). It was just to bland, after playing around with a different variations I established the primary colors Terra Cotta (#EB7466), Havana (#3F3032), Metallic Copper (#6E3E3A), and Peachpuff (#FFDAB9).
The tones of the colors set a mysterious yet peachy mood. To accompany those colors I chose two simple secondary colors. A variation of red (#D21842) and white. The red served as a shaded color perfect for the menu, “greying out” the background with this shade of red to highlight the menu options.
Typography
Now that I have the colors in play the font style was up next. Keeping in mind that it had to have a sense of mystery I selected the Special Elite font (Chandler42 Lite on Adobe) for my first headings.
Through iterations I decided not to go with the adobe font Harlow for the top headings. The Special Elite font personified the story of The Peach Files with it looking as if it were typed with a typewriter with the ink fading in different areas of the letters.
The Logo
With the colors in play I had done the groundwork to begin bringing my vision to life. Playing around with the colors and even different variations of the colors on the style guide; I started designing the logo.
Determined to highlight all three in the logo I wanted potential to be intrigued by not only the title but the imagery surrounding it. Create a sense of mystery and humor to match the script.
The first iteration of the logo started with playing with different text styles. It was simple but still felt undone. The colors used were black, gray, and a variation of peach hex #D19057.
As time grew so did my skills, I decided to make changes to the above logo. Finding a color scheme that is cleaner and more vivid. The first logo was basic, ugly and simple.
My vision of the logo evolved into a simple text. The attempt was to have a smaller image that could be seen regardless of gray scale or color change.
I started using the typography Harlow in the logo. It looked a bit cool playing around with the colors gave it a different feel but still felt incomplete, so I began to play around with other fonts.
Once I began the website build I decided to revisit the logo, considering different ways to describe the mysterious stories of Atlanta. I knew the logo needed more I just wasn’t sure exactly what so I played around with Adobe logo maker and my inspiration grew.
I changed the typography to Bebas Neue for the title of the podcast and used the Special Elite for the tag line. I added a translucent peach in the background and added the tagline “Atlanna’s Scripted Podcast” at the bottom. This design showcases the podcast best and aids in the objectives making it cool through branded storytelling.
Components
I began by making the components myself while creating the wire frame. I wanted to visualize as much as I could to see what cool things I could add to the site to bring in personality.
My first iteration was text on a door, reminiscent of a private detective’s office. I used simple dark colors to design the door and played with different variations of the text. A cute simple design that personified the premise of the podcast.
Other components were created to set the tone for the first season of the podcast. Each season would be different and with the kick off being about ride share I created a license plate to tie everything together.
Buttons
On the homepage there is a button that says ‘Fall 2020'. Below there is an image of the states of the button. The first image of the button is dark the other is the hover state.
Next Steps
As the project progresses and the podcast becomes real more will be added to the website. The next steps for The Peach Files Podcast is to add the page for the episodes. The imaged layout is one were the seasons plot is explained and each episode is available play.
The menu will have additions of a media player, social media and places to subscribe.
Conclusion
Honestly, I didn't realize how much work and effort went into creating a podcast until I started. I’m proud that I am able to utilize talents from other areas to create something so authentic.
Creating the color scheme, adding the typography and the logo set the tone of the brand. I wanted it to be peachy and mysterious, the design is just getting started.
In the future The Peach Files Podcast will have a blog, merchandise to expand the brand, and of course more stories of the oddities that make up the eclectic city of Atlanta, Georgia.
