Full Contact: BBC Project Sprint

This weekend, I have decided to reminisce back to my University years and look back at a key project in my second year at NTU. I was put within a group of six other talented student designers to create an app, which we would then present to the BBC at the end of the week.

As well as recognising this opportunity as a huge privilege to present my work to staff members of such a established and successful company, I was also extremely nervous. I recognised that my presentation skills/public speaking skills were not my strong point, which was also heightened with the mental effects of the pandemic, which at the time it was at it's peak. After lots of overthinking, I decided the best way to combat this anxiety was to prepare as much as possible, so I naturally gained confidence in what I was doing and what I was presenting.

This was also the first time I had ever took part in a long term group project, so I recognised that this would be a project focusing on learning and adapting to a new environment. Luckily, everyone in our group was very hardworking and all contributed well.

What is Full Contact?

Full Contact is an app designed specifically for first-year university students in Nottingham, both Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and the University of Nottingham (UON). FC’s primary objective is to facilitate social interaction and networking among students, therefore enriching their university journey.

The core mission of Full Contact is to motivate first-year students to step out of their comfort zones and confidently explore diverse facets of a new city, fostering personal growth and cultural immersion in a safe and supportive environment.

My task within this sprint project was to create Full Contact's logos in various formats, ensuring alignment with the app's overarching vision and brand identity, as well as commenting/reviewing my other team member's work.

The colour palette which I chose was bright pink and brown. The bright pink was inspired by NTU's brand colours. This colour palette works very well visually, however in hindsight, the colour palette should have been dark blue and pink, as dark blue is UON's brand colours, insinuating both universities uniting to create one large community.

App Icon/Word Mark/Brand Mark

Above shows the app icon which was chosen as a group to use to represent Full Contact. The lines were purposely made very thick, to create an eye catching look, which compliments the bright and bold pink. This simplistic yet eye catching design is a technique, which I recognised through research, that is commonly used within app icons. The icon needs to be eye catching so it encourages users to download, but not too cluttered so it looks overwhelming to the eye.

Showcased above were the other three options which I proposed to my group as potential options. We decided that option one and two seemed too clustered and overwhelming. The"F" connecting with the "C" seemed illegible and confusing at first look, as this design makes the user unsure if the "F" is an "F" or a "P". We also decided that the icon on the right was too boring and would most likely lead the user to keep scrolling to find another app.

Letter Mark

I created 3 different letter marks, which can be chosen depending on the purpose.

The logo above is the design which would be used most frequently. The style of this typeface is very funky and unique, which is very fitting for our target audience, who are students. I recognised that it was crucial to always keep the customer at the forefront of my mind when designing.

Above are two extra logos, which would be used less compared to the first letter mark logo displayed further above. These logos would be used in occasions where the background is an extremely dark tone, to ensure it does not get flushed away within the design. Furthermore, it is also to ensure that the logo is eye-catching and vibrant.