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My best friend’s kid, five years at the time, was going on her first big trip with her family from Sweden to Los Angeles in the US. I wanted to give her something to do. Something to remember. After searching the stores for a travel journal for kids, I ended up doing one myself. That led to a book publisher printing a travel book for kids, created and designed by me.

Now, the kid has become a young adult with plans for Berlin. The gift was given.

However, I didn’t just want to create just another travel journal for young creative people. I recall that period in life as a time when you also searched and explored – often struggled – in pursuit of finding yourself.

People & Places is a digital journal primarily targeted at young adults going away to travel/work/study/explore. Use the journal for plotting out memories, ideas and reflections with words and drawings. Choose the blank canvas or the different presets.

People & Places is not only a journal used to explore new places, but also people.

The symbol

A map pin: travelling journal
Two mirrored faces becoming one: finding yourself through other people
Overlapping lines: crossing paths and whom you might meet
Two dots for eyes: two dots horizontally placed in a shape is a fundamental way to depict a face. Dots, set up like a grid, is the base of the canvas in the journal.

The colors

The primary green-gray colors, Urban Dark and Urban Light: old journals, filing systems and books for documentation. A scent of urban life, a blend between concrete facades and green parks.
The red accent color, Signal Red: Often used for map pins. Red is also a color connected to expressing feelings, action and movement. The red color is used as a red line that could be seen as a path.
Black: is a color with heavy weight. The color expresses sophistication, but also darker flavors, such as irony.
White: is light and searching, to be enlightened. A dark product image of a tablet can be highlighted with a white call to action.
Pop Pink: the unexpected color in the palette, sparsely used. Sometimes the color pops up and challenges your perception, and perhaps even your perception of yourself.

The typeface

The Scandia typeface has sharp corners and a geometric foundation that fits well with the product and identity. (As a personal take on this I think it’s a nice reference to a place, Scandinavia, where I happen to be located.)

The canvas used in the digital journal has a dotted grid as a subtle guidance for the content you put in. The dots are set to 50% of the Urban Dark color and will also be visible on the Urban Light color.

The continuous red thread/line/path, connected to the grid, is used to build up a more or less abstract scene or story. Sometimes additional lines, sparsely used, add depth or context. Is a blank canvas hard to start off from? Use one of the presets with the line illustration as a starting spark.

The canvas and the line illustrations can be used in various communication. The symbol can also be played with as a filled graphic element transforming into the logo for example or as a stylish print on a shirt.

In some communication the journal might need clarification or a hint to what you can do with it. Another visual layer with drawings/doodles/texts gives more context and inspiration. However, these should not be used in the actual interface of the product.

This is a fictive project. I wanted to explore my idea in a course called “Artistic Resources for Powerful Branding Design”. If you have any ideas on a digital business partner for making People & Places come to life, let me know!