Fiber Distributor is a shopping app that offers unique garments, accessories and miscellaneous fashion and home products made by lesser-known artists and designers. The app offers buyers not only new items but also the ability to purchase secondhand items from the same artists and designers, the app encourages users to recycle items that they have purchased within the app and rewards users with a credit system for their participation.

Collaborator: Katrina Portillo

The timeline for the project was 3 months, within this timeframe we were tasked to work with one collaborator in class to conduct market and user research, create wireframes, test with users and design the visual identity of the app's brand. Additionally, the challenge of this app included developing one unique feature.

Through our research we uncovered the concern of users between the ages of 20-35 related to ethically sourced items vs cost vs being fashionable. From this insight we developed our secondhand feature that includes the opportunity to buy from artists and designers at a discount, and as part of this feature to encourage a circular economy within the app by allowing users to recycle items purchased within the app itself.

For the visual design of the brand we developed a visual identity that is unexpected, funny, and playful. We took inspiration from risograph print textures and colors, finding humour in the process of taking an analog method into the digital realm.

Something that was common in fashion sites that my collaborator and I found was the use of ironic and meta humour. Since our app is intended for a younger audience we decided to lean into this aspect for the voice of the brand.

This lead to the development of a cute mascot named "Scraps" who is a scrappy cat (or dog?) that gets into mischief throughout the app.