Challenges
The award website is primarily designed for desktop use and functions as a 2D online exhibition with a 3D virtual gallery. I had to create a design that accommodates diverse styles of photographs whilst maintaining a sleek and stylish appearance. With an abundance of high-quality photos and numerous categories, I needed to reduce the size and develop a clear and seamless user interface to facilitate easy navigation. I had to ensure users could browse the photos smoothly, aiming to replicate the positive experience of attending a real exhibition.
Japan Advertising Photographers' Association Award (APA Award)
APA award is a prestigious competition organised by Japan Advertising Photographers' Association every year. It features two entry sections: Advertising section and Photography section. Winning photographs and entries are showcased in an exhibition.
Background
The APA Award 2020 was postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19 and lockdown measures. Organizing a physical exhibition to showcase the winning works became challenging. Consequently, the APA association opted for an online virtual exhibition featuring virtual 3D gallery on the website to showcase the photographs.
Role
Art Direction | UI Design | Web Design
Duration
3 months
Approach
To begin, I drafted a user flowchart to outline the essential elements needed on each page, ensuring clarity in the design process. Next, I crafted low-fidelity wireframes to establish a clear vision for the layout of the design. Recognising association committee's preference for visual representations, I then translated these wireframes into high-fidelity designs to present a polished and comprehensive depiction of the final product.
Design Process
For the initial iteration, I showcased all 14 winning photographs in a collage layout at varying sizes as the primary visual element on the homepage to give a glimpse of exhibition moment. In terms of tone and style, I opted for a black-and-white, minimalistic aesthetic, aiming for a clean and chic design approach to maintain focus on the photographs themselves.
I organized the search filter into three main categories: "by categories," "by numerical order," and "by photographer names." Additionally, I included tags under the "by categories" section to further facilitate user navigation and enhance the overall user experience
In the section page, I arranged the photos in a grid system showed in the wireframe to ensure tidiness, stability, and consistency in the display.
Problems & Feedback
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The association committee objected to the idea of displaying all photos at once for the key visual, preferring to give each photograph its due respect.
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The entrance of 3D gallery was too subtle.
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The web design was deemed too dull.
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There was a concern that portrait photos were being unfairly minimised in comparison to landscape photos on the section page.
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Every photograph should have equal proportion and size.
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The desire was to showcase as many photos as possible in the section list without any single entry dominating the initial view excessively.
