Challenge
As part of fuse8’s continued collaborative relationship with Axis, the online resource for contemporary art, fuse8 were approached to develop a new iOS app for Ways of Looking, a new festival of photography in Bradford that runs throughout October 2011. This year’s festival explores the theme of ‘Evidence’, and presents new exhibitions and commissions, photography in public spaces, collaborations with Bradford residents, a specially published book, and an inspiring programme of events.
Insight
Axis wanted photographic art pieces around Bradford to get people talking and conversing throughout the festival. Talking to fellow festival-goers at the installations themselves was fine, but Axis and fuse8 wanted to utilise their new iOS app to encourage engagement with people and the art themselves; that’s when fuse8 implemented their ‘App-inion’ functionality.
Work
The brand new Ways of Looking website is also built upon the successful work we carried out for Art in Yorkshire. Developed using the Umbraco CMS system, we were able to deliver the same compelling content in the form of text, pictures, video and even audio, through to both the website and the iOS app.
The site itself has a very distinctive design. With thick, bold lines, and stunning yellow, white and slate-coloured typography and graphics, the website delivers on a visually arresting style that has it’s hooks in every area of the website. There’s also the Bradford Boar.
The design of the website isn’t just aesthetic. With deep social features integrated into the core of the website, users are able to like and share exhibitions, artists and installations with friends through a variety of social networks as well as email.
All these features and design motifs carry forward into the iOS app as well.
The app, which is now available from the iPhone and iPad App Store, allows visitors to the Ways of Looking photography festival to find out what’s on, where and when. With detailed listings that describe the many incredible artists involved in the programme, including Magnum photographer Donovan Wylie, and Turner Prize winning artists Jeremy Deller and Douglas Gordon, users will be well informed even before visiting the festival.
Festival-goers can also use the app to create a list of favourite artists appearing at the festival, or make a list of individual exhibitions that users don’t want to miss. Once a ‘favourite’ is added, the app adds these favourites to your calendar with reminders to ensure that you don’t miss your eagerly awaited installation or artist Q&A session.
The app also delivers a fantastic experience even for art lovers who are unable to attend the Ways of Looking festival. With video clips of the artists and exhibitions due to take place at the festival, users can still learn, listen and experience Ways of Looking even without being there.
For those visitors who are attending Ways of Looking, the app provides personalised local directions to each of the exhibitions across Bradford using GPS and Google Maps technology.
One special feature of the app is fuse8’s very own ‘App-inion’ service. Dotted around the festival are unique ‘App-inion’ codes. These codes, when entered into the app, unlock extra content specific to each of the exhibitions and artists. App-inion also allows users to leave comments and converse about each installation, ensuring that an on-going conversation is live, if the people commenting don’t visit the festival together.
Results
The Ways of Looking festival started on Saturday 1st October, and so far reports from the festival have been very positive. Comments have been left at various locations around the city thanks to App-inion, and listings of popular installations have been shared over Twitter and Facebook already. The Ways of Looking festival is about looking at the world through an artist’s eyes, but you can have your own view, with the Ways of Looking iOS app.