Apps Designed to be Informative- Recipes....

Since I've looked up apps that revolve around alcohol, I wanted to find some examples of how apps could be used as an informative design. The brief stipulates that our apps should be useful, informative and or entertaining so it felt prudent to see how apps have been designed specifically to inform.

Jamie Oliver's recipe app was one of the first that I looked at that displayed various recipes. Theres a great deal of rustic appeal to the app which I think corresponds with his target audience (mums, and middle aged women). I actually really like the simplicity of the app theres a certain homegrown element to the design which is further solidified by the recipes themselves. The textural wood backdrop that is evident throughout most of the pages is bland enough not to detract from the overall branding but it also provokes a contrast to the photographs. Using photographs as buttons really visualises the different sections and although theres a very rural element there is also a smoothness to the design evidenced by the interface itself. Again icons remain firmly in the bottom of the frame but because this app is only for Ipad the list is more extensive and there is also a tab element to the navigation at the top of frame. The tabs match perfectly stylistically as they integrate a paper like texture as well as signposting the various elements evident within each recipe. Perhaps I should consider using tabs within my Ipad app- although since at the moment I'm heading more towards the game element I'm not entirely sure this is going to be useful.

The Change 4 life drinks tracker is displayed very informally due to their broad target audience. Simple cartoons and bright colours dominate the app and completely mimic their logo. There is far more of a playful element thats not evident within a lot of the other apps that I've looked at.  Once again the navigation has been visualised using imagery and i like how easy it is to navigate because of it. The apps purpose is to calculate the units that you've been drinking in a bid to generate a healthier lifestyle. It gives you the types of drinks that you may drink and then gives you a rough estimate of the units and how many you can have and still maintain a healthy diet. It also keeps a track of your units throughout the week. Considering this apps healthy serious content matter the design is fun, vibrant and optimistic which actually helps to retain audiences attention and interest.

The app above has been created to inform the audience about the upcoming cider festivals and the variety of drinks that are available at them, theres also a map element and a directional element. The app is made for iPhone so the app is portrait and once again manipulates a 5 icon navigation bar at the bottom of frame. The styling isn't interesting at all, the brown colour scheme is bland and boring but I think its mostly because the app focuses on the information rather than the visuality.

Overall I'm definitely developing an idea of the overall app interface and I'm beginning to get a feel for the more attractive visual styles. I plan on researching app games since I think that this is going to be my focal point within my app to see how the interfaces look on those and whether they vary much from the standard.