How might we help the socks of Socktopia find their matching pairs?

Overview

Roles: Service Designer, AI Prompt Engineer, and Brand & Campaign Designer
Timeline: 3 Weeks (6 hr/week)
Tools: Midjourney, ChatGPT, Adobe Illustrator, Instagram Threads

Assignment

Create a brand campaign in an alternate universe using Artificial Intelligence.

Context

This is an introductory project for Visual Communication Design 3, a course exploring web-based interactivity for desktop, mobile, and emerging digital contexts. The goals of this project were to apply AI tools in the context of design and learn how to get consistent and precise generations with AI.

Scope

Discover an alternate universe, define user needs of this universe’s residents; design brand with 10 products, services, and/or features; and deliver info about brand to users in the form of a campaign.

Timeline

3 Weeks

• 1 Week designing universes and mood boards
• 1 Week developing product line and campaign
• 1 Week refining campaign, developing branding, and designing case study

My Role

I worked independently on this project guided by valuable feedback and critiques from my professor and classmates. I acted as a Service Designer, AI Curator and Brand & Campaign Developer throughout this project.

Discover

In this unique project, I used ChatGPT to discover an imaginary universe and learn more about potential users, while visualizing them using Midjourney.

Asking the Right Questions

In order to identify the universe in which my campaign would take place, I asked ChatGPT to “tell me about some imaginary universes.” It respond with a few different universe concepts with each generation, but I found them to be quite derivative, repetitive, and overwrought.

I added adjectives to my prompts to get more novel and fun generations. I finally settled on asking for ChatGPT to “tell me about some silly and interesting imaginary universes.” I found ChatGPT’s description of “Socktopia” to be the most intriguing:

“Socktopia: In this universe, socks are sentient beings that have built their own bustling cities. They communicate through colorful patterns and organize elaborate sock puppet theater performances to tell their history.”

Looking Deeper

Once I decided to concentrate specifically on a universe full of sentient sock-puppets, I asked ChatGPT more detailed questions about the Socktopians’ universe and their lives as if I were conducting a need finding interview.

Interview Questions

It often took multiple attempts to phrase interview questions in a way that led ChatGPT to give meaningful answers. These are the questions and requests that informed the strongest observations and deepest insights about Socktopians:

• Tell me more about Socktopians.
• What are the values of Socktopian society?
• What do Socktopians like to do for fun?
• What challenges might a Socktopian face?
• What hobbies might a Socktopian have?
• Tell me more about ...
• Why might a Socktopian ... ?

Observations

• Thread, yarn, and fabric are commonly used in the infrastructure of Socktopia
• Many socks participate in arts and crafts such as knitting in a social setting
• Socktopians use many fabric care commodities
• Socktopians believe community, connection, and individuality to be their most important values
• Socktopians are monogomous beings who have forever partners, known as their “pair”

Insights

• The linearity of thread and yarn are a core part of Socktopians’ understanding of their world
• In a society that values community and connection, Socktopians who have not yet found their “pair” often suffer from loneliness and shame
• Collaboration, hobbies, and community rather than material goods are valuable to Socktopians

Visual Exploration

In order to empathize with Socktopians I sought to gain a deeper understanding of their community by visualizing their home using Midjourney with prompts based on ChatGPT’s definition of Socktopia.

Observations

• Socks of a wide variety of colors, patterns, and fabrics live in Socktopia
• Socktopians have eyes, mouths, and appendages like us humans
• Not everything in Socktopolis is fabric-based, such as electronics, liquids, and glass

Insights

• Socktopians interact with their world much in the same way that we do, experiencing the same senses of seeing, tasting, hearing, and feeling
• They have developed modern technology, but place connection with other socks above all else, mainly using technology for communication and to foster community
• Socktopians do not have a gender binary and connections are formed based on common threads.

Define

Socktopolis: A Wonderfully Woven Society

Socktopolis emerged from a cosmic anomaly that transformed ordinary socks into sentient beings. These socks developed personalities, emotions, and a desire for connection and community. Sockscrapers rise into the air, their vibrant patterns and colors creating a kaleidoscope of beauty. Streets are made from woven threads, and cozy sock homes are nestled within the folds of giant laundry piles. The inhabitants express themselves through intricate sock designs, and a lively fashion scene showcases a wide array of patterns, colors, and styles.

Socktopians come in a wide variety of sizes, patterns, and colors. Each Socktopian has their own distinct personality, quirks, and interests, making the society a lively tapestry of individuality. Above all, Socktopolis embodies creativity and community. The Socktopians celebrate their individuality while valuing the connections they share with each other.

Defining the User Need

In order to define this user need, I used the insights I gleaned from the discovery phase to empathize with Socktopians and uncover the challenges they face on a day to day basis.

In particular, I studied the core values of Socktopolis and realized that there could be conflict between the values of connection and individuality. Each sock is their own individual, with personal interests, patterns, and fabrics. Identifying their matching pair is not as simple as pairing our socks each morning on Earth.

The value of connection in Socktopolis could cause socks without a matching pair to feel lonely.

Final User Need:

Single Socktopians need a way to find their matching pair, because strong connections are highly valued in Socktopia.

Design

Finding a Solution

In order to identify a solution to single Socktopians’ need to find their matching pair, I looked again to the insights I uncovered in the discovery phase.

In particular, noting that collaboration, hobbies, and community rather than material goods were valuable to Socktopians led me to the conclusion that a collaborative service rather than a product would be the most appealing and effective way for Socktopians to tackle loneliness.

Solutions that work in our world like dating apps would resonate less with those in Socktopia, potentially perpetuating loneliness.

Because Socktopians value connection, we designed a dating service built on personal counseling with “master matchmakers” who help make matches and design dates.

SoleMates Matchmaking

SoleMates is a matchmaking service as unique and charming as the Socktopians themselves. It is designed to embrace the unique qualities of the fabric-based society, fostering connections based on patterns, colors, interests, and the joy of shared experiences. It is a place where Socktopians can weave beautiful bonds, celebrate their individuality, and discover love in their charming, sock-shaped world.

Mission

SoleMates' mission is to weave the fabric of love in Socktopia, leaving no sock lonely. Our aim is to celebrate the uniqueness of each "sole" and foster connections that go beyond the fabric, stitching together hearts in a way that's as vibrant and joyful as the socks in Socktopia. We believe that love should be a playful adventure, and our mission is to help our members find their perfect pair to embark on this colorful journey of life together.

Branding

Branding for SoleMates is inspired by threads that tie us to our loved ones. Our logo references the tradition of "tying the knot” when two socks make a committment to spending the rest of their lives together. Our tagline lets customers know exactly what they can hope to gain from our services while making a pun about matching pairs of socks to set the tone of the lighthearted and positive atmosphere foster.

Color Palette

Our color pallete represents a wide range of colors to create a welcoming atmosphere for socks of different patterns and colors, promoting the value of diversity socks in Socktopolis share.

Typography

Our fontfaces are soft and delicate, but playful. This reflects the low-pressure tone that SoleMates wants to set for customers entering the dating scene. Our headline font also plays off of the Celtic knots featured in our logo.

Deliver

Features

Services

Events

Reaching the Socktopians

Deciding on a Platform

Because Socktopians are not driven by materialism as much as they value connection, the most successful marketing campaigns in Socktopia are typically participatory, encouraging potential customers to interact with brands.

Threads is the premier social media in this sockciety, and Socktopians love to engage with their favorite brands over this social media.

Marketing in Threads

Threads is a unique platform right now in that it does not have any hashtag functionality, but instead tracks related posts based upon replies and tagged users.

To spread the name of SoleMates and engage potential customers, we ran a contest campaign on Threads. Users were encouraged to participate by replying to the thread or tagging SoleMates in a post with their significant sock for the chance to win a free beach-side dinner.

When different users reply or post, this image shows on all of their connections' feeds. This lonely socks where they are: on social media. The posts will give them hope in love while exposing them to the SoleMates brand.

Takeaways

Lessons Learned

Start Early

For a digital tool, AI is very unpredictable. I had a difficult time meeting deadlines for some deliverables because I relied on the AI to be quick and easy. Even with experience, it takes time and effort to craft a quality AI response.

Iterate, Iterate, Iterate!!

I imagine AI tools as a bit like genies. You never know how they will interpret what you say to them.It was far too easy to simply hit the refresh button, but also far too ineffective. I found that if I wrote three different versions of the prompt, they would produce three very different types of generations even if they meant the same thing to us in English.

I found that if I tweaked my prompts or tried shorter prompts in isolation before putting them together, I got much more desirable results.

Go with the AI Flow

Current AI technologies are very powerful, but they have their limitations. One of the most important lessons I learned was how to move past the idea of a composition I had in my head and follow the AI’s lead. Sometimes I even liked what the AI came up with more than what I had imagined!

Tools Practiced

ChatGPT

Midjourney

Adobe Illustrator

Skills Practiced

AI Prompt Authoring

Empathy

Needfinding

Pun Writing