Air-Aid
My native country, the Philippines is prone to tropical depressions and typhoons due to its continental placement in the edge of the Pacific—causing power outages, flooding and abrupt closures among others. For the majority of Filipinos, the lack of real time warning systems, corresponding technology and geological limitations compromise health and security. Air-Aid was a system of drones and an app that gave access to supplies, as well as aided in rescue recons. Residents trapped in remote locations in the aftermath of typhoons could request for non-perishable food, medicine and water while awaiting for rescue. Air-Aid could also act as a rapid reconnaissance drone. Through values of legibility, safety and guidance, the app featured a step by step sequence of use to create natural interactions, while catering for users with different literacy levels. The use of a neumorphic language created dimensionality and hierarchy. Massimo Vignelli argued that “[discipline] is a bag of tools that allows us to design in a consistent manner from beginning to end” (Vignelli, 2010, p. 16). Influenced by this ethos, the strict use of grids in the lay-out created coherency, while references drawn from the drone’s physical form factor translated in to the app, created a continuity between the physical and the digital.
The app and visual components were designed in Adobe Illustrator and XD. Whereas the drone was modelled in Fusion360.
Vignelli, M. (2010). The Vignelli Canon. Lars Muller.
