Project Context
OFFbeat is a capstone project at Langara College for the Web and Mobile App Design and Development program, delivered by a cross-functional design and development team over a 12-week term.
The brief required a marketable multi-platform solution with a working MVP, authentication and cloud services, a complete product design system, and marketing materials for launch.
Our team created OFFbeat, a digital travel journal for people to discover and document unique experiences beyond obvious tourist spots. I was responsible for the brand and interface design and collaborated with developers to turn that idea into a cohesive, implementation-ready product across app, site, and campaign.
The brief required a marketable multi-platform solution with a working MVP, authentication and cloud services, a complete product design system, and marketing materials for launch.
Our team created OFFbeat, a digital travel journal for people to discover and document unique experiences beyond obvious tourist spots. I was responsible for the brand and interface design and collaborated with developers to turn that idea into a cohesive, implementation-ready product across app, site, and campaign.
Research and Strategy
The landscape analysis showed strong demand for distinctive travel content, yet planning tools often felt noisy and generic. Ad-heavy review sites, unreliable ratings, and repetitive “top 10” lists made it hard to trust recommendations or find authentic spots.
Our research pointed to a gap for curated, credible discovery with simple journalling. People wanted fewer, better recommendations with clear context, an easy way to save and map places, and an intuitive structure to reuse across trips. These needs shaped OFFbeat as a focused platform that highlights lesser-known spots without the noise.
Designing for Adventurers
I designed the OFFbeat brand to be instantly recognizable and reliable at small sizes. It reflects an audience that prefers detours over crowds, giving them a symbol that feels like their own while building connection across touchpoints. The identity is versatile, with logo forms tailored to context so it stays clear and legible in different scenarios.
The design system turns style into speed. Standardized typography and modular components make screens predictable to build and easy to maintain. It keeps teams aligned, reduces rework, and scales cleanly as new features and locales are added.
I also designed branded gear that takes OFFbeat beyond the screen and into everyday use, builds recognition on trips and in photos, and creates pride of belonging while giving the team assets for events and partnerships.
The Digital Experience
OFFbeat helps you plan, capture, and share your trips from first idea to final photo. Create a journal, discover places that matter, and keep everything organized in one simple flow.
Users can share moments as a clean, trustworthy story or keep them private until they’re ready to publish. A Moment is the building block of each journal entry: it records where you were and when it happened, with notes, tags, and images. Moments stack into a clear timeline that maps your route and keeps details organized across a trip.
People can start a new journal in one tap and add notes and photos as they go. They can pick a preset like weekend trip, road trip, hiking, or camping to keep entries consistent. Explore Nearby shows trusted places in map and grid views with quick search. A simple bottom nav keeps paths short from browse to save to share. Those trip-type presets mirror what we saw in research, so setup feels familiar and fast for our core users.
A lightweight site supports launch and discovery. It previews key flows and drives downloads, keeping messaging and visuals aligned with the app.
From Brief to Launch
We delivered a cohesive MVP that puts the idea into practice: a recognizable identity, a consistent interface, and real flows for planning trips, capturing moments, and sharing the story, with launch supported by a focused marketing site.
The system is built to grow. A cross-platform build with authentication and cloud storage underpins the app, while the design system of type, tokens, and reusable components keeps new screens predictable and accessible.
We fulfilled the academic brief and introduced an experience that helps adventurers explore differently and tell better stories, earning the audience’s top selection at presentation.
The system is built to grow. A cross-platform build with authentication and cloud storage underpins the app, while the design system of type, tokens, and reusable components keeps new screens predictable and accessible.
We fulfilled the academic brief and introduced an experience that helps adventurers explore differently and tell better stories, earning the audience’s top selection at presentation.