C-IDEA Design awords 2023 — gold in the nomination “visual and communication”
Back to Travel is a comprehensive travel media platform where readers can discover new and unconventional tourist routes in the most captivating places on our planet.
The content for Back to Travel is created by both the media editorial team and users of the closed community – seasoned travelers and charismatic locals who know their countries best.
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Our research was divided into two stages. In the first stage, we looked into existing travel services in the market and their value propositions. In the second stage, we conducted 15 in-depth interviews with active travelers to learn about the problems they frequently encounter.
Through our research, we identified the main problem: travelers cannot fully trust the content provided by popular travel services like Google Maps, Booking, and TripAdvisor. Often, the information published there turns out to be outdated or irrelevant for various reasons. The most valuable recommendations on where to go and what to see are obtained through interactions with locals or fellow travelers who have recently visited the destination.
Having identified this problem, we presented the client with several product solutions. Additionally, our research confirmed the client's initial hypothesis, and we proceeded with its implementation.
The first thing we tackled was logo design. The designed logo captures the ease of embarking on a journey: just get up and go, wherever you are. Moreover, we wanted the logo to exude a sense of constant motion, so we included the option for animation. The depicted traveler's legs can quite literally walk, but they can also run, jump, or even dance. To achieve realistic animation, we drew inspiration from videos featuring people engaging in these activities in real life.
Next, we moved on to developing the brand identity. The key colors we chose for the brand identity are reminiscent of real places: deserts, black sands, the sea, mountainous terrain, and forests. We kept these colors in their natural shades, exactly as you would see them in real life if you were in the locations we drew inspiration from.
We aimed to align the visual elements with the project's concept – you can venture to places you've never been or see familiar places through a completely different perspective. This led us to incorporate the concept of overlaying. It transforms parts of the image into different colors, allowing us to see the familiar from a different angle.
When creating the brand identity, we also utilized MidJourney AI. With the help of a reference image, which sets a specific color palette, texture, and visual style, along with a specially designed prompt, the AI can generate an endless variety of illustrations for Back To Travel when photographs are insufficient, all of which maintain a consistent style.
The primary content feed on the website is called the Stream. It consists of blocks arranged in a simple grid format that serve as teasers for different types of content on the site. Within the Stream, the routes are the ones that truly stand out, easily recognizable by the distinctive Back to Travel logo featuring animated walking traveler's legs.
At the heart of the homepage is the Map. Similar to the Stream, the Map encompasses all the site's content, but it is organized geographically, by location. Thanks to the Map, site visitors can easily find materials related to their desired destinations. This can be done either through the search bar by entering the desired city or country or simply by locating the place on the map. As the number of Back to Travel readers and contributors grows, the map will be filled with dots from all over the world.
The website is currently in development. In addition to the part that will be visible to every reader, we are also developing a content management system (CMS) to manage the site's content. The user-friendly CMS allows authors to upload materials to the site and edit them using a visual editor.
Programming languages, libraries, and frameworks used for development include React.js, Typescript, Next.js, Tailwind CSS, Jest, Node.js, Nest.js, Typeform, and Cypress. As for the database development, we are utilizing PostgreSQL, Vercel, AWS S3, and AWS EC2.The website will be ready very soon, and we will definitely let you know when it goes live, so stay tuned!
