Work

Archaic

An e-commerce marketplace specializing in vintage music equipment

Two logos; on top "ARCHAIC" in a geometric typeface with the crossbar of the first A replaced with a saw wave, on bottom just the A from above.
A laptop with a website for Archaic, with a banner "NOTHING SOUNDS QUITE LIKE IT.", a "top brands" grid and "hot listings" grid.
An iPhone with Instagram open, viewing an advertisement. Big text "NOTHING SOUNDS QUITE LIKE IT." at the top, "Vintage drum machines, synthesizers, samplers and more at great prices." at the bottom, the the Archaic logo below.
Two bits of text in a humanist sans-serif typeface "Freight Sans", on the left bold cream-colored text on black background "NOTHING SOUNDS QUITE LIKE IT." On the right, black text on cream-colored background "Sometimes, you need to go backwards to go forwa

Archaic is a fictional e-commerce platform providing musicians the ability to buy and sell vintage music equipment, especially electronics, such as synthesizers, drum machines, samplers and pedals. For many musicians, the limitations and quirks of vintage gear is just the right tool to spawn creativity; Archaic seeks to provide musicians these tools simply and efficiently.

Archaic's identity seeks to align with 80s and 90s instrument creators and advertisers, but fit for a modern era. It should create nostalgia, but still feel fresh and versatile for the future.

Assorted logo sketches

Many sketches centered around physical representations, like cassettes and knobs, but a more abstract representation that could pair easily with type made the logo more versatile and match the direction and simplicity of the gear and their creators.

A friendly humanist sans-serif is most appropriate, recognizing the wide range of typefaces featured in vintage magazine adverts. Freight Sans was chosen for its warmth, personality, flexibility and readability.

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Village of Carthage

A website for my hometown

The Village of Carthage in New York is where I grew up, and it needs a great website for its community to stay informed, with a wide variety of users.

The current website is lacking in clear navigation and consistency, understandably so for a small village. Accessibility issues like text in images and articles as PDFs are also concerns.

I visited the websites of other towns and villages in New York for reference on structure and layout. Two in particular were Canton and Liverpool, which had more intuitive navigation and layouts.

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North Country Arts

A non-profit organization supporting local artists

North Country Arts is a nonprofit organization supporting and promoting local artists in northern New York state. With the increasing accuracy of AI-generated artworks, human artists must seek the most human-like element of their work, imperfection. This identity seeks to reflect on human creativity and individuality; as one seeks to differentiate themselves, maintain humanity and refuse to sand off the edges.

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Natter

A mobile app for creating local connections through sharing music

A black logo on a yellow background, "natter", in graffiti tag style
A mockup of the Natter app on a phone
Three screens from the Natter app, in the center the exchange screen from the previous image, on the left a home screen, and on the right a user profile

Natter is a social music experience focused on creating local connections and music discovery. Automatically share the details of music you're listening to with passerby, to create new connections and fall in love with new music.

The Problem

How can a mobile app create local connections through music?Research indicates that Americans are making fewer friends and spending less time with their friends as a whole in recent years. But it also indicates how music can be a powerful tool for connection, and I want to harness that power and present an app design that resonates with young people to encourage making new friends and sharing music.

The Solution

In 2011, Nintendo released the 3DS handheld gaming console. It had a feature that allowed nearby 3DS systems to connect wirelessly and share data such as your name, favorite game, and a greeting, as well as play games using the avatars of passerby. This concept has been hardly explored and I referenced it for my solution after reading how its users were able to connect first digitally and then in the real world.Natter would allow users to share the music they're currently listening to with nearby users. It's goal is to give users the opportunity to connect face-to-face if they're interested in the music another person shares with them.In essence, it's a band shirt for your phone.

The Identity

Natter is about being bold and showcasing one's personality. The identity centers around graffiti and tagging, which are forms of expression and community. As such, type and colors are bold, loud, and expressive.

An exhibit in a gallery. To the left, a poster wrapped around a pillar, with various representations of the Natter app and identity. To the right, a large television with a video playing, where two students are sitting on a bench listening to music

This was my RIT capstone project, which required an exhibit at the University Gallery. For my exhibit, I created a pedestal with blank stickers and markers encouraging visitors to write and share music they've been listening to.Thank you Keli DiRisio for the photograph.

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About

I'm Liam Donnell, a graduate from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design and a minor in mobile design & development.

In my free time, I enjoy black-and-white photography, producing spooky music, and playing video games with my friends.

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