This is an app designed for the Adobe IconContestXD. Instead of the usual travel app, I wanted to create something a bit different. As long as I can remember, I've been fascinated with ghost stories so I thought it would be fun to design an app that allows users to see where hauntings are purported to happen in Vancouver, read some stories (preferably by flashlight beside a campfire), and add new ghosts that Vancouverites need to know about. 

Being that my hometown, Vancouver, is a relatively new city, especially compared to cities in Europe or Asia, one might think that there aren't many ghostly inhabitants. Surprisingly, there are hauntings with origin stories that are as recent as the 1990's. In fact, one of the stories I vividly remember was about ghosts that resided in a house built in the late 1980's and its first hauntings being reported in the early 1990's (this is the Cambie house that I have featured in this app).

I envision this app being a fun app to experience and share haunted places with other thrill seekers. The scope of it is small, and I tried to design an experience around someone who uses the app periodically and not daily like Instagram, or Facebook. In apps that are accessed a lot, they can get away with having a very minimal interface with little to no text. Because Vancouver Ghost Hunters app would not likely be used often, I tried to make the design clear, and tried to make functionality obvious. 

The ghost icon that pervades the app is meant to riff on the idea of a location tag in traditional map/travel apps, and I tried not to get too carried away with the ghost iconography. Without further adieu, welcome to the Vancouver Ghost Hunter app!

The launch screen shows the ghost mascot and quickly transitions to the Home Screen. The default is search with the user being able to choose to go to the following screens: Nearby, Stories, Add Ghost, Inbox and Profile. The default map view shows where the user is by the circular profile picture, and also has ghost pins for ghosts stories that have locations nearby. The typical Target and Settings buttons are available overlaid over the map.

The Nearby screen allows a user to sort the ghosts that nearest to them. The downwards triangle at the top right allows filter options if there are a lot of ghosts nearby. Otherwise, the default is to list nearby ghost in alphabetical order.

The Stories screen is a list of all the ghost stories in Vancouver. It is more of a swipe-to-discover style of navigation. All ghost stories will be listed here along with a Read More button to take a user to the full ghost story page.

The Add Ghost screen allows user to add a new ghost story. The user adds the ghost name, the address, story and appropriate images. Each story is curated and approved by the app developer to ensure content that is up to quality standards.

The Inbox screen is for messaging between users. The plus icon at the bottom right allows the creation of new conversations.

The Profile screen is features information about the user. There are duplicate links to their Inbox and App Settings. In addition, there is a Favorites button that allows the user to view all the ghost stories that they have added to their favorites. The user can unfavorite a ghost by pressing the Heart icon on the top right of each image. The story will then disappear from their favorites.

These are ten well-known haunted locations in Vancouver. For each story, there are images, a written ghost story and history, an option to Favorite the story, the option to rate the story, and a map with a Directions button. The button will send the address out to the user's map app of choice.

Thanks for viewing the Vancouver Ghost Hunter app. I had a lot of fun putting this together. Cheers!

For this project, I used the above five icons from the Anton + Irene icon kit. I got a bit creative with the use of the folder icon and turned it on its side to make a sort of book with the Stories icon. 

Ghost icon was heavily modified from one by Dryicons

​​​​​​​Beatty Street Drill Hall by Bobanny

Gabriola House by Joe Mabel

Gaoler's Mews by Xiao23

Hycroft Manor by Iota 9

Lamplighter by Anthony Maw

Orpheum by Michael Thoeny

Pacific Spirit Park by Visa110nick

Irving K. Barber Library by Skyezx

Vogue Theatre by Arnold C