Archive · UX/UI
tonica
A social app for musicians to find co-writers and finish tracks together
Musicians who write at home find it hard to meet co-writers who share their style, pace and taste, and when they do, the work gets lost between files and chats. tonica is a social network where you find those people, keep drafts, tasks and comments in one place, and get feedback on a demo long before it is finished.
It is hard for musicians to find co-writers who match them in style, pace of work and view of music.
Problem
It is hard for musicians to find co-writers who match them in style, pace of work and view of music. Even when they do, the process falls apart: ideas get lost between files and chats, and there is no single place to work together.
At the early stages they also have nowhere to share demos and drafts with a community and get timely, professional feedback, which slows them down and stops tracks from ever being finished.
The audience is musicians and songwriters who write at home or in small studios, look for co-writers and want to share drafts before release. I surveyed young independent musicians about how they look for partners, how they get feedback and how they work remotely. Feedback turned out to be wanted but only available from a close circle, and remote work happens, but scattered across messengers. About fifteen musicians answered. I also looked at SoundCloud and BandLab, which cover publishing and recording but not finding the right person.
Job stories
When I want constructive criticism of my music, I want it from people at my level or above, so I can share my work with a community of qualified musicians who give useful advice.
When I'm looking for a co-writer for a project, I want someone with similar taste and way of working without spending ages on it, so I can find partners by character and style of life, not only by role.
When I work on a project remotely, I want all our materials and workflow in one place, so we can work together at a distance without friction.
Design
The graphic system is simple: Bitum and Gilroy, and four colours, violet, teal, coral and green, one for each part of the app. The icon is a single note on a green tile.
Result
A prototype of the app, with the feed, co-writer search, shared projects and chat, and a landing page.
Credits
- Mockups: stock templates
HSE Art and Design School, BA Communication Design