Creation Guide
The purpose of this post is to show that anyone, even with just basic knowledge, can create their own guide and then branch out into building a website and a way to promote it, all while understanding exactly what needs to be done and how to go about it.
Who am I?
Hi, I'm Andreea Stefanoiu. The project I am about to exhibit was carried out in my 3-month Erasmus experience in Maribor, Slovenia, which I completed immediately after graduating from high school. During this time I have carried out a very large project considering the foundations I had and the expectations I placed on myself. I started out afraid of arriving at work and not knowing where to get my hands on the tasks they would assign me. This project has allowed me to expand my creativity and learn about new software platforms I've worked with. I've managed to do much more than I thought, and I'm satisfied with the work I've done.
The aim
Create a main guide to the village and two secondary guides covering the nearby mountains and beaches
Create a website that describes the village and links to the guides that have been produced.
Find ways to promote the guide.
Guide
The first phase involved selecting the various locations to be included in the guide and gathering all relevant information for each one, choosing a photograph to accompany the description for every location.
To decide which places to feature, I put myself in a tourist's shoes and tried to offer as diverse a selection of destinations as possible.
Art & Culture
For those who love visiting churches with their frescoes and historical details, the village is full of them, as well as museums that each tell different stories.
Parks
I thought it appropriate to include some of the green spaces found in the village, so that people know there is also room to spend quiet moments while enjoying a breathtaking view.
Food & tradition
There is also room for those seeking tradition expressed through food; with the presence of many restaurants and bars here, it is easy to find.
The second step involved summarizing and translating each description, retaining only the information that was most interesting or useful for understanding the history of the place.
The third step
It involved the physical creation of each location entry in the guide, carried out by inputting all the previously gathered information and noting the source for each piece of data.
Each of these steps was carried out for every location. Subsequently, the process was repeated to create the other two guides as well.
The project
Once all the guides were created, the project title "Ripatransone: Nestled between sea and mountain" was established, bringing all three guides together in one place.
Visual component
At this stage, changes are being implemented across various components, such as icons and fonts. The most significant change concerns the colors of every element present; the colors were selected based on a rationale linked to the village being depicted.
#B0AF41
Olive Green was chosen because the village is recognized as an "City of Oil" due to its significant oil production.
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Kidney Red was chosen because the village is recognized as a "City of Wine" due to its significant wine production.
Comunication
Once the guide was finished, the next phase was creating the website that serves as a description of Ripatransone.
Button that redirects to the app's website
A title describing the village in three words
A brief introductory description
These are the names of the four hill-shaped strongholds, as the village is situated on a hill.
The coat of arms of the Municipality of Ripatransone
Since the site focuses primarily on describing Ripatransone, as well as what can be visited there and in the surrounding area, it covers a variety of useful topics.
How can you travel?Where can you eat?Where can you sleep?
Including information on how to reach the town and how to get around within it is very useful for being aware of all the available options.
Providing a list of places where people can go for a full meal or a quick energy boost is very helpful for planning purposes, as it lets them know what to bring along and what to leave behind.
Listing places where one can stay is a way to entice people to spend more days in the town, exploring both the town itself and the surrounding area.
Promote
To promote the app, we have pursued two approaches.
A POST
A FLYER
As you can see, the main feature employed is the use of wordplay, designed to make the tone less formal and to convey what the village has to offer in just a few words.
post
Many icons and photos were used to represent each post during their creation. All topics were covered, with each one featuring its own dedicated page.
On the first page, I encapsulated the main concept, and in every corner, I wanted to add distinctive symbols and the logos.
On the second page, I tried to depict wandering around the city and seeing everything, starting with the churches, moving on to museum galleries, and finally visiting the green spaces.
On the third page, I have captured two of the main themes: food and tradition. The dish shown is a local specialty, while the alleyway is the main reason the town is so well-known.
The fourth page refers to the village's proximity to the sea, and this page is completed by the next one.
The fifth page complements the previous one, and in this instance, there is a reference to the proximity to the mountains.
The sixth and final page invites people to use the guide app, showing that it can be used on any device.
flyer
Wordplay
The chosen phrase was selected because the initial idea is to put up the flyer inside one of the restaurants in the village. Therefore, it seemed appropriate to make a reference to food and to the fact that, after eating, one should go visit the town.
Links
To direct users to the guide, I’ve included two options: scanning a QR code that links directly to it, or, beneath the code, listing the website name so that those unable to scan the code can still search for the site and reach the same destination.
Background
For the background, I included an aerial view of the city rendered as a vector line map. The colors used are shades of the same olive green found in the guide.
conclusions
If you would like a closer look at the app that was created and the village's website, the two links are provided below.