Defining core identity
I set out with two goals, providing research backed guidance, and being transparent about it unless it hurts me. From a visual standpoint that meant a mix of educational but supportive. We don't leverage anxiety in our core messaging, no gamification in our designs, just facts and being honest when we're currently not sure.
For the core visual palette and stylings, I went back to card catalogs and old recipe boxes. They’re tangible, highly organized, informative, and easy to access. The simple tab based structure isn’t something I’ve seen used in a product, and the concept resonates clearly with the core brand tenets.
Screens not final
For naming, I leaned on a personal love of ancient history, matching names against actual market usage, registration, and trademarks. The final choice of EZINA, comes from ancient Sumerian mythology, she was sometimes depicted as the goddess of grain. The accompanying mark is partially Sumerian cuneiform for god or goddess, adjustments were made to bring it more into the world of nature instead of incised clay.
Typography
The mix of educational but pleasant to look at means a hybrid approach to text treatments. Cabinet Grotesk was chosen for its increasing similarity to the logo at heavy weights, with its smooth indenting curves, and narrow cuts and eyes. It reads very dry in large sections of copy, so we primarily use it for headers and labels. It also lacks any italic/oblique versions. For the body copy we went with Source Serif 4, a clearer homage to educational texts that lays in well in large volumes, and its subtle tapering in the serifs flows well with Cabinet. Both selections are Open-Source, a clear nod to what Ezina is built on and following our motto of "Grow better, together."
Colors
Most plant based apps use 2 colors, white and green. While green can be a great signal to viewers as to what this app applies to at a glance, it's a secondary color at best, typically tertiary that grounds other options. We went with an eggshell as our base, soft but earthy. Neutral but more memorable. The palette is NOT final, and I expect tweaks based off user feedback from Alpha testers.
01
Building core user flow + monitoring
The main user flow for mvp was as follows: login→home→add plants/groups→optional add via photo or manual search (indexed against our DB w/ pictures)→ confirm snooze/confirm warnings for watering, pest management, and significant inclement weather (heatwaves, hail, etc.)
An in app reporting/feature suggestion was setup as a 2 click process during testing, on every screen the user can click the orange "bug" icon which pulls up a sheet they must fill out and submit. On submission all phone data (model, software, app version, etc.) is captured along with a screenshot and sent to a monitoring dashboard that was designed.
Screens not final
Screens not final
02
Education through exploration
Common plant questions boil down to one of the following:
- What is this?
- Why is it like this?
- What should I do?
The Ezina Library has cross referenced information, with photoID capabilities that allow users to view, learn, and confirm treatment for potentially impacted plants. All photos contain proper accreditation viewable on click and prevention/treatment having a citable source instead of just best guess. The zone maps and occurrence windows were designed once, then Claude built all possible permutations that are lightweight SVG's that can be swapped in as needed.
Screens not final
03
Marketing site
Creating a memorable brand experience even in Alpha is important. I heavily utilized the tab treatments throughout for better organization on z axis stacking of containers as needed. The inclusion of select cards from the UI provides soft suggestions to the user of what to expect without spelling it outright. It also gives the brand space to showcase the beauty of nature, which resonates with the audience.
04
Ezina Dig: Meaningful onboarding with data tailored to your property, and your needs.
Dig is Ezina's proprietary suggestion and planning engine (currently in 0.1). With 9 services meshed together so far, we can provide a unique onboarding experience for anyone interested in outdoor gardening. Dig can evaluate factors such as water runoff, erosion, light/shade, (and more to come) and use your inputs from budget, time, what you want to grow, and other restrictions to provide an accurate suggestion that will only get better with time.
Future planned additions include:
- detailed long term planning for whatever you're wanting to grow. Seed→Prep→Maintain→Harvest→Clean
- isometric bed designer with budgeter based on local product cost. Includes printable diagrams for construction
- (Additional capabilities driven by user feedback)
Screens not final
