Hattie Abbott
Graphic Communication and Illustration
A campaign to launch the release of audiobooks on Spotify. The campaign promotes audiobooks as the next stage of learning for Gen Z after podcasts. Audiobooks on Spotify are led by skill for Gen Z to empower themselves with the skills they need that a classroom may fail to do.
Final year project
Audiobooks on Spotify: Empowering the curious
Visual Identity for Spotify Audiobooks launch
Following on from podcasts, Spotify is launching audiobooks as the next best educational tool for Gen Z to learn how to become better versions of themselves.
More than just music, Spotify is the place to become the person you want to be. Audiobooks on Spotify provide the gateway to learning new skills, insights and advice - by listening you can achieve anything to want to achieve. The smart way to use technology, you have to switch off from the digital world, to switch on for what you will become tomorrow.
Gen Z is fixated on learning, discovering and entrepreneurship, if they are going to put time into something, they want to know that they will be gaining something from it. This is where other audiobook sites fail because they promote audiobooks as mere escapes from the real world. Spotify's answer is to lead audiobooks by skill and outcome, to celebrate future achievement and success.
The Spotify Audiobooks Microsite
Discover what you can learn, to be a better you.
The additional element of a microsite, as part of the launch, celebrates the concept of discovery and connection. The microsite allows Spotify users to add skills they have, or want to have, from a skillset bank to their username in order to find audiobook suggestions to help them enhance, or achieve, these skills. The fluid design is inspired by educational and scientific Venn Diagrams and symbols to allow for the crossing over of skills and embody the ever-changing skillset of a person as they learn more.
Clicking on a skill will take the user to Spotify's audiobook suggestions, as well as the ability to connect with other users who share an interest in similar skills. There is also the ability to discover other educational platforms based on the skill, such as podcasts, influences, apps or tv shows to help enhance their learning.
More than just music, Spotify really care for the growth of its users by giving them the tools to empower themselves outside of the classroom.
This is where they lie: A 5m x 42cm illustration made entirely out of loose poppy seeds
“This is where they lie” is an interactive art experience that sees the next generation lay down poppy seeds for an artist, from a viewing platform, to help complete a large-scale illustrated art piece.
Royal British Legion do an excellent job in branding World War One and Two Remembrance, however, it is often forgotten that Remembrance Day stands to commemorate all those affected by war: both old, modern, present, and even future. Younger generation engagement and involvement are decreasing, but who can blame them if Remembrance is so heavily branded to think of wars that are so unimaginable before their lifetime?
The brief challenge was to find a way to give Remembrance Day a refreshing platform that will inspire and involve the young and upcoming generation to be educated and inspired by what the modern Remembrance Day stands for in 2022.
Empower: Spotify Audiobook Festival
A final element to the launch of audiobooks on Spotify is the proposal for a festival of learning, called Empower.
The event will be held in city parks, and feature advice talks and workshops from top authors, CEOs and influencers to help inspire, teach and educate the next generation on real-life skills and inspiring motivation that may not be taught in the classroom. The Empower event will also include listening gardens which provide a beautiful natural space for listeners to focus on their learning, alongside market stalls which sell notepads, headphones and other accessories to help enhance Gen Z's audiobook learning and listening experience.
The Empower event aims to raise awareness of audiobooks now being on Spotify, but also to remind audiences (both new and existing) that Spotify is more than just music, and they want to be there for their users whenever they put headphones on.
This is where they lie: A close up image demonstrating the poppy seed medium
The poppy seeds used to create the illustration are symbolic of life affected by war. Not being stuck down, as the artist works, one wrong move or a single gust of wind could ruin the piece completely.
The concept of using poppy seeds for the entire piece is symbolic of how one wrong move, or an unpredicted event, could destroy the life of a soldier at war, or refugee at sea.
Each individual poppy seed used represents a human individual.
- Individual lives that have/are affected by war
- Individual people from the next generation have come together to add the seeds and take an active stand to keep Remembrance Day alive by participating.
This is where they lie: an example of how the event would be captured on social media to encourage other users to come and participate in the experience
The art piece tells a seamless story of past, present and future warfare, which is symbolic of the next generation actively coming together to respect, honour and learn about these war heroes and stories. The piece’s completion represents the survival of Remembrance Day.
It aims to inspire and remind the next generation what Remembrance Day is and the importance of keeping it alive. It also hopes to educate the audience on current-war affairs that are happening in our world today which we may not initially consider.
The hope is that once the piece has been completed, the participants will share it on social media as a call to action to encourage others to come and take part in contributing more poppy seeds for the piece to be completed.
Netflix Uncovered: D&AD Entry with Louise Gillespie
Just because it’s hard to find, doesn’t mean it isn’t worth finding.
55% of all content on Netflix is non-English, but this content can sometimes be hard to find.
For fear of getting it wrong, 18-34-year-old users stick to English content they already know and can easily find, meaning that they miss out on a wealth of opportunities which non-English content has to offer.
Netflix Uncovered opens the door to new non-English stories within the Netflix interface. By comparing the familiar with the unfamiliar, Netflix Uncovered aims to inspire cultural curiosity and connect users all over the world.
Netflix Uncovered: D&AD Entry with Louise Gillespie
Just because it’s hard to find, doesn’t mean it isn’t worth finding.
55% of all content on Netflix is non-English, but this content can sometimes be hard to find.
For fear of getting it wrong, 18-34-year-old users stick to English content they already know and can easily find, meaning that they miss out on a wealth of opportunities which non-English content has to offer.
Netflix Uncovered opens the door to new non-English stories within the Netflix interface. By comparing the familiar with the unfamiliar, Netflix Uncovered aims to inspire cultural curiosity and connect users all over the world.
Hattie Abbott
Final year project
Audiobooks on Spotify: Empowering the curious
Awards
Alongside my creativity, the sport has played a great part in my degree life at Loughborough. Whilst studying Graphic Design and Illustration, I have also been the Captain for the Women's First Lacrosse Team and excelled in the student-athlete lifestyle. It has been a great achievement to have led the team this year alongside my studies, where we have won more games this year and finished as one of the top teams in the league. After being close to relegation in previous years, I am very proud to have supported and led the team to where we are today. Being able to balance my sporting commitments with my design has allowed me to thrive throughout my final year at Loughborough, where much of my creative inspiration has come from the diversity of people I associate with day-to-day.
Work Experience
During my placement year, I worked at Gymshark as a Creative Intern. My internship saw me spend six months as an Artworker, and then a final eight months as a Creative Art Director.
Working as an Artworker was an amazing chance for me to really develop my Adobe software skills, where I spent most of my days receiving briefs for social media assets, email designs or website banners. I was lucky enough to have the chance to also do the illustrations for the six-figure Whitney Simmons clothing launch, as well as design a double-decker bus for the Gymshark 'We Gift The City' Christmas Event. The bus toured all over the country and it was a very technically demanding process designing on such a large scale, which challenged my design skills.
My time as a Creative Art Director allowed my love for learning and ideation to shine. I found a new career path that encompassed both my love for design, as well as my talent for ideation. The main highlight of this role was leading and directing the Katie Taylor fight promotional launch, where my shoot content and concept have recently been shown at Madison Square Gardens from her fight in May 2022. I also learnt how to make decisions fast and take control, which was demonstrated as I was given the challenge of leading a £300,000 budget shoot, where I was the only Gymshark member present due to the rest of the team coming down with COVID.
One of the main learnings I took from this job was to never let anyone dull on your own sparkle. Thrive in your passion, your personality and your interest. You should not strive to be the best, but strive to be the only. There is no such thing as failure, only feedback, and any criticism you receive on a design is never personal - it is simply part of the puzzle-solving process to reach the end goal of a successful brand.