Designers: Novel Effect Design, Novel Effect, Inc., Seattle, Washington USA
Manufacturer: Novel Effect, Inc., Seattle, Washington, USA
Designed and developed entirely in≠house by a woman≠led and majority≠female team the Novel Effect app works side≠by≠side with hundreds of classic and popular children’s books to turn even beginning readers into master storytellers. Our free mobile app keeps up with your voice as you read aloud from a print book and plays music sound effects and character voices custom≠made for every story. The soundscapes sync in real≠time wherever you are in the book. You can skip pages pause to talk about the illustrations and read your favorite parts again—all without missing a beat. Designing a digital product that serves as a supplement to an already familiar real≠world experience came with its fair share of unique design challenges. Working with our users and collecting data we created a comfortable straightforward experience for this new type of storytelling medium.
Homes and classrooms around the world are embracing voice technology and Novel Effect is setting a new bar for what people can expect from voice≠driven content. Our innovative story≠based experiences add dimension interactivity and fun to traditional media — a nd we do it using voice technology to reduce the distraction normally associated with screens and devices. Novel Effect helps you bring your focus back to one another and celebrates the moments we spend together a rarity for mobile apps and most modern tech products.
Visual Design
A company rebrand laid the groundwork for the visual tone and imagery in the Novel Effect app. A fresh logo derived as an evolution of our previous one includes a more modern mark with a charming smile nodding to the company’s friendly nature. Lowercase san≠serif letterforms with hand≠touched modifications make the logo feel warm and human while also contemporary and capable of fitting seamlessly into the current marketplace. Our modern and friendly visual motif is carried throughout the app experience. Flat vectorized illustrations guide the user through onboarding appear on collection tiles and serve as symbology throughout the app. Aglet Slab a chunky serif typeface was deliberately selected to create a literary tone appropriate for celebrating books and reading the mission at the core of both our product and our company.
Content Features
Integrating Novel Effect into storytime is as simple as selecting a book and pressing play. Fluid feedback in the form of audio and visual cues give new users and beginning readers reassurance that they’re ‘doing it right.’ After pressing play a branded start chime lets you know it’s time to begin reading aloud. The progress wheel advances as you move through the story even if you choose to skip a few pages. Just below a volume meter reacts to microphone input and can indicate if a noisy environment is interfering.
At the core of the Novel Effect experience are soundscapes made up of layered music and sound effects. Each is thoughtfully designed by professional composers and sound designers to celebrate the spirit of the story. These combined with your voice and the book at hand create a multi≠sensory experience that brings the story to life° Simply read aloud as you normally would and the app does what it was designed to do—add a little magic to those special moments and make you a storytime hero.
Within the app books are organized to make it quick and easy to find discover or revisit. Categorized shelves featured books and curated collections create visual interest and hierarchy within the ‘Home’ area which is regularly updated to keep content fresh. The collections created by educators and parents provide a valuable source of recommendations when browsing for new books. The ‘My Library’ feature offers personalization and convenience with three views for managing content. ßRecently Readß presents a chronological view of books you have read. ‘Favorites’ serves as a personal reading list to refer back to when you’re at the library in the bookstore or in front of your own bookshelf. ‘Downloads’ provides full control over the number of Soundscapes stored on a device for easy offline access.