The AFK Project

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THE A.D.D. GENERATION
The AFK project is a reaction to the current state of
acceptable social behaviour. The landscape of the so-
cial scene has drastically changed in recent years
with advent of smart phones, social media apps, and
ubiquitous access to the internet. Constant social
gratiﬁcation via social media apps is leading to socie-
ties development of F.O.M.O, or fear of missing out.
This fear is changing the standard socially acceptable
behaviour. Here poses the challenge.

5
REDEFINING SOCIAL
The solution to this lies within the accepted stan-
dards of what it means to be social, and realize how
this standard has changed over time. The addition of
technology does not excuse a degradation of social
etiquette. Redeﬁning social to embrace new technolo-
gies and communication media, while also encourag-
ing positive social behaviour is the goal of this pro-
ject. Redeﬁning what it means to be social in this day
in age is a necessity.

12 SIGNS THAT YOU'RE
ADDICTED TO SOCIAL MEDIA
(excerpts from full article)
Emma Power, a 19-year-old from Sevenoaks,
declares that she feels “panic-stricken
and physically sick” if she does not post
20 ‘selfies’ a day on Facebook. Well, at least
she admits she has a problem. Harry Wallop
takes a look at the 12 surest signs that you too
could be addicted to social media.
1.You can’t get beyond the main course in a
restaurant before you get out your phone
and Instagram the duck confit.
2.The very first thing you do when you wake
up is reach for your phone (always by the
side of your bed, in fact -- usually under your
pillow).
3.Your children catch you trying to post Face-
book updates while reading their bedtime
stories.
4.You greet friends at a party by their Twitter
handle. “Hey, @bobcat100, how are you?”
5.You can not visit the lavatory without using
the 23 available seconds to investigate how
8

many people have liked your photo. Snapchat-
ting a selfie while sitting on the loo is a proof
you have stopped understanding ba-
sic decent behaviour. Rather sadly, so-
cial media has killed off the immensely valu-
able and intrinsically British “loo book” mar-
ket. We now swipe, tap, scroll, wipe.
6.Brian from accounts, on a Monday morning,
asks how was your weekend. And your first
reaction is “What? did you not see all the
amazeball photos I posted on Instagram?
How can you not know that I had a *totes*
great time?” You say: “Er, it was nice.
Thanks.” And then think, I must unfollow
Brian, the ungrateful idiot.
7.You “like” your own updates on Facebook.
You “favourite” your own Tweets. You “like”
your own Instagram pics. You “pin” selfies on
Pinterest. Stop it. Now.
8.You “check in” at tube stations on the way to
work. You “check in” when you go out to get
your lunchtime Pret salad, you “check in” at
the pub after work. You want to “check in”
when you get home, but you suddenly realise
that though you have remembered your phone
(of course), you have forgotten your keys.
9.The first thing you do on hearing that some-
one famous has died is to Wiki their career
and urgently, in a panicky rush, find the ob-
scurest fact you can find about them so that
you can post an update. “So sad about David
Frost. Of course, his greatest achievement
was being offered a contract at Nottingham
Forest FC. #RIP”
10. Someone tells you a joke, and instead of
laughing out loud, you use the
phrase “lol”. As in, you actually open
your mouth and instead of uttering the purest,
most instinctive proof of humanity, you say
“lol.” And then you laugh at your own clever-
ness.
11. Watching the Great British Bake Off/
Downton/X-Factor your anxiety levels rise to
almost unbearable levels as you desperately
try to be the first person on your timeline to
tweet “Soggy Bottom/Mrs Patmore’s Eyes/
Has Simon had too much work done?”
12. You use the phrase “hashtag” in normal con-
versations. #fail. Or rather “Hashtag fail”
How we moderate..
9

LA RESTAURANT DISCOUNTS
FOR NO-PHONE DINING
(excerpts from full article)
Do you know how attached you are to your cell
phone? If you don’t, then a new discount of-
fered at Eva Restaurant in Los Angeles will help
you ﬁnd out.
The new policy offers 5 percent off
the total bill to diners that leave
their cell phones at the door.
Eva’s owner and chef, Mark Gold, said that pol-
icy was implemented to motivate diners to sit
back and enjoy their food and the people that
are actually there with them.
“We want people to try and connect. Our restau-
rant is kind of like home and that is the experi-
ence that we want to give to our customers,”
said Gold. “The phone is a distraction. We al-
ways see families and couples on their phones
and they just aren’t in the moment. We want
people to enjoy their company.”
Gold said that about 40 percent of his patrons
have taken advantage of his offer.
Recently, technology has become almost un-
avoidable in restaurants. It seems like food papa-
razzi are always at the ready to take pictures of
their food and upload it to various social media
such as Instagram and Pinterest. Not to mention
legions of diners tapping away at their smart
phones and taking calls, oblivious to those
around them.
Other restaurants have implemented similar poli-
cies to try to hinder cell phone usage, but Gold
hopes that his new policy will motivate people
to stop doing something that he is also guilty of.
“I’m guilty of it as well. When my wife and I go
to dinner it seems like the cell phone is part of
the table setting now. Every table you
look at, it’s a wine glass, the silver-
ware and the cell phone,” he joked.
10

13
GALLERY 2.1 CANDY CRUSH EXPERIENCE MAP

15
GALLERY 2.2 STARBUCKS EXPERIENCE MAP

v
17
UI DESIGN EXAMPLES
The following user interface design galleries are col-
lections of conceptual, structural and aesthetic ideas
that could be integrated into the AFK project. Exam-
ples of Social Categories, News, App Icons, Menus
and Flat Design are explored and used as inspiration.

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GALLERY 2.2 NEWSGALLERY 2.1 SOCIAL CATEGORIES GALLERY 2.3 APP ICONS

19
GALLERY 2.4 MENU GALLERY 2.5 FLAT DESIGN

AFK = AWAY FROM KEYBOARD
Used in live chatting to advise people that you will
not be responding until otherwise stated as you will
be away from the computer
22

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CONFIDENT + UNINTIMIDATING
PROUD + QUIET
PLAYFUL + PROFESSIONAL
POPULAR BUT DOES NOT CARE
AFK BRAND CHARACTER

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ELLIPSES [ . . . ]
a series of dots that usually indicates an intentional omission of a
word, sentence, or whole section from a text without altering its
original meaning.

36
SIMPLE & CLEAN
The following visual marks explore colour in the ellipses most
basic and simple form. The advantages of using this punctua-
tion as a representative symbol for AFK are as follows:
1) It is an existing mark holding meaning that reso-
nates with the function of the app
2) As a graphic form, it is a circle shape which can be
used within many design contexts
3) It uses repetition which can be used as a vehicle
for auditory and visual rhythm

38
SUPERIMPOSED CAPS
The following visual marks explore form integrating
the app name, AFK, as well as colour. The integration
of text ties the idea of the ellipses into the app con-
cept. The typeface used is Alte Haas Grotesque in
capitals.

41
SUPERIMPOSED LOWER CASE
Similar to the previous explorations, the following
will explore the typeface super-imposed in lower-
case. The use of lower case offers for a softer look
and more playful when compared to the capitals. The
use of lower-case letters is more consistent with the
brand character.

42
a k
a k
a k
a k
a k
a
a
a
a
a
a k
a k
a k
a k
a k
a

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SEPARATED ELEMENTS
In the previous exploration, there was a challenge
balancing legibility and design–one always came
at the cost of the other. The following explorations
separate the text from the ellipses.

44
afk
afk
afk afk
afk afk
afk
afk
afk
afk

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VISUAL STYLE
The visual characteristics of this brand will have the
following features:
1) bold, solid, block colour
2) simpliﬁed shapes, primarily making use of
the circle
3) minimalistic details
4) vector-style graphics/illustrations
This style will be communicated through the app inter-
face, logo, and branded posters/teasers.

51
WHAT IS THE AFK APP?
The AFK app enhances your experience of all the
world has to offer outside of your phone, including go-
ing out to coffee with your friends, taking a walk in
the park and having a family dinner–essentially, face-
time with loved ones.
How does AFK do this? Well, it will help ensure that
you are not interrupted by message, phone call and
social app update notiﬁcations. Also, AFK Rewards
will give you points for time spent AFK that will add
up to deals and discounts at your favourite places.

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DIAGRAM 4.1 AFK DATAFLOW MODEL

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DIAGRAM 4.2
NEW USERS
The preliminary
structure and function-
ing of the app based on
the dataflow model for
users who have never
opened the app before.

56
DIAGRAM 4.2
EXISTING USERS
The preliminary
structure and function-
ing of the app based on
the dataﬂow model for
users who have
already opened the
app.

58
AFK TEASERS
The following are preliminary teaser storyboards.
Each teaser story will be less than 30 seconds and de-
pending on how much time allowed, it will play one
to three different scenarios in a row. At the beginning
at end of each teaser, there will be some for of logo/
brand animation.
These teasers would be featured on the website,
Youtube, as well as in other apps. The teasers are not
only meant to promote the AFK app, but also to en-
courage the audience to reassess their social behav-
iour.

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@#$@%^ % %^!!!
afk
# i<3 nature
afk

The AFK Project

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