Grainspace

This project aims to modernize the photographer-lab interaction, making film photography accessible through a unified digital platform for learning, inspiration, and networking.

Research

The market analysis highlights a growing niche for analog products, particularly among Gen Z and Millennials, fueled by a renewed interest in film photography's unique aesthetic and tangible experience. The overarching goal is to enhance the user experience for the younger generation while preserving the intentional and nostalgic aspects of film photography.

Benchmarking

‍To understand user interactions, we benchmarked 100 lab websites globally, exploring how labs adapted to digital needs. This phase highlighted various digital workflows that successful labs employed, enhancing customer acquisition and experience.

User Research

‍We conducted a comprehensive survey within the photography community, seeking insights into user preferences, challenges, and expectations from a photography platform. The direct interaction with the community played a pivotal role in shaping our design and development process.

‍In-depth conversations with individuals from diverse photography backgrounds provided unique stories and insights. We delved into their routines, gear preferences, and how they engage with film photography, particularly their interactions with photo labs. We outreached to photo labs, both locally and globally to understand what measures they adopted in the digital age and how they cultivated their communities.

Define

Insights and Pain Points

Lack of Information: Notable gaps in lab services, costs, inventory details, and film stock outcomes hinder informed choices.

Social Media Noise: Platforms designed for photo sharing compromise image quality, format alteration, and prioritize engaging content over quality.

Competitive Profession: Building a network and finding work opportunities in the competitive photography profession poses challenges.

Inconvenience: Challenges in film buying, lab accessibility, and time-consuming traditional development processes.

File Management and Logistics: Issues in managing and sharing film photography files, with confusion over film-stock correspondence.

Work Environment: Budget constraints and client timelines limit exploration of film photography techniques

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Design

The project aimed to create a digital platform for analog photographers, facilitating inspiration, connections, and development opportunities. The development process involved three key categories.

Getting Inspired and Learning

Grainspace is designed to be a photography platform where the quality and original size of photographs are not compromised. It encourages conscious consumption of content, as opposed to mindless scrolling on social media. Photographers can delve into the details of each posted photo, including camera settings, film roll used, developing lab, and scan technique. The platform serves as a source of inspiration, allowing photographers to learn and gain insights from the feed, as well as explore a comprehensive knowledge repository on various film rolls and their results.

Connecting and Developing

Grainspace aims to be a platform where users can search for the most suitable photo lab based on services, products, or location. Users can visit lab pages, directly interact with them, explore their offerings, and even book development and print services. Scans are conveniently delivered directly on the platform to the user's workspace, which is designed to manage photography files easily, quickly, and intuitively, addressing common issues photographers encounter.

Contributing and Growing

Photographers can create personal profiles showcasing their best works, essentially serving as a portfolio to market themselves on the platform. This not only enhances their visibility but also provides opportunities to get hired. Grainspace is committed to assisting amateur photographers in transforming their hobby into a potential source of income.

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