Social Feed App
Atelier
Gallery-First Social for Interior Designers & Set Stylists
Overview
A gallery-first social platform for interior designers and set stylists — the work is the hero.
The brief: a feed that feels like an editorial magazine, where the UI serves the work. The result is minimal and full-bleed, with mood-driven discovery and saving built around projects.
Role
Lead UX/UI Designer
Platform
iOS & Android App
Sector
Creative Professional Tools
Tools
Figma, FigJam, Principle, Maze
Team
PM, Designer, UX Researcher
Impact
0%
UI chrome in full-bleed view
4
Core Navigation Gestures
3s
Target Feed Load Time
∞
Scroll — no pagination
01 — Gallery Feed
Full-bleed, edge-to-edge imagery — no distractions
A masonry grid adapts to image ratios rather than cropping; metadata stays hidden until long-press.
Adaptive masonry grid
Nothing cropped: the grid reflows around native aspect ratios.
Long-press metadata reveal
Designer, project and save count appear on long-press.
Haptic save gesture
Double-tap saves to a board, confirmed by haptic and a soft bloom.
02 — Designer Profile & Portfolio
Profiles built around projects, not individual posts
Profiles are built around named projects — a commission, a film set, a brand shoot — so work reads as a full arc, not isolated posts.
Project-grouped portfolio with cover image and title card
Specialisms displayed as minimal text tags — Interior, Set Design, Commercial, Residential
Follower / Following counts de-emphasised — work quality drives discovery
Availability status — Open to commissions / Currently unavailable
Location, studio name, and website link in a single meta line
03 — Discovery & Search
Mood-driven discovery — not algorithm-driven engagement
Discovery runs on moods and materials, not hashtags: Wabi-Sabi, Brutalist, Japandi and Maximalist, each an editorial spread.
Aesthetic family pages
Japandi to Maximalist, each an editorial spread with palette and posts.
Material & palette search
Search travertine or warm neutrals and get a filtered feed.
Collections by editors
Curated boards sit in discovery, apart from the algorithm.
04 — Upload & Post Creation
An upload flow that respects the image
Posting feels like publishing: choose the work, assign a project, add credits and materials, then preview full-bleed.
Multi-image upload — up to 12 per post, any native aspect ratio
Assign to project or create new — project title, cover selection
Optional credits — photographer, architect, stylist, brand
Material tags drawn from a structured taxonomy (not freeform hashtags)
Full-bleed preview before publish — 'this is how your audience sees it'
Scheduling — publish now or set a future date/time
Summary
Overview
A gallery-first social platform where full-bleed imagery and project portfolios replace metrics.
Challenge
Designers found existing platforms hostile — compression, algorithms, isolated posts.
Solution
An editorial masonry feed, project profiles, material search and shareable mood boards.
Key Results
05 — User Testing
Tested with interior designers, set stylists, and creative directors across London and New York
Designers, stylists and creative directors who live in Instagram, Pinterest and Behance.
Contextual intercept interviews
Studios visits while they used Instagram — surfacing real frustrations.
Maze unmoderated prototype testing
Only 38% found long-press metadata, so a first-run hint was added.
A/B grid layout testing
Masonry read as 'more premium'; the equal grid as 'Instagram but slower'.
Key Outcomes
84%
preferred masonry — 'like a real magazine'
38%
found long-press unaided; hint added
3×
more board creation than favourites
"No crops"
top-rated benefit — native aspect ratios kept
Post creation
under 90s once the caption became optional
Methodology
Design System
A near-invisible UI — warm neutrals, editorial type, zero decoration
Warm off-whites, deep charcoal and a single parchment accent; typography favours editorial refinement.
Colour Palette
Paper
#F5F2EE
Primary background — warm off-white, never pure white
Charcoal
#1A1A18
Primary text, navigation icons, primary actions
Warm Ash
#8C8680
Secondary text, metadata, timestamps, hint copy
Parchment
#C8B99A
Accent — save confirmations, active states, highlights
Canvas
#EDE9E3
Card surfaces, input backgrounds, dividers
Fog
#D4CFC8
Borders, separators, inactive tab indicators
Deep Night
#0F0F0D
Full-bleed image view background — near-black
White
#FFFFFF
Overlay text on dark imagery, modal surfaces
Typography
32px / 300w
Display / Project Title
Profile names, project titles, editorial feature headings — light weight for refined feel
15px / 400w
Body — Regular
Captions, bio text, board descriptions
10px / 500w
Label — Spaced Caps
Category tags, material labels, section eyebrows — 0.15em tracking
20px / 300w
Metric / Count
Follower counts, save counts — light weight keeps them decorative not dominant
13px / 400w
Caption — Italic
Credits, location, studio name — italic to distinguish from primary content
Core Components
Feed Card
Frameless tile at native ratio; metadata on long-press only.
Project Tile
Cover image and title; tap for the full project.
Save Bloom
A soft parchment bloom from the touch point, with haptic.
Aesthetic Tag
Spaced all-caps text, no pill or border.
Board Cover Grid
2×2 collage with image count and share status.
Upload Preview
Full-screen preview before publishing, with a floating Publish pill.
"Finally a platform that gets it — the work is the thing. Interior design has deserved this."
Isabelle Martens
Senior Interior Designer & Set Stylist, London