Grid Society
Where Car Enthusiasts Connect
(TL;DR)
Too Long; Didn’t Read
Grid Society is a hub for car enthusiasts, offering a new way for users to connect online and in person while interacting with brands they love.
I defined the visual identity and designed the iOS and Android apps where we launched drives, events, discounts, profiles, and digital garages.
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Project Overview
The new generation of car enthusiasts have arrived.
There is a strong and growing interest in collector cars, trucks and diy mods among Gen-Z according to Hagerty’s 2024 “Future of Driving” survey. “Gen Z expressed significantly greater interest at 60%, compared to 31% of Baby Boomers”, the time is now to capture this audience.
(FULL DETAILS)
Role
Lead Product Designer + Product Strategy
Client
Garage Collective
Studio
BL3NDlabs
Products
iOS and Android
Grid Society influencer profile showing promoted products
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Challenge
Create a unique hub for car enthusiasts to connect and engage.
In a world saturated with social media platforms, the car enthusiast community lacks a dedicated space where enthusiasts can connect without diluting their passion amid unrelated content.
How can we make it easier for car enthusiasts to connect online and in person
How can we create a digital garage for car enthusiasts to show off their mods
How can we provide car enthusiasts with meaningful discounts through partnerships
Onboarding screens highlighting the key value props of the app
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Outcomes
This is only the first lap.
After completion of the MLP (Minimum Loveable Product) the founders of Grid Society have been focused on securing brand partnerships and funding before launching their closed beta. As of late 2024 they've successfully raised funds and plan to continue development on the full feature-set in 2025. It’s clear they have enthusiast support from their activity on social media and are ready to get the app in more peoples hands.
Grid Society search page showing UGC content and influencer profiles
(04)
Visual Identity
Defining the visual identity for the next generation of car enthusiasts.
The pillars chosen for the visual identity were “Bold, Impactful, Retro
Industrial and Fun”, coming together to form a nostalgic vibe that exudes confidence. A font pairing of Tempel Grotesk, Porlane and Inter were chosen, combining bold fonts with a hyper condensed heading to create impact throughout the app. Inter was our go to workhorse font that still felt fresh and was versatile enough to be used for paragraph copy and CTAs throughout the app. Building on top of the typography a classic color palette was chosen combining deep blacks with rich greys, our key color of “Electric Lime” provided both a pop of color and retro-ish vibe. This color palette allowed us to seamlessly weave between dark and light modes without shocking our users.
A collection of components used in the Grid Society app
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Photography was key to the visual style.
To keep the focus of the app on the vehicles and car scene, we used energetic photography wherever we could. Rounded corners on photo frames and components like inputs and buttons offset the straight edged typography creating an exciting tension in visual style. This was carried through in the iconography, pairing a mono lined rounded icon style with hard edged highlights to signify focused states. Combined these styles created a visual identity aimed at attracting a younger more vibrant audience of car enthusiasts.
Note: This visual identity was later paired with a brand mark and logotype designed by a 3rd party and modified to fit different placements in the app.
(05)
Drives
Making it easy to get out on the road with others.
In a world where google maps exists, it really shouldn't be so complicated to create a rally event with friends. Today you have to create a route through google maps, text it to friends, have them add their friends to a group chat on Whatsapp and then communicate all the details again. If you are an event host this task is even more complicated. We changed that by building "drives", a singular place for users to create, invite and reminisce on rally events with friends.
Drives section of the Grid Society app showing a list of drives and an active drive
(06)
Garage
Creating a digital garage for enthusiasts.
Our goal was to keep the MVP of this feature simple, this concept has been attempted before by other apps but has never felt quite right. We kept the focus on imagery while giving users a way to describe each modification in captions. This created a rich content experience for each vehicle and helped populate the app with UGC. A key part of this feature was sharing through QR codes so enthusiasts could easily share their vehicles with others while at car events, this also helped generate user growth.
A user garage and custom QR code generated per vehicle
(07)
Partnerships
Partnering with brands to promote events and provide discounts to enthusiasts was key to the app's success.
Working with an established car club in Garage Collective allowed us to leverage deep brand relationships to provide enthusiasts with exclusive discounts unique to their vehicles. This partnership helped brands connect with car enthusiasts while providing loyal ambassadors with deals and exclusive product offerings. Another key to these brand partnerships were co-hosted events and exclusive drives. These events encouraged enthusiasts to get out and interact with other loyal ambassadors while creating unique brand activations.
Discounts for members are personalized based on vehicles and brand interests
(08)
Future
The roadmap of features for Grid Society is exciting.
With plans to onboard influencers, create a unique one stop feed experience and even integrate shopping for mods, the future is bright. The founders have been great to collaborate with and I can’t wait to see what features we tackle next.
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"The Grid" section of the mobile app, showing influencer posts and other UGC content
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