Grimlife is a satirical, dark-themed design project that combines humor and horror to spotlight the real-life struggles and frustrations of being a graphic designer in today's competitive job market. Born out of a personal experience of underemployment, financial stress, and the constant race to adapt to new tools and trends, this project serves as an outlet to express these hidden emotions and narrate the grim tale of many designers' lives.

  • Conceptualization: Started with a personal narrative of underemployment, financial stress, and adapting to new tools and trends. Transformed these experiences into the satirical and grim-themed concept of Grimlife.

  • Design Principles: Ensured every aspect of the design system – typography, color scheme, app features, blog post topics – adhered to the grim and satirical theme, making it both consistent and engaging.

  • UX/UI Design: Utilized Figma to create a user-centric design that provides an interactive experience. Designed menus, categories, submenus, features, and more to guide users through the Grimlife experience.

  • Prototyping: Developed a detailed prototype in Figma that allowed for testing and iterating on design features.

  • Animation: Incorporated animations to create a dynamic and immersive user experience that adds a touch of “ooh” to the typical browsing experience.

  • Narrative and Copywriting: Crafted compelling descriptions, blog post titles, product names, and customer reviews that further the grim narrative and add depth to the user experience.

  • Outcome: The final result is a unique and memorable design project that not only showcases technical skills but also the ability to infuse personal narrative and emotion into design work.

Problem-solving

In creating Grimlife, I took my own frustrations and stresses from job-hunting and turned them into a satirical narrative. This problem-solving approach showcases how personal experiences can be transformed into unique and relatable content, providing both an outlet for my struggles and a touchpoint for other designers facing similar issues.

User Research

Grimlife was put to the test with a group of job-seeking friends. The response? Laughter and resonance. The struggle was real, and Grimlife hit the mark, proving that design can also serve as a means of shared experiences and camaraderie in the face of adversity.

Collaboration

Grimlife was a solo journey, echoing the lonely road of job hunting where rejection is a constant companion. However, I was always open to feedback and made adjustments based on the reactions and suggestions of my test group.

Tools and Technology

The design tools that kept me company in this grim journey were Figma, Illustrator, and ChatGPT. Figma was instrumental for the UX/UI design and prototyping, Illustrator added depth to the graphics, and ChatGPT served as a creative partner in content generation.

Challenges

The haunting world of heavy animations was a new territory for me. It raised the specter of long loading times, making me cautious about the use of heavy animations in future projects.

My hope? Grimlife opens a coffin door, lands me a job, and brings a smile to the faces of fellow job seekers. It's a lantern in the foggy graveyard of job hunting, providing comfort and relatability amidst the struggle.

Dare to delve deeper into the Grimlife? Don't be a ghost - reach out and let's share our tales of design despair and career conundrums. There's always room for one more in the Grimlife graveyard.