Design is about understanding the users and the experience you're trying to create. How long it took, colors chosen and testing w/ real content are mainly just technical details.
I would have loved to hear about the process of breaking down how Circle would improve the lives of your users and the design thinking around that.
Or even why the "simplistic circle" concept made the most sense for the problem you're solving, outside of the aesthetic/branding appeal.
It might have made a good sales pitch for your product as well.
Other than that, the app looks nice!
Cut it down, focus on why we should care about yet another social app.
A video doesn't have to be a features list. It has to tell a story.
(And it doesn't hurt that I really do like The Piano Guys!)
I think a laid back attitude is novel, and has a lot of power. It's made me associate Circle as a fun startup, which might have been the whole point of the article - a recruiting and promotional tool - in the first place.
In my experience designers (and is the role I sometimes have) must understand that visual appearance is nothing if not considered in its context. A blue logo is obviously more obvious (no pun intended) and not revolutionary, but is able to vector the category of the much more fast than an orange one. What does an orange circle on an app logo mean? A blue one is more clearly inserted in the right category.
But I see some more interesting issuess: what does that greenish/blue look that social networks acquired after Facebook and Aqua (oh yeah, that aqua UI) really mean? That green/blue is considered in semiology the color of the death and dead bodies[1]. Do you want YOUR logo to pass THAT semiotic message?
[1]: I have no citations here, I couldn't find one. So take my words as unreliable.
I think the logo has too much useless eye candy going on. You could allocate the resources of attention that are now going to multiple gradients to something which would tell more about its actual function. Something to indicate the fact that its you and your phone within the circle, etc.
That might spark an inkling of interest in more people: In the middle of what circle? What does the circle indicate then? Could me having this circle around be a viable thing?
Also, the checks and crosses beside the icons are a bit messed up logically. Why does 'Blue is a cool color of the sky, ocean, sleep' have a cross next to it?
The references to personal opinions feel out of place in the list, although in general I can see the value in making the product's creators closer to the reader, it's just not the right place for that in my opinion. The persnal preferences surely consist of a logic that you can put your finger on. Add more actual points there instead, that would be much more informative to everyone.
what's the point of that information?
It wouldn't have cost them anything to just say "models" instead of "models and hot chicks?"
And just like that, my interest in the app is gone.
Put your money (well, time) where your mouth is—go change the text! A minimal change makes all the difference:
"…when you insert pics of models, so here…" "Replace all pictures of models with a photo of your…"
Any design mock-ups look fantastic with high quality stock art, but can it pass the Trial by Co-Founder™? Replace your professionally photographed imagery with a random photo of your co-founder and see if the design still "works".
really, REALLY?
