Flock
A bird journal app, bridging the gap between digital bird identification and the pleasure of analogue collection.
Purpose
Self-initiated app concept, UX/UI
Tools & skills
Figma, illustration, wireframing, prototyping
Year
2026
The brief
The practice of birdwatching is on the rise, especially with younger Gen Z audiences[1][2].
Bird identification apps stop and start at the point of seeing a bird. Whilst this is engaging at first, it makes repeated sightings feel anti-climactic and misses the opportunity to foster a meaningful, ongoing relationship with nature.
Flock is a self-initiated app concept, exploring how analogue field journaling methods can be translated digitally, to compliment bird identification apps and make every sighting feel meaningful.
The concept
Flock centres bird journaling around familiarity and an ongoing connection to nature, beyond the initial discovery or identification moment. Every sighting is personal and recorded, from your first robin to your twenty fifth.
The stamp system gamifies rare, special, and repeated discoveries to incentivise repeated logging - marked by a special hand-drawn stamp.
Fisherman logs and field journals inspire the visual language, mimicking the analogue hobby that birding originally belongs to. Flock attempts to move that notebook to your pocket; appealing to a younger audience.
Visual language
Colours taken from nature: sky blue, leaf green, sunset yellow, and raspberry pink - with a brown ‘branch’ colour to unite them all and toned down for backgrounds, allowing the colours to pop at important moments.
Illustrations for stamps have been drawn traditionally and scanned in. Black-work only with detailed but rough lines, to ensure they tie together how ‘analogue’ the style should feel.
Typography is simple with serif titles and sans serif body. Allowing the visual elements take precedent, and make detailed content readable.
Feature detail 01
Collections
Bird detail pages in existing apps typically show information about the bird species. Flock does this, but it also recounts your relationship with each bird.
Under a collection tab for each bird, you’ll find your collected stamps, uploaded photos, and previous sightings.
Feature detail 02
Earning stamps
When a new sighting is logged, there’s a moment to pause and focus on any new stamps collected.
Stamp illustrations feature a bird of a similar or related behaviour. For example, first sighting stamps feature the common household bird - a robin.
