The Brief

To raise awareness of International Days, we designed icons that represent each International day called ‘Daycon’. Following our research, the average user checks his smartphone 164.5 times a day and unintentionally glances at the status bar when they use their phone. So, we utilized this overlooked space as a medium to inform and educate people about International Days. To let users recognize what day it is today, we send a direct push alarm with an attention grabbing animation on the status bar in the morning of each International day. Users can not help recognizing the Daycon, because it directly appears on the status bar. When the Daycon is pulled down, people can learn,download,donate and share about International Days. This way we are communicating in the most direct way possible, seamlessly becoming a part of our consumer’s day.

Creative Execution

There are issues yet to be solved such as racism, sexism, domestic violence, etc. However, organizations that are built to resolving these issues have little media buying power unlike big corporations. So LG Electronics, just like their slogan – “Life is Good”, wanted to make the world a better place by raising awareness of these issues. LG wanted to design the smartphone's GUI (Graphic User Interface) into something more meaningful not only to the user, but also to the world. Through the research we found out that the average smartphone user checks his phone more than 165 times a day, and the status bar is where people unknowingly take a glance at every time they look at the screen. So as a smartphone manufacturer, we decided to utilize the status bar to let people know of “International Days”.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

Our ultimate target is every smartphone users who are unaware of social issues and concerns. People these days are addicted to games and social media through our smartphones, but not aware of those who are suffering from problematic issues such as child abuse, domestic violence, etc. Smartphone is an important device that connects us to the world but also a wall that separates us from it. So as a smartphone manufacturer we felt the social responsibility to utilize phones in a way that can make the world a better place.

Results

This project started within LG Electronics first. The GUI team at LG Electronics collaborated with our agency to plan and execute this Daycon project. Together we designed 68 icons that represent selected International Days and made it into an app. Along with the pilot version of this app we distributed a physical Daycon calendar to LG employees. The pilot version was a success. And this new feature is provided through system update.