RECOLLECTION

There’s something about photo apps today that feels strangely industrial and impersonal. They store our memories very efficiently, but they don’t really hold them.

There was a time when photo albums were tangible vessels of personal history, holding the stories and emotions of ourselves and our loved ones — moments carefully preserved and cherished, before they became mere files on a screen.

That’s the kind of feeling I want to recreate with the Recollection design. It distills the essence of a photo album into a minimalist gallery app, offering a serene, focused space to revisit memories. No noise, no clutter, no complicated features getting in the way. Just a clear, quiet space to sit with the moments that matter.

Replacing rigid, impersonal typefaces is a warm, handwritten script, and replacing polished, digital icons is a set of playful, hand-drawn illustrations, reminiscent of the kind of doodles a child might add to a scrapbook.

The interface stays minimal on purpose. You can easily add or remove photos, organise them into albums, and share a small collection with someone else.

It’s not trying to be everything. It’s just trying to feel like a quiet place to remember. You can discover that in my Figma prototype.

Photos in the prototype are courtesy of photographers Lillian Mueller, Watson King, Jitesh Patel.

April 1, 2025