Jillian CowanSolbound
The best place to track your reading
Every reading tracker I'd used was missing something obvious, so I designed my ideal one: easy tracking, real reviews, and a way to actually find something to read.
Purpose
Independent Project
Timeline
Fall 2025
Tools
Procreate, Adobe Suite, Figma
The goal:
Design a reading app that has all the right functions, organized for easy everyday use.
Many reading apps I've previously used have great features, but were always missing something different. With this project my main goal with this app design was to create an app that had all the right features for both casual and more frequent readers, was easy to navigate, and also felt cozy.
Competitive analysis
Before doing anything design wise, I looked at other competitors to see what I liked, what worked, and what needed to be added/fixed. Here's some pros and cons of competitors that I found.
Goodreads
- Easy reading logging
- Recently updated branding
- Has good explore tools, lists, and recommendations
- Cannot put books on multiple shelves
- Interface feels dated
- Profile page is very basic
Storygraph
- Lots of statistics about genre and reading time/amount
- A few curated lists
- Interface feels more dated
- Design and branding feels colder than other options
- Difficult to find what you're looking for/what the tabs are
- No social features
Fable
- Has book clubs feature
- Good social features
- More modern branding
- Shelves and logging reading can be confusing
- No curated lists or recommendations
Brand identity
Solbound is drawn from two meanings: Sol for sun and soul, bound for the craft of bookbinding. The visual identity follows from the name: a sun and book logomark and a palette that feels warm and summery without competing with the content. Colors are used as accents to keep the experience cozy and focused.
The five main pages
Live mockup
Click or drag your mouse to interact with the mockup
