the brief
the visual language
The interface utilizes an earthy yet vibrant colour palette, to evoke traditional cultural roots while maintaining a clean, contemporary aesthetic. Fluid, rounded container blocks organize complex features into approachable visual cards, while clean typography ensures high legibility across multilingual lyrics and dense musical data.
relevance
Carnatic music has historically relied on oral tradition and scattered resources, creating a steep entry barrier for modern learners and cross-regional practitioners. By centralizing practice tools, multi-language lyric translations, and community events into an intuitive platform, Sthayi bridges the gap between traditional heritage and modern digital learning habits.
experiences
As a Carnatic musician myself, I grounded the design process in lived experience and primary qualitative research with fellow students, teachers, and performers. By gathering direct feedback through interviews and observation, I identified key friction points in traditional learning, such as managing physical notation, deciphering script barriers, and coordinating practice schedules. These primary insights directly shaped the app's information architecture, ensuring every tool and feature responds to the authentic, day-to-day needs of the classical music community.
