Over 5,000 active users and a steadily growing base of subscribers.
Given a film, a list, a review or a profile, the app turns it into an Instagram story. Published in 2021, still running.
Project
Name
Stories for Letterboxd
Deliverable
iOS and Android
Year
2021
At a glance
Access
Asking for access that doesn’t normally get granted
Letterboxd keeps its API closed. We wrote to them asking for brand permission and for access, and they gave us both. Everything the app does depends on that conversation going the way it did.
Decision
Publishing, not exporting
Most apps of this kind generate an image and leave you to save it, open Instagram and post it yourself. We integrated the Instagram API instead, which meant stories could be built in layers and sent directly. The difference is small to describe and large to use.
The hard part
The review story
Reviews vary wildly in length. A two-line reaction and a six-paragraph essay both have to become something readable inside a nine-by-sixteen frame.
Rather than force one layout to handle both, we designed a set of them. At least one holds a full review of any length by shrinking the type as far as it will go. The others set a limit and truncate past it, trading completeness for a type size people will actually read. The user picks which trade they want.
Iteration
An editor shaped by the people using it
The in-app editor started deliberately limited. What it has now came from requests: more typefaces, different text alignments, adjustments users asked for directly and got.
The app launched on iOS only. Android came later for the same reason.
Let’s create
great things.
How do you work?
We keep things transparent and collaborative. We share updates consistently throughout the process, so nothing comes as a surprise. Weekly 1-to-1 meetings keep the work aligned and give space to review what's been done and plan what's next.
Why should I choose Heterochromia?
We work fast and we have an opinion. We don't just ask "what do you want?" and execute. We guide you through the process, challenge your assumptions when needed, and help you get to something better than what you imagined. Damn, we love what we do.
Do you do outsourcing?
Over the years, we have met a lot of talented people. Some of them work with us regularly on projects that require specific expertise.
What timezone are you in?
We are based in Milan, Italy (CET/CEST), but we work with clients in the USA and Japan with full flexibility.
