Sonic DIY

Case Study

Sonic DIY 2025 (Ver. 1)

Flatiron School Capstone Project 2025

Overview

Sonic DIY is a toolbox for artists and venues to be self reliant and focus on what matters — bringing music to the world. Version one brings gig and tour management for artists with budget and distribution functionality on the way.

My Role

My role in this project was to design user experience and user interface. As the project evolved my duties expanded into graphic design and branding as well.

The Problem

The Independent Music Ecosystem is Fragmented and Inefficient. Artists and Bands struggle to manage gigs, tours, finances, and promotion without costly tools while Venues Lack streamlined ways to book acts, track payouts, and fill open dates.

Our Solution

Create a unified platform for artists and venues that acts as a single operating system for live music, giving artists a centralized dashboard to manage gigs, tours, budgets, merch, and EPKs all in one place while reducing the need for scattered tools and manual tracking. At the same time, venues use the same platform to book talent, manage contracts and payouts, and fill calendars more efficiently by viewing real-time availability, accessing verified EPKs, sending booking offers, and handling settlements within one seamless workflow.

Design

To start, I made a flow chart and several sketches of necessary screens our product would need and built out from there. I started with a desktop website that could collapse to mobile seamlessly.

From here I put together the first iteration of of the desktop site. I included cards and copy I was tasked with adding, basic navigation, and the first iteration of the dashboard.

Usability Testing

Following the design of the wireframes, we conducted usability tests having users sign up, create their profile, navigate the dash, and set up a tour. We took the data we gathered from our users and implemented them into version 1.

Branding

Once the basic layout had been created the vision started to come together. We wanted to go full in on the DIY aspect and have the branding reflect that. This meant paper textures, canvas, electric palettes, and anything else that captured the feel of a handmade gig poster.

The next logical step for a handmade poster was of course hand drawn characters and creatures to guide the user and add another level of identity to the product (Drawn by me!).

Version 1 Outcome

Sidebar Menus for home page and dashboard.

Login and Sign up flow.

Dashboard and edit User.

Tour setup flow.

While deciding on an impactful capstone project for Flatiron School I was approached about this project. An opportunity to work with a team of talented people on a tangible product for the real world. It challenged every skill I developed at Flatiron, from technical execution to collaboration and problem solving, and I’m proud of what we were able to accomplish. As Version 1, this marks only the beginning for Sonic DIY, and I’m excited to continue contributing and watching the project grow into its full potential.