Film Fresh came to CommonGround with the awareness that a mobile presence was essential to their growth. Tablet sales were exploding across the globe, and it was clear that these exciting devices were perfect for entertainment uses.

From the moment we started the project, we realized that the company faced a unique challenge – one that came with some intriguing opportunities. Under the movie rental business model of the past decade (those ubiquitous red and white envelopes clogging the postal service), Film Fresh faced competing with things like postage costs, DVD costs, etc. But the digital revolution was changing things, and we were seeing that this no longer had to be the case. In the new world, a smaller organization can compete simply by presenting a better user experience and being more desirable to do business with.

From this idea – that small can beat big when given the chance – we set out to design an app that was elegant, professional and beautiful, while ensuring that the flow was intuitive, simple and effective.

In each and every page, we remain aware that our design needs to accentuate the product, not overshadow it. We allowed the movie poster tiles to speak for themselves, bringing them into the foreground as users flip through potential purchases.

We also remain aware that a user might want a significant amount of information before opting to buy or rent a film. We sought to balance presenting an appropriate amount of text with retaining a clean, elegant look. In the end, a user can read a lot about a movie without becoming lost in clutter.

We also put much consideration into development challenges. Movie rental apps are notorious for frequently crashing. Film Fresh’s primary competitor opted for a tablet app that looks plain and freezes every five minutes. By delivering a product with a great look and smooth function, CommonGround helped show how small businesses can put themselves on equal footing with industry giants in this new digital age.