Pearl Jam - Mobile Bootleg App
The Mobile Bootleg App gave Pearl Jam fans three live tracks, photos and the setlists from each of the stops on their "Backspacer" tour. Inspiration for the design came from Eddie Vedders love of typewriters and his handwritten setlists. Because the app was about the Bootleg Recordings, we wanted the whole thing to feel like it had been passed around and shared from friend to friend.
The app was released first on the Blackberry Tour and then on Android and iOS.
The Setlists
Initially we had planned to scan in the unique, handwritten setlists from each tour stop, making them available for users to download. Right before launching the app we decided that getting the setlists each night was going to be almost impossible. We used past setlists as inspiration and created versions that were typed in Eddie's style instead of handwritten.
Because 3G data speeds were not super fast, each of the setlists were saved as a highly optimized .gif file.
Good Things Come in Small Packages
We wanted the visual experience of the app to be rich, something that was not often seen on Blackberry and Android devices (at that time). Again we were limited to a 5mb over the air download size and slow (and often expensive) 3G speeds. Because of this we chopped many of the graphics into smaller pieces, layering frames, stickers, tape on top of items directly in the app. This way we used as few transparent .png files as possible and could compress .jpg thumbnails as much as possible.
Landing Pages
At the time, App Stores were just coming into their own and most people still went directly to a website to download an app. We created a bunch of web pages (optimized for the various device screens) that let users quickly download the app and preview some of the tracks.
The Official Pearl Jam Mobile Bootleg App was provided by Verizon Wireless and Blackberry/RIM. It was designed and developed by Tribal Brands (now Tribal Planet).
