Virgo Case Study
Music Discovery App | Neumorphic Design Exploration
The Problem.
The algorithm isn't discovering music for you. It's recycling it.
Streaming platforms have perfected the art of keeping you comfortable. Recommendation engines are built on engagement metrics and advertising revenue optimized to serve you more of the same. The result is a feedback loop: familiar sounds resurface, trending artists dominate, and the library shrinks around your listening history. Music discovery has quietly become music repetition.
The GOAL.
There are musicians playing in venues near you, releasing tracks on Bandcamp, building small but devoted followings, and the algorithm will never surface them. The goal is to design an experience that bridges the gap between local artists who deserve a wider audience and listeners who are genuinely open to finding something new.
The CONCEPT.
Virgo: for the music nerd in all of us
Named after the zodiac sign known for it's love of research and informed decision-making, Virgo is a music discovery app that does the legwork for you, surfacing local artists, matching recommendations to your real taste, and giving you the context to actually care about what you hear next.
Target Audience
Primary user
The Music Lover
Music is a central part of their identity, not background noise. They're tired of Spotify serving them the same rotation. They collect vinyl, go to shows, ask friends for recommendations, and fall into YouTube rabbit holes at midnight. They're curious but time-poor. They want to do the digging but don't always have the bandwidth — which is exactly where Virgo steps in.
Secondary user
The Casual Fan
They're people who don't identify as music nerds but are aware their playlists have gone stale. They're not going to seek out a Bandcamp page on their own, but they are willing to follow a recommendation if it feels trustworthy and personal. Virgo can pull them in with the approachability of the "friend who did the research" framing.
4 Key User Insights
TIME
They don’t have the time or the tools to adequately research and discover new music.
Discovery
They're interested in exploring their local music scene, but don’t know where to start.
community
They want to share the concert going experience with a close friend or group of friends.
authentic
They enjoy supporting local artists & find those experiences to be more meaningful.
Select Wireframes
Building the Virgo Brand
Logo: Multitudes
The Virgo "i" is more than a letterform — it's a figure that embodies the Virgo in all of us: the part that craves connection, seeks discovery, and refuses to be defined by a single genre. Like the sign itself, it contains multitudes. Outfit it with instruments and accessories, and it becomes you.
Primary Color Palette
Secondary Color Palette
Hi-Fidelity Screens
Conclusion
Virgo began as a question I couldn't stop asking myself: what would music discovery feel like if the app itself felt like finding something rare? As a former touring musician, I've lived on both sides of that experience — the artist hoping to be heard, and the listener stumbling across a song that rewires something in them. That duality drove every decision in this project. Discovery isn't just a feature; it's a feeling. And the design had to earn it.
That's what drew me to neumorphism as the visual language for Virgo. Where most streaming interfaces are flat, frictionless, and forgettable, neumorphism creates a sense of physical presence — soft shadows that suggest depth, surfaces that feel pressable, controls that respond like something real. For an app about finding artists you've never heard of, that tactility matters. It signals: slow down, explore, this is worth your attention.
The challenge was making that aesthetic work in service of the listener's journey rather than against it. Neumorphism can easily become an obstacle — too subtle to read, too precious to navigate. So the decisions I'm most proud of aren't the ones that look the best; they're the ones that disappear. The hierarchy that surfaces an emerging artist without overselling them. The interaction states that guide without interrupting. The moments where the UI steps back and lets the music do the work.
This was a passion project, but one rooted in a real problem I care about deeply. The artists who deserve to be found often aren't. Virgo is my attempt to close that gap — one intentional design decision at a time.