World Atlas
National Geographic
iOS
c. 2015
Explore your world through an interactive globe.
Explore your world through an interactive globe.
National Geographic wanted to completely refresh their very first iOS app - the World Atlas. Having worked closely before, the team challenged Rally to rebuild it from the ground up. The design process included examining and updating the features in the existing app, with a focus on elegant typography and usability. Perhaps the most interesting side effect of rebuilding the app was the effect it had on the National Geographic cartographers. Seeing their cartography on a responsive, interactive globe inspired them to start thinking differently about digital maps.
Since its release, the National Geographic World Atlas has been featured several times by Apple, including in the weekly Best New Apps section and 2015’s Best of April. It was also published in Communication Arts’ Interactive Design Annual. Thanks to the new daily content, the app has the most returning users of any National Geographic iOS product.
Meta Serif was selected as the primary display typeface for the World Atlas because it has a lovely editorial and modern feel. In addition to Meta Serif, we also used Trade Gothic Bold Condensed for numbers and Avenir for body copy.