AWARD YEAR
2021
CATEGORY
Community
GOALS
Good Health & Well-being, Sustainable Cities & Communities
KEYWORDS
covid-19, coronavirus, Digital tools, social media, youth
COUNTRY
United States of America
DESIGNED BY
Suraya and Jameel Shivji
WEBSITE
https://www.dazeddigital.com/science-tech/article/49552/1/app-high-school-students-sign-virtual-yearbooks-via-snapchat-coronavirus-hags
HAGS
Virtual yearbook signing for high schoolers missing out
A new app, though, gives high school students from every school across the US a chance to take part in one of those traditions – or at least an approximation of it – from their own homes. Started as a “sibling quarantine project” in LA, by 22-year-old Suraya Shivji and 18-year-old high school senior Jameel Shivji, the app (HAGS, as in Have a Great Summer) lets students get yearbook signatures from their friends and classmates via Snapchat.
“Yearbooks are an important tradition that adds excitement and unity to the end of the school year,” Suraya tells Dazed, and explains that she and her brother – along with 19-year-old, Melbourne-based developer James Dale – have tried to keep the app as close to the real thing as possible.
“It was important to us to create a yearbook that felt more like a nostalgic book than an app,” she adds, citing influences from Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101 to the 2009 game Doodle Jump and the end credits of High School Musical: “We wanted HAGS to feel nostalgic."