# Pholu — a private memory app for couples and families

> Case study: founding Pholu, designing the brand and product, and building the front-end in React Native through to launch on Google Play.

Source: https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/work/pholu
Language: en

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Pholu
Case study · 01 / 04 · Shipped product
Live
Founder · Product · Brand · Build
# Your life, remembered. A private place for the people you love.
A private memory app for couples and families, designed to capture, protect and rediscover personal moments without public feeds, likes or followers. I founded it, designed the product and brand, and built the front-end.
Read the case study
![The Pholu home and Ask Pholu screens](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20hero-stage.png)
Role
Founder · Product / Brand Front-end
Timeline
2024 → Present
Scope
Mobile app · Brand Website · Launch
Stack
Figma · React Native Expo · Supabase
![The Pholu website](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Home%20%E2%80%94%20hero-image.jpg)
Pholu · Website · 2026
01 — The Problem
## Our most precious memories live in apps built for strangers.
Social platforms optimise for reach. Cloud storage keeps files, not meaning. And most “private” options are a settings toggle. Families need something built differently from the ground up.
01 / PROBLEM
Feeds reward performance
Social platforms optimise for reach. Family moments get flattened into content competing for likes, not preserved for the people who matter.
02 / PROBLEM
Cloud storage has no story
Camera rolls and drives keep files, not meaning — no people, places or context to rediscover years later.
03 / PROBLEM
Privacy is an afterthought
Most "private" options are a settings toggle. Families need privacy as the architecture itself — not bolted on.
“No gradients. No glow. Memory is the artwork.”
02 — Product Principles
## Trust the device. Encrypt the cloud. Index locally. Retrieve locally. Reason selectively. Sync intentionally.
No gradients. No glow. Memory is the artwork.
01
Private by design
End-to-end encryption as architecture, not an afterthought.
02
Calm interface
Flat, restrained UI so photos and stories carry the emotion.
03
AI in its lane
Retrieves and summarises your own memories. Never ranks.
04
Spaces, not feeds
Personal, Love, Family spaces — sharing always deliberate.
03 — Process
## From product structure to eight core screens.
Solo process — from problem framing and product structure through visual design, implementation and launch.
Discovery
Personas & jobs
Strategy
IA & navigation
Wireframes
Flows & layout
Visual system
Type, colour, tokens
05
Validation
Decisions & testing
04 — Brand System
## A calm, flat identity — purple leads, gold highlights.
No gradients or glow. Restraint in the UI lets photos and stories carry the emotion. The palette was built for long-term trust.
![The Pholu brand system](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20screenshot-full-1.jpg)
Purple
#815AEF · Primary brand
Lavender
#A78BFA · Accent highlight
Deep Navy
#0B0F1A · Page & frame
Gold
#D4A017 · Warm memory tone
Soft Text
#CBD5E1 · Secondary copy
DISPLAY ACCENT
Instrument Serif Italic
Used for hero headlines and emotional moments — warmth and personality without visual noise.
STRUCTURE & UI
Geist Variable
System body and UI labels — clean, legible, reliable across every breakpoint and density.
05 — Identity System
## One mark, built to survive every context.
Primary, reversed, monochrome and compact variations were defined alongside spacing, misuse and application rules — turning the logo into a usable system, not a single lockup.
LOGO VARIATIONS
![Pholu logo variations](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20screenshot-wide.png)
PRIMARY LOCKUPS
![Pholu primary lockups](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20screenshot-grid-1.png)
CLEAR SPACE & SIZING
![Pholu clear space and sizing](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20screenshot-grid-2.png)
USAGE EXAMPLES
![Pholu logo usage examples](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20screenshot-grid-3.png)
MISUSE & DON’TS
![Pholu logo misuse](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20screenshot-grid-4.png)
06 — Final Product
## The interface should disappear behind the memory.
Eight core screens, built mobile-first in React Native / Expo. Designed independently from product structure through implementation.
![Pholu screens in context](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20device-stage.png)
![The Pholu website](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20website-card.png)
![The Pholu brand card](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20brand-card.png)
07 — Interface Library
## The system had to work beyond the hero screens.
Onboarding, shared spaces, AI retrieval, memories, stories and pricing all use the same quiet visual grammar — enough structure to guide people without competing with what they saved.
![Pholu — Home](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20gallery-1.jpg)
Home
![Pholu — Memories](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20gallery-2.jpg)
Memories
![Pholu — Shared Spaces](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20gallery-3.jpg)
Shared Spaces
![Pholu — Ask Pholu](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20gallery-4.jpg)
Ask Pholu
![Pholu — Life Story](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20gallery-5.jpg)
Life Story
![Pholu — Pricing](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20gallery-6.jpg)
Pricing
08 — Launch & Communication
## One product, many ways of explaining it.
The launch system expanded across Google Play, Instagram, LinkedIn and Chinese social content while keeping the same privacy-first tone: direct, restrained and centred on real memories.
![Google Play launch](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20gallery-7.jpg)
Google Play launch
![Ask Pholu](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20gallery-8.jpg)
![Privacy centre](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20gallery-9.jpg)
Privacy centre
![A private home](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20gallery-10.jpg)
A private home
![One moment, two memories](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20gallery-11.jpg)
One moment, two memories
![Two people, one evening](https://ricardoportfolio.xyz/art/Pholu%20%E2%80%94%20gallery-12.jpg)
Two people, one evening
09 — Key Decisions
## Three decisions that shaped the product.
Every decision pushed back against the default assumptions of social and cloud storage — deliberately.
SPACES, NOT FEEDS
Private sharing by design
Memories live in private Spaces — Personal, Love, Family — so sharing is always deliberate and scoped to real relationships, not broadcast.
AI THAT STAYS IN ITS LANE
Memory retrieval, not recommendations
"Ask Pholu" retrieves and summarises your own memories on request. It never ranks, recommends or performs — the AI is a quiet librarian, not an algorithm.
FLAT BY PRINCIPLE
Restraint as a design decision
No gradients or glow. Restraint in the UI lets photos and stories carry the emotion — the interface is the frame, not the art.
10 — Reflection
## Building my own product changed how I design.
The discipline I kept was cutting — features, colours, effects — until only the memory was left. Building as the designer meant I could make technical decisions that protected the design intent all the way to production.
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© 2026 Ricardo Lourenço da Costa
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Leeds, UK