Conceptual Designs Push Innovation Forward: Check Out This Instagram Of The “Future”

I’m a big fan of conceptual designs. Basically, designers who love to look at things and want to make them prettier will mock up what they think a product should be. One of the hottest properties in the world is Instagram, and it’s a very visually appealing app. One designer decided that he’d like to see it take a giant leap forward, so he put together a concept treatment.

How much do outside concepts influence products? I’m not sure. Regardless, take a look, it’s really well done:

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/54426537 w=640&h=360]

Stephen M. Levinson describes himself as a “UI designer, product guy and entrepreneur.” He sold an app company Scripts Pro, and is looking for work in NYC. All that aside, this guy could be on to something.

Without knowing what Instagram is working on, I can say that this is a version of the app that I would totally use. In fact, I hope Instagram gets to see this and gives Stephen a call.

What do I like about it specifically? It feels “airy,” and I like being able to simply jump back and forth between things in applications. Facebook’s own mobile app has some of these properties, as does Path. I love the suggested gestures – it really stretches the iOS experience and capabilities.

What say you? Would you use this Instagram?

UPDATE: Just chatted via email with Stephen, and here’s what he had to say:

I don’t use Instagram that much, but many people do, so when I was using it I thought it could be more elegant. I redesigned parts to be a bit more intuitive to gestures, removed the top menu bar that felt unnecessary, and I wanted to make the shots look like actual polaroids. Then to just test my abilities I animated the whole thing.

Genius. And he’s a free agent. Hire him quickly.

[Photo credit: Flickr from the past]