FOLIO MAJOR DESIGN PROJECT DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY
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DESIGNERS STATEMENT
This project is by far one of the hardest things that I have ever taken up. Not only did I have to create a magazine from scratch, I also had to learn a whole new way of working with InDesign, which I did not know much about to begin with. The software I was using to create it was extremely complexed and at the same time underwhelming. Some of the things that seem to have an easy solution are actually a lot harder than most would think, and I constantly came across complications that where simply there for no reason - sometimes they could be fixed, and other times they couldn’t. A lot of people when looking at my magazine don’t entirely get it, which is expected as it is aimed at a niche target market of those who enjoy art and music, and also those who appreciate the emerging possibilities for digital publishing. This magazine is simply a reflection of what I find interesting, that has been transformed for a wider and more accessible market, though the iPad.
FOLIO CONTENTS
PROJECT PROPOSAL
09
IDENTIFICATION OF THE NEED
11
AREAS OF INVESTIGATION
12
CRITERIA TO EVALUATE SUCCESS
17
ACTION AND TIME PLAN
18
FINANCE PLAN
20
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
25
EVIDENCE OF CREATIVITY
26
CONSIDERATION OF DESIGN FACTORS
29
RESEARCH AND TESTING
34
APPLICATION OF CONCLUSIONS
40
IDEAS AND RESOURCES USED
43
COMMUNICATION AND PRESENTATION
46
EVIDENCE OF SKILLS
49
AUSTRALIAN CONSOLIDATED PRESS
51
EVALUATION
53
RECORDING AND APPLICATION
55
ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
56
ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND INDIVIDUAL
61
PROPOSAL RELATIONSHIP
62
PROFESSIONAL EVALUATION
65
PROJECT PROPOSAL
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IDENTIFICATION OF THE NEED
PROPOSAL The proposed design project is an arts and music magazine which has been designed specifically for the Apple iPad, which has been digitally formatted with an interactive graphic user interface to enhance the experience of reading a magazine, and has the capabilities to include music and video players, interactive movement on the page and a completely different reading experience. For example swiping between pages, both horizontally and vertically, playing videos using the iPad’s high resolution and 9.7 inch screen. The magazines aim is to act as a gallery for artists and musicians around the world who I see as inspiring and that will be of interest to those of the target market. The design moves away from the conventional magazine format of text on paper, and allows for a more interactive publication with no limit on page size or space, can house countless artworks and information, yet still keeping a clean and spacious feel to the magazine. PURPOSE The purpose of the magazine is to communicate with the reader on a more engaging level, by taking it from an experience with only sight, and including video, audio and movement. The user can now see, hear and control with their
finger where the magazine goes, what they see and don’t see, and they don’t even have to leave the house to get their hands on it. Another great thing about this type of publication is that advertisers can communicate to their audience on a much wider spectrum, enabling the ability to include video, audio, slideshows, or even interactive features. This type of publication is the future of magazines, with newspapers and magazine already heading in this direction. MOTIVATION The motivation for this project comes from personal experience with viewing these types of magazines and feeling as if there could be a more compelling way of using it. Turning a magazine of this nature into a usable and touchable print, would change the whole experience of the magazine all together, and there would be a stronger way to connect with the audience by indulging them in the life of the magazine. This format will also allow the publisher to include more about the artists they are featuring, as some publications are restricted with space and inevitably do not do the artists work justice due to this limitation. As I am a reader of arts and music magazines I have imagined the possibilities that
these publishers could achieve using a digital format, and it has inspired me to use this concept as my major design project. TARGET MARKET The target market for this digital magazine is particular to those of the young art culture, who have a keen interest in digital design, photography, technology and independent music. Design students, teachers and all who are interested in this type of media would thoroughly enjoy the interactive package, though the system could potentially appeal to any audience simply due to it’s innovation and convenience. The magazine specially caters for this small market as it provides them with the content that they love to see which is often hard enough to find, let alone in this new form with the aid of emerging technologies which works perfectly with this type of media.
AREAS OF INVESTIGATION
PARAMETERS OF THE DESIGN The magazine which is designed for the iPad has dimensions of 1024 x 768 pixels, and has the ability to be viewed both vertically and horizontally. The design will take advantage of this as each page is designed specifically for the dimensions of the iPad’s screen,
but will have the ability to be scrolled left, right, up or down to reveal more of the page. Each page will have a distinct design and envelop a clean, crisp, and aesthetically pleasing feel, which is achieved through the use of typography, images and space.
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WHAT NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED?
HOW WILL I INVESTIGATE?
FURTHER ACTION TAKEN
The need of the product
Research existing design magazines and publications
Compare results with the intended outcome of my project
Software & Hardware to be used
Identify which programs are needed to create a system of this kind
Research how to obtain these programs and how much they will cost
The dimensions of the magazine
Observe other magazine styles and select the style I think fits best. (e.g landscape, portrait, both)
Critically evaluate the effectiveness and aesthetic appeal towards the dimensions
Interactive elements, is it achievable?
I will research ways in which the design can be enriched through the use of interactivity; media player, scrolling etc.
Take these ideas and test them to see if they work, and then apply it to the design.
Artists that will be featured in the magazine
Taking my favourite artists and applying them to my design to see if they fit with the magazines style and what the target market wants to see.
Evaluate whether the artists compliment the others and fits my own taste of what I want the magazine to be like.
Page layout and design
Experiment with different designs of each page, eventually achieving a design which best fits the style of the magazine.
Compare the designs with other designers work, and with what I expect to achieve.
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CRITERIA TO EVALUATE SUCCESS
FUNCTION
AESTHETICS
To function successfully, the design must incorporate a well performing interactive user interface to sustain interest in the magazine, include a high level of in-window media to attract the users attention, take advantage of the digital format to show off the artists work in high definition and widescreen options, have the ability to read articles or view works of their choice by using frames and orientation modes have a real magazine feel in digital form, and give the magazine effects of a real magazine for example layout and articles.
To be aesthetically successful the design must appeal to the target market by using outstanding artworks and visuals, attractive layout and design, universally appealing artworks that grab the readers eye, a clean and crisp look and feel to the magazine, utilize contrasting and complimenting colours, an overall pleasing format, and an interesting style. DETERMINING SUCCESS To determine the success of my design I will conduct a survey of what people would like to see in the magazine, along with having
people use the magazine and present feedback as to ways in which I can improve the product, and also test the quality of the work throughout the creation process. After the product is complete I aim to gain professional feedback to reinforce improvements to gain the best product possible.
ACTION AND TIME PLAN
CATEGORY A
CATEGORY B
CATEGORY C
> Identify the need of the product Research ways of achieving a solution > Source artworks and create a gallery of works that are to be used > Choose a format for the magazine, e.g landscape/ portrait > Nominate a title for the magazine
> Source programs needed to create the magazine > Sketch up ideas and drafts of the magazine cover > Decipher the styles and fonts used in the magazine > Create concept drawings for various page designs > Complete putting artworks in the magazine
> Gain knowledge of how to use the programs > Discover features that I can use that are compatible on the iPad, e.g Lightboxes and 360 > Start designing each page using InDesign > Implement artworks into artists pages > Create music pages with music players and videos > Test product throughout all of these steps
TERM ONE CATEGORY A CATEGORY B CATEGORY C CATEGORY D
TERM TWO
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CATEGORY D > Learn more about the software to enable improvements > Undergo methods to determine success e.g surveys, user testing > Seek professional criticism and advice > Analyse final design and compare it to the criteria to evaluate success > Fix any last bugs or issues that need to be addressed
TERM THREE
TERM FOUR
FINANCE PLAN
Adobe Creative Design Suite CS5 InDesign / Photoshop / Flash $1,561 (Pre-owned) Adobe Digital Publishing Suite Content Bundler / Interactive Overlay Creator / Content Viewer Free Pre-Release Developers Account Apple iPad Adobe Viewer App $679 Apple MacBook Pro Adobe Suite / Storage / Internet Access $2,099 (Pre-Owned)
Total Cost $679
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PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
EVIDENCE OF CREATIVITY
GENERATION OF IDEAS The design of my product is creative as it focuses on aspects of technology that have only just become available. The idea generated from my love and understanding of great design, captivating art and inspiring music. I wanted to find a way to portal these aspects to the reader which not only inspires and fascinates them, but simultaneously involves them directly into the way in which they read the magazine. The design centres greatly around the aspect of enabling the user to delve into the publication through the use of interactivity and infinite continuity. It challenges magazine publishing conventions by eliminating the factor of restrictions, which allows the magazine to be explored in ways which have yet to be discovered in typical publications both print and digital, as current digital trends are solely based on read-only PDFs which restricts user engagement and proves to be a rather dull experience. Through this observation my idea stemmed and it was imperative that the product incorporated these essential elements to allow the product to be unique, new and most importantly interesting. I didn’t want to make a product that is common or that has been seen before, I wanted the reader to experience something that is so
new and intriguing that they didn’t want to put it down. Coupled with these qualities, the design and ideas of the product are creative as they incorporate new and emerging technologies that have only just become available, and that have yet been fully discovered. DEGREE OF DIFFERENCE The generation of ideas plays a large role in the differentiation of my product, compared to other products of it’s type on the market. Digital magazines that have been published in the past have incorporated minimal features, and only take an existing magazine and putting it directly on the web or a on an electronic device, adding features so negligible that go as far as hyperlinks. My product is different as it takes advantage of what current technologies have to offer and include full interactivity with what you are reading, rather than just having a document on your screen that you can only look at. The product includes the ability to read content through scrollable frames, which allows for a cleaner and pleasing page aesthetic, along with music and video that can be viewed by the tap of a button. The built in contents viewer allows you to scroll through the publication by viewing all of the pages from a birds eye view to find one that you
want to read with ease, and it is available to read in both portrait and landscape orientations. EXISTING IDEAS While in the creative process of developing ideas for my major work, I looked closely into what software, hardware and skill that would be need to develop the product. This step is crucial as my proposal is very original and so is the platform in which I am developing it for, so without the correct software or skills the product would not be able to be achieved, which is a major constraint within the proposal. Through researching these factors, I was able to establish solid grounds upon what I was able to achieve. I explored ways in which I could go about creating my product, and by visiting a magazine company that produces most of Australia’s popular magazines, ACP Magazines for a two day work experience, I was able to see what ideas have already been achieved, and what the process for making a digital magazine entails, as they have just recently started to develop digital editions for the iPad, a big step in their industry, and something that they themselves are still figuring out.
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CONSIDERATION OF DESIGN FACTORS
APPROPRIATENESS The publications design is appropriate as it embraces modern technologies such as the iPad to create new and upcoming products that have not fully been explored before. It is innovative through this use of new technologies and approach to design, and it directly reflects my personality through the use of it’s design and content, which I think it quintessential when designing a new product. NEED A need for the design is present as users of magazines want to be able to take their reading experience to the next level with the technology they own, by incorporating interactivity, multimedia and more, allowing for a more interesting and involving experience. The first ever magazine based on general interest was ‘The Gentleman’s Magazine’, a magazine first published in London in 1731. After almost three centuries of magazines being around, it is a massive disappointment that they have stayed the same as they were first designed, and have not evolved the way they should have, especially in this era, where technology is so reliable and indispensable. Due to this slow progress in the way publications are consumed, the need for a
AESTHETICS massive step is vital, and one that truly changes the way in which consumption is achieved. Not only does the nature of magazines have an inconsistent development rate, the popularity of magazines which are simply for this specific taste of art and music is scarce, which I think needs to change as I am one who struggles to find those magazines that are a real gem, one that a lot of the alternative arts and music community are constantly looking for. There is a definite need for this product, for me especially, but also the community that strives to be inspired and intrigued. FUNCTION The function of the product is outstanding as it is made for the user, and the user does not have to figure it out. It is as simple as touching, swiping, scrolling and pressing. There is nothing that the user needs to learn to be able to experience the product at its full potential, as the operating system for the iPad itself was designed by Apple to be a natural and inherent experience, one that feels completely instinctual. The magazine incorporates features that are used with ease and minimal effort, which gives the magazine a clean and simple feel, while still including lots of content and features.
For the magazine to be successful a major factor that needs to be accomplished is the aesthetics of the design. The magazine achieves an exceptional aesthetic as it is smooth, clean and pleasing to look at. It incorporates simple layouts which are both creative and unique, using complimenting colours, images and a lack of clutter on the page, creating a visually enjoyable and pleasing reading experience. Furthermore, the design of the page is made custom to the artists or musicians work to ensure that what the user is looking at does not clash with each other, which is a major consideration when designing layouts. Paired with this factor is the attention to page flow which is necessary to the product, as a major part of the design is to correlate with other aspects of the magazine. As some pages are spread out on a vertical path, the page needs to flow with the users movements, so that when they are moving between frames they are still seeing a consistent design. This is also essential when moving from landscape to portrait and vice versa. All of these aspects are encapsulated within the product, which is displayed on the most aesthetically pleasing device, the iPad, which gives the design that extra kick that makes it what it is - a beautiful publication.
CONSIDERATION OF DESIGN FACTORS
COST The cost of the product is minimal as it is digitally formatted, so printing costs and shipping fees are eliminated from the price of the product itself, therefore being easier to make and distribute in bulk. Along with this beneficial aspect of dispersing publications, the software and hardware used to create the product is virtually nothing, as the Adobe Creative Design Suite which contains programs used to create the magazine such as InDesign are already pre-owned, and all designers have this software handy, which eliminates new software costs. The only definite costs for the testing and consumption of this product is that of the iPad, which if it is not pre-owned by the company or the user, will set them back a minimum of $679, and the price of the magazine on the app store which may be free or priced, depending on the developers preference. The average cost for iPad magazines is roughly $4.99. ERGONOMICS Ergonomic is the relationship between the user and the built environment. This product is ergonomically designed to allow the user to feel comfortable using it, and not feel as though they are in a different territory. The iPad itself has been ergonomically designed
by Apple to meet the needs of humans, by using a lightweight product that can be viewed from any angle, and controlled with the users finger gestures, which related the user to the product. This is further explored in my product as the primary functions of the magazine are based on this notion of natural gestures, which accommodates for an ergonomically friendly design. USE OF DESIGN The use of design is a crucial element of the look and feel of the magazine. One of the major features of the product is the way the artwork is presented and how the page is formatted through the use of layout, colours, and typography, which ensures that the target market will be interested in what they are using. This needs to be achieved through the relationship between the artist and their distinct page layout, as each artists work is different, therefore the way it is presented should reflect their work accordingly. By doing this the design is original and appealing, and does not lack creativity or individual style. SUSTAINABILITY As the design is a digital product, it is infinitely sustainable and durable as multiple copies can
be produced and backed up on several devices and re-obtainable if lost. The product has no reliant physical product existent to fade over time, which allows for it to be used forever if that is what the user wishes, though due to the magazine being about current arts and music the magazine would most likely benefit from coming out with a new edition each month or couple of months, which in turn makes older issues obsolete and not up-to-date. Another aspect of sustainability or durability for the product is no directly related to the designers product but more so that of the platform it is working on, as over time the iPad may become obsolete, and the magazine is made for different devices in the future. Though this factor does not directly affect the magazine, it has an impact on the reader, and they may be required to obtain a new device in order to download new copies of the magazine.
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CONSIDERATION OF DESIGN FACTORS
ENERGY In order for the product to exist, it requires a certain amount of energy. This begins with the designer developing the product, as it needs to be done using computers and the internet. By doing this large amounts of energy is used which has a negative affect on the environment. The second lot of energy used by the product is the battery power of the iPad, which has a built-in 25-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-polymer battery, which lasts for up to ten hours before it needs to be recharged. This energy use on the iPad is minimal as it is running off battery power which is not near as much power as a computer would use. In terms of the computers used to design the magazines, that is also a small dose of energy used as it only needs to be done on one computer once, and then limitless copies can be distributed and that is the end of the need for the computer. Overall the energy requirements for this product is extremely minute, and compared to other digital products does not use up a lot. RECYCABILITY As the product is digital, no physical space is absorbed, therefore disposal or recyclability of the product is not necessary. Once the product is outlived, it is simply deleted from the device and is
sent into virtual nothingness, leaving no trace of it ever existing. SAFETY The safety concerns affiliated with this product are extremely brief and subjective, as one of the only safety concerns that I could possibly think of is the minuscule chance of an epileptic fit, due to the a fast sequence of images or lights in a music video, though fewer than one in twenty epilepsy suffers have photosensitive epilepsy, so this is extremely unlikely. In relation to the iPad which is used to carry the product, users run the risk of headaches, blackouts, seizures and eyestrain, which Apple has addressed by warning users to avoid prolonged use, hold iPad some distance from eyes, use iPad in a well-lit room, and take frequent breaks. Another safety concern associated with the iPad is exposure to radiofrequency energy, which is once again addressed by Apple as they have warned users to limit the amount of time using WiFi + 3G in wireless mode, and by placing more distance between your body and the iPad. QUALITY The quality of the product is extremely high as it is created using software and hardware from companies that distribute
it for thousands of dollars. The product is not made using cheap or second-class components, resulting in a high quality product. Another factor which contributes to the high quality of the magazine is the ability to view artworks and videos in HD, and to be able to listen to music in a pure MP3 format at 320 kilobits per second. This combination of high definition displays and images and videos with a large resolution gives the product a high quality look and feel. OBSOLESCENCE Like any product, obsolescence is inevitable in this day and age with technology advancing faster than ever before. The use of this product is at risk of obsolescence when the next best form of digital viewing and interactivity is available. When the time comes that there is a more efficient and advanced portable device for reading magazines, the product can easily be altered to support this platform. So the product itself can be constantly updated, and runs a very small risk of becoming obsolete, though the platforms it runs on may be continuously changing.
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LIFE CYCLE The life cycle of the magazine is very short and straight forward. The first stage in the products life is the development of the product. The designer creates the magazine from scratch using nothing but electronic files. Once the magazine is complete, it is distributed to its users over the air, which they then download to their device. After the user has obtained a copy of the magazine and have finished reading it, it can either continue to live on the iPad, or they can simply delete it, which removes it from the iPad and vanishes into nothing.
RESEARCH AND TESTING
DESIGN IDEAS The design ideas of the magazine need to be critiqued and constantly evaluated throughout the development of the product to ensure that the function and aesthetic requirements are being met. Throughout the development of my design, I have tested and experimented with my ideas by creating rough print versions of the magazine which have been created with the iPad in mind so, which include page size and layout, area for interactivity and an overall look that suits the product. MATERIALS AND TOOLS Before begging with the development of my product, I played around with several different products to find which on best suits my needs. After eliminating certain software such as the iOS SDK, which requires extreme coding and technical skill, I decided that Adobe Photoshop and InDesign are the two most needed products, accompanied by Adobe’s new beta versions of
the Interactive Overlay Creator and a Digital Content Bundler to create interactivity and to make it compatible for the iPad. Paired with this software used to build the magazine, I needed my computer, which is a 2009 model Apple MacBook Pro, which caters for my needs as it has the software necessary to build the product and enough space on the hard drive to store all of it’s data. TECHNIQUES With my product I experimented developing interactive PDFs using InDesign and Photoshop, along with Dreamweaver to make web-based material that can be used inclusive of multimedia and interactivity. I experimented making single page documents using Photoshop and iPad .issue files using InDesign and the Adobe Interactive Overlay Creator and the Digital Content Bundler, which I tested on an iPad and will consider ways of developing that function. The techniques used for
developing this product include using Adobe InDesign and other elements to bring together a page that envelopes an artists work and a page design that compliments it. To include interactivity, I used techniques such as scrollable frames which are a collection of images hidden inside a frame that can only be revealed by swiping
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iPhone 4 This changes everything. Again.
> AN EXAMPLE OF A 360 DEGREE IMAGE USED IN MY MAGAZINE
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RESEARCH AND TESTING
INTERACTIVE FRAMES
360 DEGREE IMAGES
The aim of the experiment is to see whether I can include scrollable frames with hyperlinks attached to them to create my interactive image menu. I started by creating my layout in InDesign, followed by making the menu image, which is 1137 x 112 pixels in Photoshop. I then used the Adobe Interactive Overlay Creator to take the Photoshop file and turn it into an Image Pan file. In this stage I selected the portion of the image I wanted to be shown while scrolling, which is like an invisible box. I selected 557 x 112, leaving the rest hidden until scrolled. I then converted this into a .swf file and placed it into InDesign, and attached my hyperlinks so that the images in the scrollable menu linked the the larger image files in the document. The result of this experiment returned unsuccessful as I was able to insert the menu, along with its scrolling capabilities, but it is not possible to have interactivity inside interactivity, meaning that I can not put buttons inside a scrollable frame. By completing this experiment I have become aware of flaws in the Adobe system which are major setbacks in the development of this product, though this was expected as the technology is so new and has not yet been completely released and had large amounts of feedback.
The aim of this experiment is too see whether it is possible to create a 360 degree image which is turned around by the users swipe gesture. I approached this experiment by initially obtaining images of an iPhone 4 at each angle, one hundred and eighty images in total. I then imported each image into the Interactive Overlay Creator and bundled them together into a .swf file, which I then placed into the iPhone ad’s InDesign file, which is linked to the folder containing each of the one hundred and eighty images. After bundling the issue and syncing it to the iPad, the result was flawless. The iPhone revolved perfectly to my gestures, both left and right. By completing this experiment I have learnt how to use this 360 degree effect in the magazine which is great for the iPhone ad as it engages the reader and really takes advantage of the technology that is available. OOMPH READER The software that ACP Magazines used to create their magazines is Adobe InDesign coupled with the Oomph Reader, an iPad application that reads interactive PDF’s. The aim of my experiment is to see whether this software meets the standard of development that I am after, and whether I have the skill to use it. I started by creating
interactive PDF’s using the Oomph hyperlinking protocol. This includes Cardflips, Flipbooks, InPage Slideshows and Pageswaps. I used hyperlinks with specific keywords to create the interactivity which the Oomph Reader then picks up on once the PDF is bundled and put onto the iPad. This experiment came back with positive results as it was able to do all of the things I had wanted it to do, and I knew exactly how to use this software. As soon as I had opened the magazine on the iPad it looked exactly the way I wanted it to and the interactivity worked just as it should. Though the Oomph Reader works well and I am able to use it, I feel that it is risky and too time consuming to go back and re-do all of the pages that I have already completed specifically to work with the Oomph Reader, and some of the interactivity does not work as well as it does with the Adobe Viewer, such as the 360 degree rotate, as it revolves fine but stops instantaneously when the user releases their finger, and does not have that small amount of distance where it slows down which ads a really nice feel and natural touch to the affect.
FRANCOISE NIELLY
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> AN EXAMPLE OF A SCROLLABLE FRAME USED IN MY MAGAZINE
The box that is filled with the The only way for this method to content that will be seen when the work is to create two layers in user scrolls on top of the images. indesign, one with a frame which acts as a placeholder and is what the user can see, and one with the images grouped together. The layer with the images must be The blue lines act as a frame for titled ‘Scrollable Content’ , and what the user will see, the rest the group must be titled the same of the images are hidden unless as the placeholder. The image they are within the blue lines. to the right shows this method.
APPLICATION OF CONCLUSIONS
APPLICATION
MODIFICATION
I experimented with a wide range of products, tools and options that can be possibilities for implementation into my MDP. By experimenting with certain digital publishing products and their features, I was able to create an interactive magazine on the iPad. The conclusion of these experiments resulted in changes to the product as I have found solid grounds on what software is best for creating my magazine, and what is achievable an unachievable in regards to interactivity, and have come to conclusions regarding layout, design and software platforms that will achieve the best outcome. This has been applied effectively, even though it has restricted me to some basic, yet workable elements, it will have positive affects also as I have knowledge of the system I am working with and have been able to make better decisions.
After analysing my conclusions I had modified my work as a way of further improving to and allowing for it to meet a higher standard than what would have been achieved if these experiments where not undergone. In terms of the interactive scrollable content experiment, though I was not able to include buttons, I was however able to discover neat ways for using the feature, which are heavily evident throughout my project as a major way of viewing content is within scrollable frames. The 360 degree experiment was possibly my favourite as I was able to play around with some fun features and learn how to implement them into my magazine. Not only was this experiment the funnest to do, it was also the most successful. As soon as I had created the flash file I placed it straight into the publication and it is has been used as one of two advertisements. The last experiment which I did with
the Oomph reader was one that was crucial to the development of my project, and the results, though good, let me see that even though I may get some aspects of greatness from that particular system such as snapping to the image when scrolling, I needed to stick to the Adobe system as I already had a basic knowledge of how to use it, and it worked best with the type of publication that I was using. All of my results have affected my work, which is evident throughout.
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IDEAS AND RESOURCES USED
IDENTIFICATION The ideas used in my MDP are solely based on compatibility with new technologies and desires within these emerging technologies. The implementation of interactivity for a magazine stems interest for almost all reading audiences, especially for myself, who takes interest in reading about arts, music and culture. These styles of magazines are great for an interactive makeover as the content is great for digital remodelling, as it is made to work best with technology rather than on paper. Other resources used
have been the guidance of the teacher, to help me with various concept for my product, fellow peers, to discuss problems and solutions that may be faced throughout the process of the design project, and online tutorials that have given me a deeper and more educated knowledge of what software and hardware I am using, how to use it, and the standards for the end result my product. Another great resource used to gain a deeper insight into what I am doing for my MDP was visiting ACP Magazines, a company that produces some
of Australia’s most popular and successful magazines, which helped me learn many industry techniques used to develop effective designs, and to gain a deeper understanding of what is necessary to be included in the magazine, and what should be avoided. I greatly considered the approaches I could take to develop this product, and over the course of the development I have become aware of other, more suitable approaches which are still in the experimental stage, such as social networking integration, and the use of HTML5.
COMMUNICATION AND PRESENTATION
TECHNIQUES The production of my major design project consists of many tasks including developing basic photoshop files resembling a printed magazine, to show in contrast with the digital magazine. This was done by simply done by gathering works that I want to be displayed in the magazine and place them in a basic photoshop template that I created for a basic magazine layout. I also drew up some rough sketches of what the digital magazine will look like. I included the whole site map of the magazine, the contents page and what each artists page
with look like including features it could possible have such as drop down and scrollable menus, lightboxes, and full-screen image options. Presentation wise, I have developed a website for the magazine which I made using Adobe InDesign, along short walkthrough video which I created using Adobe Flash and Apple iMovie, which is presented on the website.
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EVIDENCE OF SKILLS
APPLICATION This project is by far one of the hardest things I have ever taken on, and has taken a lot of time and a great amount of learning to develop this magazine. The utilisation of skill throughout my MDP has helped to assist the quality of my product as it is required that I develop certain skills to be able to make the product. This includes the ability to use Adobe Photoshop and InDesign to produce a quality product, in terms of using welldesigned layouts, learning how to navigate and apply certain tools within these programs, and creating an aesthetically pleasing, functioning and resolved product. Though, one of the hardest things was figuring out the Digital Publishing Suite, which is used to include interactivity and media onto the iPad, which sounds simple at first, but due to the software being in it’s experimental stage it proved to be a lot harder than initially expected. There were continuous errors which where happening for no reason, and bugs that just could not be solved. Though after the giant trial and error process, I was able to utilize my skills to produce a top quality product. PROBLEM SOLVING Problems that I faced whilst in the early stages and throughout
the entire development of the project include having to research and decipher which programs will aid the formation of my product and will benefit the outcome greatly in relation to quality. This problem was solved by sitting down with two design and technology teachers, and going through what programs will benefit my design and how I would go about using them to develop my product, and also by visiting ACP Magazines and getting an insight into what they use to develop their magazines, both physical and digital. This helped greatly as I was able to see what programs are used in professional businesses, and how they are used to create what I aim to achieve with my major design project. Problems that were once seen as daunting and challenging were faced head on and the outcome of this was all positive as even though I had faced negative issues and problems, in the end my problems were solved and my product was able to fulfil its purpose to the best of it’s potential. DEVELOPED SKILLS So far I have developed plenty of skills that will not only benefit my MDP but also my future career path, as I have learnt things that I didn’t know before
about Photoshop and InDesign, along with the tricks and secrets regarding the iPad’s digital publishing software, which will all help in the success of my product. Not only have I succeeded in learning new skills, but with these skills I have had the honour to visit ACP Magazines a few times and my work has been very well received and complimented, which has enabled me with an opportunity of a career with that company. This simple design idea has given me so much skill and opportunity for the future and I am forever glad that I decided to take on this challenge.
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AUSTRALIAN CONSOLIDATED PRESS
ACP Magazines is Australia's leading magazine publisher. ACP Magazines publishes over 60 titles in Australia which sell nearly 100 million individual copies each year. They include some of the longest-running and most successful magazines such as Women's Weekly, Zoo, Woman's Day, Dolly, NW, TV Week, CLEO, Cosmopolitan, Madison and Wheels. With thanks to Ms. Bourke, Mark Harrison, and Robin Austin, on the 24th 25th of March 2011, I visited ACP Magazines for the first time to do some work experience with Robin Austin, the Senior Art Director for the company. To be able to attend work experience for such a large magazine company was a big deal for me, and an experience that I definitely benefited from in terms of developing skills and insight for my MDP. Over the two day period I saw the development of a magazine from the editors job through to the graphic design aspect of it. It was interesting to see how they create each page in a magazine, and how it comes together in the end as a complete publication, which I have learnt from and applied to my work. The most exciting and beneficial experience from visiting ACP Magazines is that I was able to witness and help with the development of one of Australia’s first digital publications for the iPad, which was released with the April edition of Gourmet Traveller. I experienced what software and hardware they use to develop this product, what skills are needed for the design to be successful, and how to take it from being a print of a magazine and turning it into a digital and interactive version, and then transferring it onto an iPad for finalisation and further testing. This knowledge is vital in regards to being able to create the magazine from scratch, and being able to pull it together to function seamlessly on an iPad, let alone at all. The visit to ACP Magazines has been well worth my while as I have obtained tonnes of information that is necessary to create my project, and Robin sat down with me and talked me through various options available to create my MDP, and has noted that if I ever need help with any problems I face during the development of my project, I am able to seek guidance from him personally, and visit ACP anytime, which is a great outcome.
EVALUATION
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RECORDING AND APPLICATION
EVIDENCE
ONGOING
Throughout the development of my product I was constantly evaluating the design as it was created. After each page was completed I would export it to the iPad for testing and evaluation, which consisted of me considering which functions would be best for which pages, and how the page should looks compared to how it does. I also created a survey which has been completed by an industry professional who has viewed the magazine at an earlier stage, and has also given a final evaluation for the product at the end of this section.
With these evaluations multiple factors of the design were changed such as interactivity and how it works on each page, I was constantly swapping and changing the layout and design of each page and how it is displayed. Another thing that is considered when evaluating is the way that page interacts with the user, e.g does the page snap to the next page in the stack or does the page act as a tall free-flowing page. APPLICATION A specific application of an evaluation is what was considered
when evaluating the pages containing musicians, which was the thought that it would be best for the pages to be free flowing rather then snapping to the screen for each page, so that the multimedia content was not constrained to the page dimensions which would create a lot of clutter and a bad design. After making this decision I went back into each file and reformatted the pages to suit a boundless page, and then applied the specific settings to allow this and exported the files to be put on the iPad and be reassessed.
ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
FUNCTION For the magazine to function correctly, it needs to have a user interface that is easy to use, employs various types of media such as images, which promote the work and skill of the artists, audio to engage the user in the pages containing music, video to further enhance the multimedia experience and other interactive elements such as 360 degree images to bring the digital publication to life and hyperlinks which activate a builtin web browser. The magazine fulfils these requirements with all forms of multimedia included in the application, and uses simple layouts and navigation techniques to progress through the publication with ease. More importantly the application must work in sync with the iPad’s abilities, such as having both horizontal and vertical orientations available, and to incorporate navigation techniques of the iPad which in turn will feel natural to users as most people already know how to use iPad’s, iPhone’s or iPod’s which all have the same functionality. These are all used in favour of the magazine, by increasing the users interest and audio visual stimulation towards the publication, though a disadvantage is that the media inclusion heavily increases the file size of the application, which
takes longer to download and install onto the device. AESTHETICS The magazines main goal is to achieve a visually appealing layout that both resembles the magazines purpose, and attracts the eye of the target audience. The product achieves this by using simple yet appealing layouts, which consist of basic headers and a small area for text if any, and the remainder of the page being occupied by images. The layout also reduces mess as it enables the use of scrollable content to be placed in a frame so that the user can scroll within a certain part of the page to retrieve more content, such as text or images, along with multi-state objects which can be viewed as a slideshow to provide the same service as scrollable content by reducing space needed to facilitate for the artists work or information regarding it. Another thing that is imperative in the design of the application is that each page compliments the artists style, whether that be minimalistic, modern looking, or classy. This is achieved in the design as the artists pieces work with the design rather than just being plonked in the middle of an undesigned page. Advantages of the overall aesthetics of the design are that the magazine will
appeal to the target market and attract potential users that see the magazine, along with satisfying the viewer’s senses and keeping a clean, crisp and attractive feel to the product. A disadvantage associated with the aesthetics is that everybody has different tastes in what looks good, so the design appeals to some, and not to others. EVALUATION A good example of both the functionality and aesthetics of the product is on Toro y Moi’s page, where the user is greeted to a clean page with a logo at the top of the page, which instantly looks good and makes the user intrigued to what lies ahead, which then with a swipe down it leads to information regarding the musician which. When continuing to scroll down the user is presented with a series of videos, which are represented by a screen shot of the video with a play button on them, which when pressed instantly starts playing the music video where the user can view inline or fullscreen, scrub up or down the video timeline, or pause the video. Beneath the videos is a very simple yet effective music player, which has a scrollable text box containing information about the album, which is next to an image of the album artwork. The music player consists of multiple
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text boxes which state the title and the duration of the track, when pressed the song begins to play, and the text box for that songs changes its appearance and a pause button appears, which let’s you know what song is playing and that you tap if you wish to stop the music from playing. And after the music player there is an image with a series of dots down beneath it, indicating that it is a multi-state object, which is an object with multiple images inside it. The dots act as buttons to move from one image to another - which allows for multiple large images to be on one page without clutter, and ads to the aesthetic appeal of the magazine, which is followed by simple hyperlinks to the artists website, Twitter, Facebook and MySpace which are opened in a built-in web browser to prevent the application from closing and opening up in a different window.
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ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL AND INDIVIDUAL
ENVIRONMENTAL The impacts of the product on the environment are the same for any implications associated with using electricity to power the devices used to both create and view the product, and how users will need to use this power to view the magazine. As the product itself a digital item which only takes up virtual space, it has no negative affects on the environment. One of the great things about this product is that it eliminates the need to remove trees in order to print the magazine, along with the inks that are needed to be made from natural resources in order
to print. This is a massive step forward in terms of drastically advancing in technology where we no longer need to damage the natural environment in order to get a simple magazine. SOCIAL The impact that the product has on society is that the use of the digital format to achieve greater results in publications, coupled with the rapid increase of iPad and other tablet device ownership is that hard copy publications are at great risk of becoming obsolete which in turn will put printing
companies out of business and cause people to lose jobs, a rather severe outcome for printers. INDIVIDUAL The product does not have any major impacts on individuals that can be directly noted, it is all subjective and every user can experience the publication differently. One impact that it does have on individuals is a greater and easier access to information via the iPad’s app store, as they do not have to leave the house to get it, and it can be obtained worldwide.
PROPOSAL RELATIONSHIP
PRODUCT AND PROPOSAL The major design project as a whole definitely meets the proposed idea in terms of functionality, aesthetics and the overall concept of the design, though there are many little things that I feel held back the product, which definitely restricted the final products capabilities which is really disappointing for me as the designer. Examples of this is the capability of the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, which is the software I used to create the magazine, which was a massive let down in regards to it’s features, as it did not allow for more
interactive features such as pop-up windows to encapsulate certain media, effects and transitions, and the little things like the ability to snap images when in a scrollable frame, or to incorporate buttons and interactivity inside an already interactive element. The Adobe system was a major set back for my design as it is completely new and was only released late last year, so it is still in it’s developing beta stage, meaning that the software is not completely finalised and there are many bugs, lack of features and a lot of
other issues that made it difficult for me to completely achieve what I had initially intended. With all of these small problems aside, the finished product definitely does the proposal justice and meets all of the criteria, which is a great outcome, one that I thought may not be possible.
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PRACTICE Lucien Alperstein I’ve been taking photos for about fo u r ye a rs n ow. I t s t a r t e d a s a m e a n s of procrastination but very quickly it became an obsession which hasn’t let up. I became very interested in the chemistry behind film and film processing, and how a purely scientific and very mechanical process could be used for an artistic expression. I shoot mainly out of a compulsion to shoot but if I had to give an empirical reason its that I’m trying to capture a moment in time that doesn’t just show
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what was happening but what was felt. I prefer to document whats happening around me rather than construct photos but at the same time I feel involved in w h a t eve r I ’ m s h o o t i n g . Eve n t h o u g h I ’ m on the other side of the lens I think of myself as a participant rather than an o b s e r v e r. B e c a u s e o f t h i s i n v o l v e m e n t I don’t necessarily tell the truth through my photos - quite often theres a mood of nostalgia. What I feeling influences how I s h o o t a n d i n t u r n w h a t m y p h o t o s s a y.
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PROFESSIONAL EVALUATION
Over the past few months I have been visiting the Australian Consolidated Press Digital Magazines department to get some experience as to how these magazines are made. It was a great experience that has benefited me greatly in terms of seeing what should be included in the design, though the employees at ACP were unable to help me with any of the development of my product as we are using completely different software and tools to create them, of which they have no knowledge of mine. Robin Austin, the Managing Art Director was kind enough to complete an evaluation of my final product below. Having just viewed Sam’s magazine from cover to cover, I’m happy to say it has the exact feel that a high end art magazine should have. Sam’s use of typography and photography is completely on brief and I would have no issues approving his work within my own department. The attention to page flow and pace has helped create a very strong saleable product. Considering how difficult this technology is to use to create magazines with I’d also like to make a point to say Sam’s use of interactivity was very strong. At no point did I feel like I was pushing buttons purely for the sake of pushing buttons, and I also found the interactivity engaging and fulfilling. This being the final round of evaluations for Sam’s magazine project I have only one small piece of advice for him, and that is to make the interactivity easier to find with some simple on-page instructions. The time Sam has been in here with me he has been a fast learner and great listener with a great capacity for design and technical knowledge; a rare combination in this business. He built the magazine using the Adobe system which is very different to the one we build magazines with here at ACP, so I want to make it very clear I was in no position to give him any technical help. Please don’t hesitate to contact me in regards to any of the feedback I have given here.
Robin Austin Managing Art Director ACP Digital Magazines 9282 9653