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 Photo of iPad (and photo in iPad) by Tom Klein.
by Tom Klein
Magazine publishers have flocked to Apple's new iPad because it allows them to extend their craft through stylized layers of text, photos, and video. The flat printed page has suddenly come to life with a new level of deep, interactive story-telling. This new enriched experience also offers tremendous opportunities for advertisers who are beginning to create emersive ads filled with deep interactions.
Content system companies are working overtime helping publishers create these new eMagazines. Among the leaders is WoodWing with their Digital Magazine Tool for iPad. WoodWing's tool is really a set of tools for bringing printed pages to life. The three most important among the tool-set are Hotspot Layers, Slide Shows, and Video.
Hotspot Layers is the most versatile of the tools. It expands on the fundamental layering model already present in InDesign, but previously used only in the production of printed pages, and never seen on flat printed pages. WoodWing has elevated layers to a staring role in the presentation of digital pages by allowing the end-user to see them when they click predefined areas of a page called hotspots. To the reader these hotspot layers appear as pop-up windows where additional text, graphics, or photos are shown to provide additional insight and depth to a story.
The second tool in WoodWing's arsenal is Slide Shows. With a screen resolution of 132 pixels per inch, the iPad is the ultimate photo machine, and slide shows are an excellent way to showcase great photography. Slideshows add richness to a story, and can display either in full screen, or within a specific area on a page.
The third tool is video placement. Video on eMagazines can help enrich the total advertising experience, but video should be kept short and on target to avoid side-effects. Storing video directly in the eMagazine can quickly bloat the application, and that can slow the download time and cause the application to take up too much storage on the iPad. As an alternative, video can also be streamed live from a web server, but this requires an internet connection at the time the video is viewed (a frustrating experience over 3G). The lessons learned with video is to keep them short, and use only when they add real value to the story. As a rule of thumb, video clips should run no longer than 30 seconds, and if you stream them, the related text and photos should be able to fill any gaps caused when Internet service is unavailable.
When used together, the Digital Magazine Tool for iPad enables magainze publishers to leverage their existing stable of writers, editors, and artists to create a curated digital experience. The results so far have been stunning.
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