Interactive Magazine

Interactive Magazine

Integrating print with smart phone technology

For my body of practical work for this module, I have been brainstorming and researching ideas of how to combine both print and digital media.

In my previous blog, I came across a genius idea of an interactive print platform that is activated on a smart phone. This gave me the idea to produce something similar to this in the form of a publication or poster.

The design would include still images that, when hovered over by a smart phone, come to life and play a video or song.

Music Magazine

My first idea was to take an already existing music magazine such as Rolling Stone magazine and design a spread that can be activated by a smart phone. The image would send a message to the phone and would play the video or song out of the smart phone.

Developing on from this, I then had the idea to combine the magazine with an iPhone app. This would expand the concept and allow further exploration into web app design.

Sports Publication

Another idea is to produce a sports magazine, maybe football, that would have a similar concept of the interaction between smart phone and print.

The publication would be monthly and would have all highlights and other videos included but would be freeze frames from them. The smart phone app would then recognise the photo and immediately start playing the video on the screen.

This magazine would combine reading and watching through print and digital media.

Ski Magazine

As a big passion and interest of mine is skiing, I've had the idea to produce the publication on the extreme sport.

I have begun researching existing ski magazines. I have found that they are all very similar to one another in their use of text, imagery, layout and colour.

They're generally a bit chaotic, filled with differing typefaces and action-shot imagery. The composition is a bit haphazard and there doesn't seem to be a clear consideration for the use of grids.

Snow Magazine

Snow magazine is an example of a publication that sticks out from the rest a bit more than some others.

The magazine includes ski and related lifestyle articles. The magazine is aimed at the more affluent audiences that typically go on ski holidays and this is evidenced in the editorial design.

Target Audience

The strong influence of target audience is something I will be exploring in my own design.

My magazine will be targeted at the younger skiers. This will influence the imagery and content used.

I have chosen this target audience as it is most suitable for the combination of print and smart phone app. The app will be more widely used amongst younger skiers.