The media industry is changing on a daily basis. With new visual communication platforms like the iPhone and iPad becoming commonplace, readers expect to receive content when, where and how they choose. RedPoint is stepping up to this challenge by creating exciting products for these devices.
Our iPad editions of Avenue and Wine Access amplify and enhance the reader experience of both magazines in many ways. The iPad presents an exciting challenge to us as designers. We need to think differently, because the reader experience is different. Stories are read vertically instead left to right. Articles can have pop-ups, animations, videos and slide shows. The reader navigates by touching the screen instead of looking for a page number.
The physical device feels different, and its backlit screen makes us look at typography in a new way. Almost everything needs to be re-thought. Editorial departments are also challenged today to create shorter pieces, transferrable to a large spectrum of audiences and delivery methods. From print, websites and e-newsletters to the iPad, each reader experience is different — and content has to be created with all those media in mind. Meanwhile, readers’ habits have changed, and so features have become highly packaged with more entry points that allow readers to pick and choose how they want to engage with an article.
What has not changed, despite the new directions of media, is the challenge to tell great stories that people want to read. This challenge pushes us to think of new ways to be more relevant — and to continue to design and produce the go-to publications in our market and beyond.