Studio Brief 02 - Feedback

On the first page of the preview, rather than having the background be in the same red as the magazine's cover, a black background was suggested as a replacement. As shown above, the dimensions of the magazine is not clearly outlined for the reader.  This can become a misleading representation of the magazines cover for those who want to purchase the magazine in store or online.  Having the dimensions clearly shown will better give the reader and understating of the magazines form.

Extending on this idea, the front cover of the magazine need not be displayed on the first page of the preview. Instead, a 'front cover' could be made for the preview and to have the front cover of the magazine displayed at the end with a link to purchase. This could help establish a 'cover' for 032c online editorial content. 

Whilst showing initial animations of how the user will navigate the preview, a comment was made to definitely consider the way the user uses their smartphone. Given that most people view content and hold their smartphone with only one hand, the way the user experiences the preview should be based around one handed usage. Not only how they will navigate the preview but how they access and leave it as well.  

With the advantage of digital content, the preview should also display forms of the magazines content  that isn't able to be shown in print. For example videos of the fashion shoot or interviews if possible. So rather than making the preview a alternate form of the magazines content, it should also show new content that will make the preview more worthwhile to view. 

Studio Brief 02 - Rafael Rozendaal's animations

Rafael Rozendaal's highly visual websites are all about the user interaction. Even as something as simple as white blank windows, it is dependent on the users interaction to create their own compositions in the browser because unlike most of his other websites, blankwindows.com doesn't have the vibrant visuals it he is known to create. 

Looking through Rozendaal's websites are beneficial in providing inspiration to how the editorial content of the magazine can be manipulated to create an engaging and visual experience for the user. 

Another platform the magazine preview could be on is through a browser extension. Abstractbrowsing.net is a chrome plug in that turns transforms each component of a website into blocks of colours. The end result is something of that of an art piece. Thinking further, the magazine preview could hypothetically become a browser extension that allows the user to create their own on screen editorial experience. 

Studio Brief 02 - Initial Animations

This is the first initial mockup of what the front cover of the magazine preview will be. In this cover, the magazine's actual size does not fit into the composition space entirely. Therefore the red of 032c's front cover is extended to the top and bottom of the screen. The main feature of this cover is that it gives a overview of the articles featured inside. This is seen after the initial animations. By giving the reader this overview, it eliminates the need to tell the user the magazines content through words and provides a more visual and engaging way to communicate its message. 
The animated gif of all the articles also highlights the overall rule the preview follows. The rule of 3. There should be no more than 3 articles featured on the preview. This creates curiosity from the reader as the content delivered to them is brief. This rule of 3 extends to the pages within the featured articles as well. Having 3 pages is sufficient in giving the reader enough information about the article whilst also aligning with users attention span on screen. From the on screen reading habits previously researched, users do not like to read large amounts of text on screen and with the immediacy of digital, users want new information quickly. Therefore the article pages are kept short and concise that at the same time generates curiosity from the reader to sway their decision on purchasing the magazine. 

The Gosha Rubchinskiy article was done as an example to communicate the aims for a feedback session. The style of the animation for the title page is a demonstration of how creatively publishers can animate their editorial content. The article pages inside following a simple animation that is meant to fully display the Rubchinskiy's clothing. On the final page, the article resists being pulled upwards by the user to notify them that they've reached the end of the article. Swiping left would bring them to the next page. Both animations demonstrate the basic layout these article pages will follow and the timeframe they're in. However the animation for the title page does not effectively communicate the nature of the article and the art direction of 032c. The animation style of the cover page feels dated and too simplistic that is not appropriate in contextualising Gosha Rubchinskiy to the reader. 

Studio Brief 02 - Initial sketches

A consistent size of the preview and icon across each app will over time, become associated with the preview feature. The benefit of this is that it may become a 'industry standard' that magazines and publishers will want to have to promote their publication. 
The preview will use a larger thumbnail compared to other content to grab the users attention and to alleviate the problem of other existing on screen magazine sites and applications that do not appropriately showcase the magazines front cover. 

With a distinct icon, the feature can be placed off to the side whilst still being recognisable enough for users to access the feature. Desktop sites will also allow for more to be done on these previews because of the higher specifications of computers in general. 

As opposed to the current layout of 032c.com's website, the magazine preview will take up a larger portion of the page. However unlike the preview features on other sites, this feature may not need to take up the entire user's screen. It could be a dynamic feature that changes preview as the user scrolls to certain parts of the article. It also reduces the need for the user to switch between reading the content and viewing it. 

Studio Brief 02 - Feedback

Problem

On screen magazines try too hard to replicate the reading experience of the physical copy. This results in an unengaging and static user experience that doe not make reading editorial content on screen a positive or enjoyable experience. 

Solution

Based on the research done on people's on screen reading habits, creating an app or website to try and improve the on screen reading experience would be fruitless and will never be the same as having the actual magazine. Therefore an idea (Idea #1) would be to create digital 'previews' of magazines that selectively showcase articles of the magazine whilst taking advantage of the on screen platform. Another idea (Idea #2) would be to create digital content that sits alongside the printed content, as seen on The Gourmand. But unlike The Gourmand's existing site, the content will have more interactive and engaging elements that keeps the readers on screen.  

Feedback

Firstly it was surprising to see that no one picked up the example magazine the solution was going to be based on to flick through when it was offered for feedback. This would have given them more of an idea of what the solution is trying to achieve but nevertheless the questions did produce constructive feedback that aligns with the background research. 

Due to how straining reading on screen can be, people are more willing to have the preview give them smaller, more concise pieces of information that summarises the article without giving much away. Retaining a level of curiosity will definitely persuade potential buyers to get the actual magazine. These comments highlights the reading habits of on screen users and agrees with the research done on why having the entire magazine online does not work. A visual approach also needs to be considered. There were also numerous comments on how the 'preview' should be a visual experience, which is a very important feature that will help keep users viewing the preview and to give them a better understanding of the content. 

It was interesting to note how most people view and buy their magazines in store rather than online. Rather than seeing this as a negative, this definitely can be opportunity to give these magazines digital exposure. Not everyone has access to a magazine shop that sells the magazines they want, however what most people have is access to the internet that can help them decide. Furthermore going to see magazines in store could be the reason why these magazine 'previews' should be better. Subscribers or potential readers might be forced to go down to their local shop in order to get a better look at the magazine. The 'preview' however is not meant to eliminate the need to buy magazines in store. The 'preview' should act as a way to build excitement and promote the content of the magazine to encourage physical sales. Personally, I would rather head down to the store to purchase the magazine after looking online rather than wait on shipping times. 

It is good to know that people see this feature as beneficial rather than unnecessary. It highlights how this is a real problem amongst magazine readers and that this solution will help give them a better idea of what they're buying into. 

The type of animations used in the 'preview' could also be a way to reflect the magazine's tone of voice. More funky animations will be more appropriate to magazines catered towards a younger audience for example Anorak and more restrained animations could be used for magazines like Baseline. 

Surprisingly VR was suggested as a possible route this idea could incorporate. Take for example Vogue magazine covering the latest Fashion week, VR users then have the chance to be able to 'sit inside' the runway show rather than waiting for the editorial to inform them. Although this idea seems to be too far detached from what editorials are about, it is an idea that is worth considering, especially with the growing advancements of VR. 

It was also benificial to see the brief from another perspective. In almost all of the comments, physical magazines are preferred over digital. However there are limitations with the printed copy that wasn't initially considered. Most notably is the advantage of sharing on a digital platform. Sharing an article from a printed magazine is troublesome where as just sharing a link takes seconds. The ability to share these articles will also build exposure for the magazine. Not only that but with a magazine, the reader is limited to the content it has. Having interactive links and sharing them will only lead to users reading endlessly and going on tangents, which is a good thing. 

From these suggestions, it is clear that idea #1 is the better approach to this problem. Improving online editorial content will only improve it. Having these 'previews' is a new an exciting way to display editorial content that doesn't rely on the negative perceptions of on screen reading. 

As a whole, people agreed that online magazines are ineffective in providing a engaging and stimulating reading experience. A more visual and interactive approach should be taken to create a new unique experience instead of trying to replicate the physical reading experience.