Keep Requirements in Mind
At the same time that I was learning iBooks Author and Hype I also got to learn Mag+ within Adobe InDesign. I was already familiar with InDesign which was a blessing because Mag+ felt like an entirely new application with a LOT of quirks. Just installing and configuring the plug in, stand alone app, and iPad app took a few hours with the group I was learning this all with. Once it was all set up I began the first of two projects: a magazine displaying cities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
I called it The Yodeler as all three of the countries are deep in the Alps and I wanted it to look like a classic magazine you would see on an old magazine stand with the barcode right on the cover.
The Yodeler taught me how to use Mag+ at least on a basic level. I understood the interaction of the various layers and that I need to plan more time for asset collection. I used to think that collecting media for a project was the fast part, but when I don’t make it myself it is difficult to find media that fits exactly to what I am imagining and is high enough quality.
After the Yodeler, I was asked to step it up. The next project would have images, video, interaction, audio and HTML elements. For a more difficult project I decided to do it on a subject I enjoy so at least I would like part of the work if Mag+ got too annoying. I chose to make a magazine based on one of my favorite book series Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson.
The first step here was to sketch out my ideas since I needed to include so many different elements. This magazine was going to have at least 10 pages so I couldn’t do unique layouts for every single one and still be able to turn this in on time. I created a character page template so all four character pages would be laid out exactly the same improving the consistency and emphasizing the connection between the pages.
This made the rest of the magazine a bit easier since I didn’t have to worry about such a large section.
I then learned the hard way to keep to my sketches. The sketch for my ad had an interactive slideshow which checked off one of the requirements for this project, but my final ad ended up being just a still image with a bit of text. After my sketch was finished and I was working on it in InDesign I decided to try and make it more exciting by putting a little HTML animation which I never fully got to work out, and my original idea didn’t end up looking as seamless as I thought it should so I threw away that plan and just put up a large still with text overlaid. This was NOT a good idea since I had forgotten that the ads needed to be interactive as laid out in the project documentation. Other than a boring ad I created an exciting magazine packed with information about my favorite book series.
The main lessons I got from this project was to be more thorough when planning and sketching, and to be sure to read the requirements multiple times in order to include everything the client requests.
Brian Talbert is a student in the Digital Media program at Utah Valley University, Orem Utah, studying Interaction & Design. The following article relates to projects in the DGM 2270 Course and representative of the skills learned.
