From Dissonant Design to Melodic Magazine

So have you ever seen a new program and are amazed its capabilities? And then dive right in thinking that you can create at the same level of beauty as you saw in its featured work? Well that’s just the beginning with my own experience in Mag+.

For any designers, you too probably have the love-hate relationship with this program like I do. That relationship is slowing getting better but it was a rocky start. The InDesign plugin of Mag+ is amazing in its capabilities and features. You can basically create anything that you can dream of. But it definitely has a steep learning curve. In my first ever attempt with Mag+, I used a topic that I was familiar with to create a small publication with just a few verticals. It let me try out my own skills of managing all those layers, popups, and object states. Well let’s just say by first attempt was a pretty sad one. I look back at it an cringe. But instead of just letting that publication sit in the corner of my design closet, I will take you on the journey of my re-creation of that publication and what design elements helped me make a dissonant experience into a more melodic one.

Title page and Contents

Before and After of Cover Images

Even from these cover pages, can you already see a difference? The first time around, I just tried to find a cool image and throw some text on there. But the second time around, there is a little more thought put into the composition of the image. The table of contents was also vastly improved. Before it was just pretty static with the titles of each article and jump links to them. But the improved version took advantage of having an extended image between the cover page and content page, giving the user a more streamlined experience right from the beginning.

Having a large image in the background, gives a more unique and cohesive experince.

Learning Layers

For my first article, it was all about learning how the A and B layers work. Though simple, it is the very first start in understanding the rest of Mag+. There are some really neat things you can do with the layers that make the experience more dynamic. From adding imagery in the background to hiding information in the layers there is a lot you can do. Here are a couple examples the highlight the different things that layers are capable of.

Adding strong imagery can change the way you take in the information

Hiding information can be a creative way to engage the readers.

Learning Popups

Popups are so essential in mag+. If you don’t know how to utilize them to your advantage then you are missing out on a lot. But don’t just take it from me. The diversity of popups can bring your story to life. Though they seem simple, you can make them do almost anything. They bring more depth of processing to your design. Instead of having just flat text, including images and interactions will help the reader know what story you are trying to tell.

Depth of Processing: A phenomenon of memory in which information that is analyzed deeply is better recalled than information that is analyzed superficially.

Adding simple popups can make generic information become interactive. Even the smallest thing can make a big difference.

Adding popups into graphs can emphasize what the graph is trying to tell you.

Popups can also bring progressive disclosure to your publication. Don’t just bombard your readers with all of the information at once. But let them access it when they want to or when they are ready. This interaction also gives them a sense of control with what information they are receiving at a given time.

Progressive Disclosure: A strategy for managing information complexity in which only necessary or requested information is displayed at any given time.

By giving the reader the control of what information they can see at a given time, they are able to take control of how they process the information and are not overwhelmed with all of it at once.

Learning how to Nudge

As designers we spend so much time with our products. We know them inside and out and we know every detail. But as soon as you give your product to someone else, they pause, they wait, they might even stumble through your product. They are much less-experienced with your product, the content, or the functionality of it. Mag+ definitely lies in that category. With its verticals and never-ending scroll ability, it can be easy to get lost. Every time I’ve seen someone with a publication created from Mag+, they don’t know what to do with it. They need a nudge in the right direction to know where to go and what to do until they can get their bearings and explore on their own.

Nudge: A method for predictably altering behavior without restricting options or significantly changing incentives.

Having consistent elements to “nudge” the reader through can make the experience more cohesive.

Learning Consistency

If there was just one principle of design that I would say is the most important, it would be consistency. There is no alternative to having a good experience with any product than that of consistency. In the first publication there was a disconnect between how I laid out the content, the size of the typography, the style and color of the publication. The second time around, I scrapped all those elements and picked a style from the beginning to stick to. One example was the typography. All the body-type was much more consistent and the style of headers and titles all pulled from the same look and feel. Below are snapshots that display a much more consistent style of type.

Conclusion

There is always much more to learn in Mag+. Re-visiting my previous design was definitely not enjoyable at first, but essential as a designer to learn to improve upon your past designs instead of throwing them away. By focusing on specific design principles, I was also able to narrow down the changes I needed to make. It there still more I could do? Absolutely. But even learning how to make small changes made me a better designer.