After attending a quarterly meeting of the Greater Baltimore InDesign User Group this week that was quite entertaining to me, I wrote the following article. Many of the performing arts begin with printed meda: playscripts, screenplays, books that grow into screenplays, musical scores and lyrics, etc. Some of my artist friends (except for the graphic designers) may be only vaguely aware of how innovation in the print industry is redefining the way we create and appreciate art.
Designing to Read by Patti Restivo
The wonders of technology never cease to amaze this baby boomer. Even as we read, the open access revolution (unlimited access to information made possible by digital technology) marches on. Do you have an iPad? Own a Kindle or other eReader tablet? You may want to consider getting very acclimated to the latest gadgets very quickly. Graphic designers and authors like David Renard (The Last Magazine) convincingly predict a massive shift from print to online publications within the next five years. And the print design industry is scampering to keep pace.
At the quarterly meeting of the Greater Baltimore Chapter of the InDesign User Group at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory on March 22, Noha Edell of Cross Media Publishing Solutions presented a demonstration of the new Adobe® Digital Publishing Suite, which converts print documents into interactive “experiences” for mobile devices and the Web. We looked specifically at the first digital issue of Martha Stewart Living that was created with this model for the iPad.
To me, online magazine design is inherently more beautiful than web site design, and Martha Stewart Living is a high priced, glossy publication. Anyone (and isn’t almost everyone?) practiced in surfing the web will be comfortable navigating the digital issue. Sophisticated interactive features (360° views, videos, audio, animated info-graphics, photo slideshows, hyperlinks, and scrolling options) present a portal to multi-sensory exploration and total reader absorption.
For designers, the Adobe® Digital Publishing Suite offers full-service tools to create and convert print publications to e-publications. Similar to web design, the files must be meticulously organized. The three-part software package (InDesign, Bundle, and View) automatically creates a Table of Contents page with thumbnails, writes code to create the interactivity, and facilitates viewing and troubleshooting.
But, it only works with Creative Suite 5. And if you want the layout of your pages to change with vertical or horizontal viewing, depending on how the device is held, you’ll need to design two separate layouts. (National Geographic Magazine doesn’t bother.)
Don’t plan on using Flash animations. They won’t work on iPads or tablets. Michael Witherell, Owner and President of JetSet Communications, Inc. and a JavaScript expert, grumbled privately in the audience that Adobe needs to catch up with the latest technology, “and now.”
Expected to be released during the second quarter of 2011, the Adobe® Digital Publishing Suite will not be available online as a software package like the latest Creative Suite. It will be custom-priced and likely only affordable to large publishing houses. There will be subscription and service fees. Designers who want to play around with it can join the prelease program at adobe.com, but there is little point unless they’re positioned to subscribe.
Don’t plan on using Flash animations. They won’t work on iPads or tablets. Michael Witherell, Owner and President of JetSet Communications, Inc. and a JavaScript expert, grumbled privately in the audience that Adobe needs to catch up with the latest technology, “and now.”
Expected to be released during the second quarter of 2011, the Adobe® Digital Publishing Suite will not be available online as a software package like the latest Creative Suite. It will be custom-priced and likely only affordable to large publishing houses. There will be subscription and service fees. Designers who want to play around with it can join the prelease program at adobe.com, but there is little point unless they’re positioned to subscribe.
Renard predicts that print magazines will be “dead” in 20 years. Are we really going to lose sight of our favorite print magazines and books? Open access doesn’t guarantee accessibility. Will libraries provide entry to expensive online publications to folks who can’t afford the latest gadgets, or seniors who don’t know how to use them?
E-publishing innovation is exciting to designers, but as a consumer, I don’t want to sacrifice the tactile experience of touching paper, the smell of the ink, or the rhythmic turning of pages while propped on my favorite pillow with my glasses shoved above my forehead. I want it all. My surprise that digital natives in today’s workforce have never written a check or mailed a letter also makes me question whether future generations will know what it feels like (or have the patience) to read a good old-fashioned book or script in a quiet moment.
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