Posts Tagged ‘content’

  • Content design with cojones

    tweet: no groundbreaking experience for magazine or TV content it seems

    Or so I tweeted whilst watching the recent Apple keynote. A month later and I don’t think I could have been more wrong.

    Immediately after the iPad’s reveal, the interweb rippled with an argument between two tribes, those that want a computer that allows them to tinker under the hood, and those that don’t care about getting their hands dirty – they just want to email, surf, watch and listen. For me, this isn’t the interesting debate. It’s how the speed, screen size and controlled environment of the iPad now means that content design on screen can finally come of age and grow some balls. Big ones.

    Or so I tweeted whilst watching the recent Apple keynote. A month later and I don’t think I could have been more wrong.

    Or so I tweeted whilst watching the recent Apple keynote. A month later and I don’t think I could have been more wrong.

    Immediately after the iPad’s reveal, the interweb rippled with an argument between two tribes, those that want a computer that allows them to tinker under the hood, and those that don’t care about getting their hands dirty – they just want to email, surf, watch and listen. For me, this isn’t the interesting debate. It’s how the speed, screen size and controlled environment of the iPad now means that content design on screen can finally come of age and grow some balls. Big ones.

    Your content isn’t the same as my content

    There are some sites that people check two or three times a day. BBC News is one of them for me. However, out of the 50 or so articles on their home page in the morning, I’ll probably only read around ten stories. As I check back during the day, there’s a law of diminishing returns, in fact every time I visit I usually end up reading half as many stories as I did the previous time.

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    5
    By Isaac Pinnock

    26th February 10

    5 comments

     design

  • Pictory – A beautiful example of online editorial design

    I’ve talked before about exploring different ways of navigating and consuming content online.

    I first came across Pictory a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it. But as it starts to fill with stories and topics I feel provides some beautiful and elegant ways to gorge yourself on content and is really forging a path into new areas of content layout and navigation online.

    Their line ‘Your best photo stories’ explains what it is nicely.

    Pictory screenshot

    Let’s look at the evidence.

    Lovely, big images. Navigation via a keyboard which allows me to skip from piece to piece simply by pressing the left/right arrow keys. A balanced mix of captioned images and short stories pulled together to create a rich textured viewing / reading experience. Real-life stories which often cause an emotional stir in the reader. And the designer in me loves the use of Typekit fonts.

    I think it’s an example of crowdsourcing at it’s absolute best. A nice tightly worded brief but open enough for interpretation by the viewer. (Aren’t all the best briefs like this?)

    Being ultra picky. A full-screen view would be nice.

    Anyway, I think it’s best if you go there now and lose the next hour of your day.

    1 Comment

    1
    Simon I'Anson By Simon I'Anson

    21st January 10

    1 comment

     content

    design

  • King banner

    Like so many, I completely tune out ad banners when I’m viewing the web. It doesn’t matter what format or size they are, whether it’s an animated spectacular or basic text links, I simply don’t pay any attention to banners any more.

    This worries me, as when you start ignoring something it’s a short step to holding it in contempt. Something that’s all too easy when sites resort to obtrusive overlays: having to fiddle around with a flash banner covering up your content wasn’t the reason I came to your site (regardless of how you need to fund it).

    Which is why seeing some of the new formats that sites like Slate and the New York Times are using is such a delight. These aren’t ads that get in the way of the content, they’re a piece of content in themselves. They’re also monumentally huge. So big that you can’t possibly ignore them. In fact they’re so big you almost can’t believe that anyone would have the balls to put an ad banner that enormous on the page.

    New York Times page with Mini advert

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    By Isaac Pinnock

    20th January 10

    0 comments

     design

  • Looking towards more flexible web-based editorial design

    Isaac and I have been discussing how users consume media and news which has raised some interesting questions around online publishing. Specifically: how we construct content templates, how that content looks when it’s in place, art direction at a micro level and how we can create richer, more engaging and, importantly, more ‘useful’ reading experiences online.

    Over the last 4-5 years there has been a gradual convergence in how most newspaper sites construct their article pages. Based on a grid system, they employ a wide central column for the body copy and a number of other columns, usually on the right of the screen, for related information, links to other stories, MPUs, tools, etc. We should know, we’ve designed a number of sites for media owners, as well as countless blogs that conform to these conventions.

    No matter how long the article is it is wedged into the same template. If it’s 200 words, stick it in. 800 words? No problem, paginate it and reap the ad impressions.

    There’s loads of sense to this approach. The beauty of the web is its democratisation of publishing. Drop your text and image into a well crafted template and you’re away. But I think there’s room for another approach.

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    4 Comments

    4
    Simon I'Anson By Simon I'Anson

    29th October 09

    4 comments

     opinion

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