Now that the publishing and design worlds are beginning to fuse print/web design with mobile/tablet app design, the first challenge is choosing which digital publishing suite is best suited for your publication’s needs, budget, and required features.

If you’re taking a print publication to the mobile or tablet space, it’s very likely that you will check out two of the most popular digital publishing solutions: the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite and Mag+. Which one is right for you?

After using both services, I’ve put together a quick comparison guide to help publishers and designers determine which option works best for their digital publishing needs.

Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (DPS)

Adobe is well known for their creative suite and trusted by most design firms. Adobe DPS is a premium service, and is priced accordingly; as a result, it may not be the best option for projects with limited budgets. Last year, Adobe made significant changes within its Creative Suite to make the print to digital transition much easier for interactive designers. With the creation of such plugins as Folio Producer and Viewer Builder, designers now have great tools that allow them to create vibrant custom layouts without having to leave InDesign, an application that designers of print publications are likely already familiar with.

Also, the option to view changes in real time with the Viewer Builder is a huge time-saver. Without going into detail about all of the available options in the interactive tool palette, I’ve listed some pros and cons of using Adobe DPS.

Pros:

• Open template designer provides a greater degree of control over what the publication looks like, and the freedom to express variety between feature wells and departments.

• User-friendly experience, more control over what the reader sees and more options for call-outs in quick-read sections. An example of this is Marines magazine, a tablet app I’ve been designing over the years and since its previous incarnation as a print publication: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/marines-magazine/id418341877?mt=8

•  The advent of CS6 is poised to expand the capabilities of Adobe DPS. The introduction of social media buttons and HTML5 overlays make search capabilities within articles more accessible to the user and within search engines.

• The Omniture analytics feature provides granular, comprehensive data collection to get the most detailed feedback on what readers view most and how you can improve on it.

Cons:

• Although the service is feature-rich, cost could be a factor for budget-conscious organizations.

Mag+

Mag+ has a nice interface and is one of the most well known digital publishing solutions in the industry. It’s used by respected publications such as Popular Science, Maxim, and Outside magazines. Mag+ has a straightforward interface that is great for first time app designers, and its online user interface makes it easy for designers to create slideshows, animations and other various interactive elements. The Mag+ Feature Well successfully showcases imagery and separates the content from the layout, allowing for vertical scrolling and interactivity. It also includes analytics for magazine app owners to track where their readers spend the most time. Listed below is a brief list of some of the pros and cons of using Mag+.

Pros:

• Very nice interface, Feature Well easily promotes detailed photography and illustrations.

• Online User Interaction Library makes it easy for designers to choose what kind of inactivity they need for their work.

• Nice transition between pages with the slide feature for large image backgrounds.

Cons:

• Somewhat limited user interaction.

• Template-based layout system can be potentially monotonous for long publications, however, it is decidedly more appropriate for shorter publications.

• Heavily dependent on strong photography and video.

Whether it’s your first time designing for a tablet or you’re a seasoned veteran, keep in mind that your print design skills are remarkably transferable to the tablet. Just remember to always keep your audience’s needs as your first consideration.

It’s a Leap Year, and what better way to celebrate than with food and friends? 
So on February 29, we hosted a Mobile and Tablet App Lunch and Learn to talk about this exciting new frontier with some clients and friends.

As Bates Creative Group continues to grow in the digital space, we continue to get a lot of questions about apps. Whether it’s about cost, scheduling, content, or design, we have the experience to answer a variety of questions.

Bates Creative President Debbie Bates-Schrott led the discussion and was joined by Creative Director Jeff Caporizzo, who talked about branding in the digital space, and Interactive Director Vince Tardy, who discussed mobile publishing from a design and development standpoint. We were excited to share this information, but even more so to hear our guests’ concerns, questions and opinions.

Attendees were association professionals who work in all different aspects of publishing, for instance we had people from marketing and circulation, digital teams, print and online editors, as well as communications and creative departments. Each represent organizations that produce a variety of print magazines and journals, digital editions of these print magazines, websites, and/or unique online editions.

As the discussion unraveled, attendees began to ask about their most prevalent concerns:

• What are the ideal monetization solutions? And what’s at risk for print?
• How to gather and understand app analytics.
• How to share content within tablet app users and non-tablet app users.
• What is the better business model? Charging for their app, or offering it as a member benefit?
• Is the future business model of print on the web and tablet? Or could an organization just go all digital via web and tablet editions?
• Obvious budget concerns.

Overall, it seemed that everyone shared the same two areas of apprehension, which we talked about at length:

1. Whether or not their association could benefit from entering the mobile/tablet app market?
2. If they made the leap into a mobile/tablet app market, which type of app is most appropriate – web-based, native, or hybrid?

At the end of the day, we all learned a few things and enjoyed talking about the next wave of technology within the publishing industry. Our friends gathered some helpful details and hopefully left feeling more prepared to begin the conversation about entering this new publishing realm.

Is the mobile or tablet app market on the horizon for your publication or organization? Let us know. We’d love to help guide you through the process.

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To give some background on our expertise in this publishing medium:

Last year Bates Creative Group was exclusively selected to beta-test Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite, used to design and develop the Marines magazine iPad and Android tablet apps.

Earlier this year, InformationWeek named the Marines magazine tablet app as one of the 10 best government apps, judging each for their visual appeal and functionality.

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Check out the following articles for additional information:

“Ten Things to Plan for When Developing a Mobile App,” by David Tucker, published on Mashable.com on February 24, 2012.

“Costs to Make a Magazine iPad App, “So you’re curious: “How much does it cost to make a magazine iPad App?” by Ernie Achenbach, published on Align on August 5, 2011.

“iPad Magazine Strategy, Strategy and design tips for tablet magazine apps,” by Emily Randisi, published on Align on March 29, 2011.

Association Media and Publishing’s “Integration of Print to Online Roundtable” discussion—or perhaps support group is more accurate—was facilitated by Debra Stratton of Stratton Publishing & Marketing and included publishing professionals from a wide range of trade associations. As the roundtable discussion at the association’s Annual Meeting in June got underway, common areas of frustration stemmed from budgetary cuts, formatting for mobile devices and a general lack of digital strategy.

Roundtable participants agreed that their small staff and recent cuts in production budgets are making the digital transition challenging and costly. In many cases, this means that publications can only put partial content online and often in a low-tech, unappealing format. Participants also say they have to deal with members asking for (or expecting) a decrease in dues once more content is moved online.

The roundtable participants were able to share several ideas to help ease each other’s pain points. One suggestion for a more affordable integration is to use free videos, podcasts and social media sites to promote specific content. The trick is not to try and do it all, but rather to find which medium works best for a publication’s audience and keep it updated with interesting and relevant content.

Another idea for publications with tight budgets is to include ad sales online to expand revenue and provide additional options. However, many advertisers now want editorial-based “partnership” opportunities in addition to their ads, which is proving to be an unwelcomed, time-consuming task for editors.

With new mobile devices coming out so frequently, editors are concerned about how their publication’s formatting will appear on iPhones, BlackBerrys and iPads. In fact, a representative from a realtor association said that mobile applications are essential for their publication because realtors spend most of their time in their cars or out of the office with clients.

There are plenty of options for these services, but most custom solutions tend to be on the expensive side. One roundtable attendee suggested buying a packaged solution instead of creating a custom application for your magazine. These packages tend to make the print-to-online process easy and fast. The downside is you have to pay per issue, and you lose some customization and formatting control.

After hearing from nearly everyone at the roundtable, one contributor commented that most of the challenges discussed were directly linked to the absence of a digital strategy. The group agreed that involving the association’s president, editors, writers, marketing crew, and anyone else involved in the integration process is crucial to building an effective digital strategy. Inconsistencies often arise in chosen content and delegation of duties when key players are absent during the initial planning stages.

Additional tips from the roundtable included:

• Research first. When the appropriate research is done prior to the digital integration, publishers can add content based on what their members want, need, and will actually use. Research will always be less costly than dedicating the time it takes to keep up a blog that no one reads or buying mobile apps for an iPhone that no one uses.

• Have a trial period. Implementing a trial period where publications experiment with certain social media sites is a great way to see what works.

• Do what makes sense for you. Don’t start a Twitter account just to say you have one. Make sure it is something your readers are familiar with and will enjoy using.

Although not every question was answered or every problem solved, the topics discussed at the roundtable proved that publications with different audiences, budgets, and topics are all experiencing growing pains as the industry moves toward the digital medium. Taking time to develop a good strategy may be the best medicine for your digital headache, and if nothing else, remember you are not alone in your struggle.

Article originally published in Final Proof e-newsletter.

Reprinted with the permission of Association Media & Publishing.

We start each business day with the dream of learning the secret to making our magazines flourish in both print and online. Depending on your passion you may prefer one option over the other. Clearly, there is still a strong desire for a print edition in many topic areas. There are also many publishers behind the eight ball with their magazine’s online presence or lack thereof. Many do not want to accept change, or have not fully embraced, or understand, the power of the Web, video, social media, mobile applications, or whatever the newest technology is when you are reading this.

For some publishers the flip page PDF may serve a purpose. It may be providing opportunities for expanding international readership or creating an online-only option for its readers. Advertisers benefit since it can expand the number of those who will see their ads and they can actually see the analytics and track it. Allowing advertisers the opportunity to share much more with a link to their site.

While there is still merit to this approach, there is a distinct disadvantage if this is your only digital strategy. Many may end up designing magazines the same way we have been for a lifetime. We need to take a new approach to designing our content to open new opportunities. This will require a strategic approach. Know your readers! Continue to know your readers! Where are your readers? Why are they reading your magazine? How are they reading your magazine? This is a continually changing landscape and needs to be monitored. Every magazine has its nuances that make its online needs different.

I think the best approach is integration. We are not just publishing magazines any longer. For those of you who are today, watch out for tomorrow. What is the print magazine accomplishing for the reader? Can it be done online? Online only? Or can you provide something different online that can strengthen the brand? Interviews, video, and social networks are just the tip of the iceberg.

Creating a completely harmonious relationship between print and online will require a new way of thinking for most publishers. Editors cannot do it all with the same amount of resources or old thinking and processes. Being a disrupter may be just what your publication needs to succeed.

Being successful in the new media world starts with a strategy with a phased implementation plan.

Yes, people are still launching magazines. As I mentioned in a previous post, Samir Hussni wrote in his March 1st, 2009, article for Publishing Executive magazine that in 2008, for every magazine that closed its doors, 20 new magazines were born. Today we are all asking the question: how many of them are succeeding? It may be too soon to tell at this point.

In today’s environment, launching a new magazine requires a strategic approach for sure. A great idea for a magazine is a good start, but certainly not all you need. Without the proper research, business plan, strategy and publishing experience, the magazine is not likely to succeed.

Many individuals have a great idea for a new magazine. Unfortunately, they are not often equipped with the knowledge, tools, funding, and publishing expertise to get it off the ground. Any new magazine needs a strategy behind it to give it a fighting chance. Although nothing can guarantee success, it is important to follow a process that builds on a strong foundation.

That said, DO NOT begin with design. Starting with the design of the prototype can waste money and creative energy. Design without proper planning behind it is like drawing with chalk on the sidewalk. A little change in the weather and it can all be washed away. With the proper business plan and strategy, you can feel more confident developing an effective structure for your publication.

Creating the strategy up front can also make the ultimate look and feel of your print or online magazine stronger and more unique. If you outline a thoughtful strategy and clear goals for the designer, you are much more likely to get something really well designed that your readers will love. This applies to both print and online magazines.

Launching an online-only magazine, however, takes a much different strategy. Although there are no costs for ink, paper, postage and distribution, it has its own set of challenges and costs. If this is the right medium to choose for your reader, it is still important to ask strategic questions of yourself to determine your plan.

The backbone of your magazine—the mission statement—should always be written during the strategy and planning phases. These few sentences will define the publication—how it is different from its competition and what its benefits are to the reader. When you start to write the mission statement, it will become apparent why you need the planning and strategy. See my article “Mission Critical” for more on that.

If you want to launch a magazine, start by asking these questions to identify areas of strength and weakness:

• Have you written a business plan?
• Have you written a mission statement?
• Is the target reader clearly defined?
• Does the target reader have a need for this magazine?
• Is anyone else in the same competitive space? If not, consider why that might be.
• Where will the funding come from to launch and sustain the magazine?
• What is the revenue model for the magazine? How will it make money?
• Will you sell ads in the magazine? Who will sell them?
• How will you charge for content?
• How will the magazine be distributed?
• Should the magazine launch in print and online, or online only?
• Do you have an editorial strategy?
• Where will the content come from?
• Who will design the magazine?
• What staff will be necessary to produce the magazine you are planning?

There are many resources out there to help you answer all of these questions and help you put together a solid strategy. Working with someone who knows all of the details to consider can really increase your chances of success. It’s often money well spent, especially if the analysis shows that you are not ready to launch. Think of the cost savings of not launching a failure.

Here are a few resources to check out if you are thinking of starting a magazine:

www.magazinelaunch.com
www.mastheadonline.com
www.foliomag.com
www.magazine.org
www.mediabistro.com

This could be a good time to launch a magazine if you have solid answers to the important questions. If you are a determined publishing entrepreneur, go forth with creative ideas and a solid plan for success founded on research, substance and strategy.

This series will continue on to explore topics such as naming, prototypes, style guides, and more.

Related articles in Align:
• Mission Critical

Web site Content Management Systems (CMS) – if you’re not familiar with that term it might sound like some ponderous technological beast, and well, they can be sometimes. But really, despite their name they can make creating and posting content to the Web quick and easy.

In a nutshell, a CMS is a system that allows relatively quick and painless publishing to a web site and organization of that site. CMS are all over, from the Microsoft and Apple corporate site to The NY Times, to your blog – they are all using a CMS.

There are dozens, perhaps hundreds of CMS available. Some are free; some cost tens of thousands of dollars and everything in between. Depending on you needs, budget and technical facility, there is a system out there for you.

Though any given CMS can do a million things, one of the most important is helping workflow. Any CMS worth its salt will allow for multiple users in the system and those users rights can be specified. It’s possible to have a large number of contributors who can add content, but do not have the ability to publish the content to the public. Those contributors’ articles can be reviewed, edited, published or passed along to the next level by the managers. No question, if you are managing a Web site with a lot of content going up on a regular basis, a streamlined workflow is very important.

Equally important is the ease of adding new content. Besides just managing the content, a CMS adding content to the stream more accessible. Before CMS were common, it usually fell to someone on staff with the appropriate skills to code the new content and add it to the existing site structure. If that person was too busy, on vacation, etc. the content sat in limbo due to the seemingly insurmountable barrier of converting text to HTML and adding it to the site. Now, with a CMS, one doesn’t need to know any special code to add content – all one needs is the ability to run a word processor.

Now that we understand some of the value of a CMS, we can talk about how to take advantage of that value in the context of a magazine.

Let’s assume that your CMS is set up and ready to go, just lacking content. To create new content one just needs to log into the system and get to work. At the most basic level you can just copy and paste into that editor. If there are images for an article, those need to be uploaded, which is usually as simple as uploading to flickr or FaceBook. Once that’s done you can start adding content. The same tool that lets you add an article to the site, will let you insert those images, tweak text, add links, and more. Once you are finished with the content, the article is saved to a database and ready to be posted to the Web site. For most, the process isn’t any more complicated than creating an MS Word document.

Keeping this regular stream of new content to the site is a prime way to take advantage of the value a CMS-based site offers. Though you could put up an “issue’s” worth of content in one fell swoop – there’s no need to. In fact there are incentives to generate a constant stream of regular updates. Search engines rank sites that have a constant stream of new content higher than one that does a monthly bulk update (for a bit more on this you can read about SEO). So if you keep the right content coming, you can elevate your position in searches – which drives traffic to your site – which can increase your ad rates.

Previously we talked about how one can create an online edition of a printed magazine using PDF viewer systems. Using a CMS-based Web site is a bit more of a leap of faith in some ways. Creating a PDF version that goes out as one whole package, with all its pages in the proper order is more familiar for traditionally print minded people. This free-form content production can seem chaotic to those who are used to planning out a block of content for a month or two all at one time, over the span of a year – but really it’s the same. One should still have an editorial calendar, production process, etc. – it’s just scaled differently.

Of course with a more flexible schedule there are more chances for missteps – but that same latitude can used as an advantage by focusing on hot topics, relating and linking new articles to older ones – even editing older articles to reflect more current developments. This sort of fluidity is difficult to achieve with a more traditional issue-based model, like we see with the PDF viewer.

Now, I’d be remiss if I didn’t follow up on a comparison I made in my PDF viewer article. If you’ll recall, I mentioned how MAKE magazine used a PDF viewer service to offer their subscribers an online analog of the printed version. Each issue was its own, and required a login and password to access. So whether it came in the mail or via email you got your paid-for issue. In the CMS camp, we have WIRED – they put all the content from each issue on their site and even add to the articles by posting photos and rich media not seen in the printed edition. All the back issues reside online, and it is all FREE. Obviously this is about as opposite a method from the single password-protected issue as one can get and might freak some people out – “They just give it away?!” Well yes, and no. That openness drives a lot of traffic to their site, which boosts their ad rates. Also this constant stream of content means that Google and other search engines are constantly combing their site, and their potential search position is high.

Though CMS-based versions of a magazine require some more thought, consideration and initial set-up than their PDF viewer counterparts, they offer many of the same advantages and open a number of other avenues for publishers to reach their audience.

Previously we had a quick overview of two ways to bring a print document to the Web – the PDF viewer and the content-managed site. Now for a more detailed look, since there are too many companies in this field at this time to list, so for the sake of discussion, any production details following will be from the Zmags DIY process.

We’ll look at the PDF viewer first, since it’s the most ‘print like’ of the two options. There are a few methods that companies are using to bring the content to the Web, and many tout that their viewer replicates the page-turning experience of a printed product.

As you have probably already assumed, the whole process begins with a PDF. Of course this means that the document has to be designed and converted before it ever makes its journey to the Web. This means there’s a cost to get the content to look its best, but if you’re looking at a hybrid solution of traditional printed versions plus digital editions like MAKE did, then the design costs are already part of your production process.

So all of that is nice – but how much does it cost?  Every project is different, but here are some thoughts on the two most common price models.

The most straightforward price model I have seen is the per-document, do-it-yourself (DIY) license. Very simply, you pay a flat rate per document you have online; the more documents you have, the less you pay per document. You handle the creation of the document, uploading, linking, customizing the viewer, etc. You incur a labor cost on your end for doing that work, but because you control it, that cost is generally lower than if the service provider handled those tasks. Also, if you are very particular about the look of your product, doing it yourself gives you direct control over that look, as opposed to handing it off and hoping it comes out right.

The other common model is the service bureau model. This price model is a lot more convoluted and harder to nail down. Here, the service provider handles all the dirty work for you.  You hand off the PDF and they take care of it all… at a price. Generally these are priced per page of content and items like rich media, links and any other extras are charged à la carte. Also, any future edits, changes or page swaps may incur fees. As you can see, this price model might distress those trying to layout a budget. Though the initial creation prices were similar between DIY and service bureaus, any changes could get expensive under the latter. Also, if you want a lot of control over your document, this might not be the model for you. You have to hand off your PDF, supporting art and some instructions to the service provider and let them create your online edition.

Once the PDF is ready, you upload it to the PDF viewer service for processing. It takes a few minutes for their system to go through the PDF and make a searchable index of all the text. This index is important since it’s not just user-searchable in the viewer, but also searchable by Google and other search engines. Once that processing is done, you can put the PDF on the Web for public consumption with just a couple more clicks.

From starting the upload to publishing to the public, you might spend 15 minutes if you’re not using any of the available extras. Such a quick turn is definitely enticing, allowing a minimum time cost and the ability to stick to tight deadlines.

The look and feel of the final product varies a bit from company to company. Many of the companies in the field have developed (Adobe) Flash based page-turners. The best looking of these allow the user to grab the page corners with their mouse, lift it up and peek at the next page, pull it around, etc – like one might do with a real page – making the effort to mimic the real experience as much as possible. Some of the Flash-based page-turners use a more simple click-to-turn interaction with canned page-turn animations and varied levels of adroitness.

Another facet of the PDF viewer is image-based. The service processes your PDF and displays your document as a series of flat images.  Though this isn’t as immersive as the ability to turn pages, its advantage is that it doesn’t need the Flash plug-in to work. The vast majority of people on the Web have the Flash plug-in already but it’s not a given. Also, an important emerging market – iPhone users – cannot view Flash… at least for now. But everyone with a computer, iPhone or BlackBerry can view flat images. So you trade some of the look for the ability to hit a broader audience.

Now, to discuss those extras mentioned earlier. The Zmags system offers a number of ‘canned’ viewer looks and layouts to choose from as part of the creation process or change later on if the mood strikes. If you have an established brand, however, you’ll want to have a custom look. This can be accomplished through the Zmags administration tool. You can create a customized viewer that allows you to tweak colors, background art, button positions and a number of other details to suit your brand, and all these settings can be saved for use in any current or future documents you create.

Some of the other allow the user to create internal and external links, insert rich media and other interactive elements, and offer a comprehensive analytics suite and even e-commerce abilities. Things like analytics, rich media, interactive elements and links are standards for the field; many of the other services share a lot of these features.

Though we’ve covered a lot of information in this article, due to the number of different providers for PDF viewers there’s really no way to give a comprehensive review of them all, or even just a handful of them.  We have an in-house document that explores the main points for just 4 viewers in table form and we had to shrink it to fit on an 11×17 sheet of paper!

We hope this gives you a better idea of what to expect from the page-turner genre.  Next time, it’s the CMS on the block.

Abandoning Print – digital editions

Over the last few years, a certain publication trend that has been gaining momentum. And now it’s on the verge of changing from a being cool trend to the way ‘it’s done’.

I’m talking about magazines going online. Not just online with a web site to entice you to buy the printed edition, but soup-to-nuts 100% of the content online, without ever creating paper version. Ink and paper replaced by HTML and PDFs.

As we all know, the Web is getting faster, prettier to look at and easier to use, whether you are an information consumer or producer. Though all that is great, there are two other big factors that are in position to put this trend over the top into common practice. Or depending on point of view it’s already over the top and these factors will just cement this practice in place for the foreseeable term.

The two big factors I see driving this are the ‘Going Green’ movement, and the real 800-pound gorilla – money.

It’s simple economics really. If you print 100,000 issues in a run, you’ve spent tens of thousands on your printing alone. Let’s not forget shipping, storage and all the other little fees that add up really quickly. In any economy, expenditures of tens of thousands of dollars per issue are serious business. But as we all know, the economy is suffering and people are looking to save in any way they can. It’s pretty easy for the budget hawks to home in on several hundred thousand dollars of printing costs in a year and to look for less costly ways to get the information out.

Though not as pressing as the accountant saying you must cut X from your printing budget, there is a very real pressure towards greening in the print world. Recycled paper and ‘green’ inks help to reduce the environmental impact of printing. But really, nothing could have less impact than not every actually printing something.

The confluence of these social, economic and technological changes have unearthed lots of organizations looking to do away with their printed materials. I’m not some doomsayer proclaiming ‘Print is dead!’ and the magazine section of the store will be deserted, not at all. But I am saying there’s a new sheriff in town, and a new way of thinking taking hold.

Of course, dispensing with a printed edition is a pretty radical decision and not without its own pitfalls. Many people are looking towards a hybridized approach. MAKE magazine offered their subscribers the choice of receiving a hard copy or digital version of each issue. At that time, 10% of their subscriber base opted out of hard copies, which obviously represents a significant and immediate reduction in production costs with no loss of subscriber revenue.

So what’s best? Kill your printing altogether? Offer up both? Which solution is better? Of course there is no blanket answer for that. For each instance there’s some many variables that it needs to be taken case by case. But it is certain is that the number of magazines using digital editions to augment their print versions, or doing away with printed editions, will increase over time.

‘So how does one make the digital conversion?’ you ask. There are a few ways that have various strengths and weaknesses. We’ll start to investigate them in my next article.