The Mario Blog

04.01.2010—6am    Post #888
Basic ingredients for iPad design stay close to the basics; plus more Times of Oman/Al Shabiba

TAKEAWAY: We are happy to read an interview with Wired creative director Scott Dadich: it is all about the basics. PLUS: Times of Oman and Al Shabiba prepare for launch of their new designs this weekend.

Update #3: Thursday, April 1, 15:42 EST

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TAKEAWAY: We are happy to read an interview with Wired creative director Scott Dadich: it is all about the basics. PLUS: Times of Oman and Al Shabiba prepare for launch of their new designs this weekend.

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Three basic ingredients for designing on tablets: Type/Photo/Video——but it is all about the story you tell

Here is a “not to miss” interview with Wired magazine creative director Scott Dadich who discusses his magazine’s explorations with tablets and the iPad.

There are at least three points Dadich mentions which ring a bell with me, based on the early work we have been doing ourselves with tablets, and the many discussions already taking place in the newsroom:

It’s all experimental at this point: Dadich reminds us that the needs and use patterns of the device will dictate a new set of graphic design rules and standards. And, since nobody has yet experienced the iPad in his hand (except those Apple guys in Cupertino), all we have to go by now is a bit of speculation and intuition about what it will be like, and our experience with other tablets and, of course, the iPhone. So, as I suspect, we will see many beta versions of publications taking their baby steps in iPad 1.0, but this is good. It will lead us to where we wish to go.

It’s not all about video: Amen, Scott. Our conversations with publishers and editors (and, especially with art directors) lead us to believe that, at first, everyone wants the iPad to be a Play Station game with tons of bells and whistles. This is not going to happen. There is the issue of capacity, and not overloading the publication to the point where it loses usability.

Dadich says: “We’re thinking of it less as that filmic experience and much more as a magazine. It’s still a collection of stories, and you’re going to plunk down and engage with those in different ways—you’re going to want to read some, you’re going to want to watch some.”

There will be the “filmic experience”, of course (otherwise it would not be the pop up book we dream about), but the iPads and other tablets will also hold a special place for photography.

In fact, I repeat that I think storytelling (the narrative) and its accompanying and indispensable photography, will find an unparallel vehicle with the iPad. The enhancement for mini stories possible through photos will open new possibilities, and I think Wired, among others, is prepared to experiment with it, and for the users of the iPad to experience it.

Says Dadich:

The storytelling methods that we use to make magazines today—the tools, the words, the pictures, the headlines that we all use—are every bit, or even more important going forward. It’s not a case where we’re dropping all of the things that we know and having to go learn a whole new language. It’s just using those tools in different ways and experimenting.

Attention to type: I am happy to hear a conversation about type and the iPad, because this will be the subject of perhaps a single seminar devoted to type and the tablets.

Here is how Dadich describes it:

A big factor that we haven’t heard a lot about that we’re spending a lot of time on is type. As in print, quality typefaces and attention to typographic detail are undervalued. I’m excited to spend the time and energy on building new paradigms for how that type is going to work. That’s important for the length of engagement with the product. If you’ve got long-form journalism, if you’re asking people to read an 8,000 or 10,000-word story, you need to use tools that don’t wear people out. The easier and better the reading experience is, the more comfortable people will be spending long periods of time with the device, and that’s really what we are aiming for.

For the complete interview, go here:
http://www.mediabistro.com/ebooknewser/tablets/qa_wireds_creative_director_on_designing_for_the_ipad_tablets_156688.asp

Of related Interest:
http://www.niemanlab.org/2010/04/nyt-readies-a-free-alternative-ipad-for-those-who-dont-want-to-pay-plus-first-looks-at-npr-wsj-ap-bloomberg-and-usa-today-on-ipad/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+NiemanJournalismLab+(Nieman+Journalism+Lab)

What’s new with Times of Oman?

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Two inside pages from the new design of Times of Oman

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Before and after front pages of Times of Oman: notice change of logo

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A variation of the new front page of Times of Oman

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Extra (lifestyle) section front

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Today in Oman opening page: leads to Extra and Connect (classifieds)

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Sports section front

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E-times (technology) section front

Several of our readers have been asking why so much attention was given to Al Shabiba and its logo, while the Times of Oman was also undergoing change, including its logo.

Obviously, the Times of Oman logo—-now a pill box, in red—-did not present us with the challenges of the Arabic-language logo of Al Shabiba, which have consumed much of our last four days.

However, it does not mean that T of O is less important or inspiring to all of us involved in the task.

A little history

Jan Kny (Garcia Media Europe) and I started working with a redesign of the Times of Oman exactly two and a half years ago. Three art directors later, we now have Adonis Durado as design director, and, he, in turn has hired an accomplished team of designers, info graphic and illustration artists and the environment was more conducive for us to do our work.

The Times of Oman that will see the light Sunday, April 4, has also rethought its content presentation: there are three sections now, as follows:

First section, international news and opinion.
Second section, Today in Oman, with Extra (lifestyle) and Connect(classifieds)
Third section, Market (business and finance), Sports

Key points of the redesign

Typographic scheme:

Text: Sentinel
Lead headlines on each page: Sentinel
Secondary headlines: Vitesse
Accents: Tungsten
(All fonts from Hoefler & Frere-Jones—www.typography.com)

New page size:
31.5 cm x 57.8 cm

Navigation: Each section front navigates readers to inside content, and always a “Three not to miss” box appears as well.

Color on every page: With a new printing press, the Times of Oman, and Al Shabiba, can now
afford color capability on all pages. The printing machine is City Line Express / Made in India.

Times of Oman and Al Shabiba CEO, Mr. Ahmed sums it up best:

“Our readers will see two very different newspapers this Sunday. Each has its uniqueness, and Times of Oman is not a translation of Al Shabiba or vice versa.
We want to make sure that the design distinction also points out content distinctions, because to us they are very present in how we crteate the paper”

Advertising innovation

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Three of the various ad positions available to advertisers: L, S and Frame structures

Part of the rethinking of both Al Shabiba and Times of Oman includes new approaches to advertising, selling such positions as S, L and U shape ads; island ads; silent ads, as well as belt and frame ads, some of which are shown here.

“Advertisers will find that the new products are thinking of them as well. We want the advertising community to see possibilities with our newspapers beyond the traditional placement of ads,” Mr. Ahmed said.

At a gala dinner to introduce the two redesigned products Monday night, members of the advertising communities declared that they liked what they saw and would be willing to start trying out the new ad positions.

Times of Oman, Al Shabiba: new look starts Sunday, April 4

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:New Lifestyle /Culture section of Al Shabiba

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Prototype front pages for Times of Oman and Al Shabiba

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Al Shabiba front page as it is today (left), new design as of Sunday, April 4

Follow up to the Al Shabiba Logo: remarks from designer Lucie Lacava

My colleague Lucie Lacava, whose own portfolio of newspaper design includes the Arab language UAE daily, Al Itijad, sends me her comments about Al Shabiba. I wrote Lucie yesterday seeking her views, as I knew she had probably faced similar challenges in Abu Dhabi:

> It is fascinating to see the evolution of the logo and I can certainly appreciate the attention to detail one must pay to the position and shape of dots in arabic calligraphy which can render a word illegible if absent or misplaced.
I like the combination of the Kufi sans with the calligraphic “sheen”, it is very dynamic. I am in favour of the flame being selected over the more classic dots version, after all it is a logo. A logo must be distinctive. It must reinforce the brand. A logo must be legible but not necessarily read every time we pick up the paper. A logo graces the front page just like a painting graces a room. At first we notice admire and interpret every stroke, and eventually it become part of the whole.Congratulations on your latest relaunches, Al Shabiba looks good!

Monocle Radio this Sunday: newspaper show

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Once again, I am honored to be a guest of Tyler Brulé’s Monocle Radio show. The show, which airs Sunday, April 4, includes the following other guests: Simon Kelner, managing director of The Independent (London), who discusses the recent sale of the newspaper and the future of the daily newspaper; Goerge Brock, head of Journalism at City University, London, about whether the importance we’re placing on the medium is overtaking the quality of the message when it comes to how we receive our news. Also, Raul Juste Lores, business and economics editor of Folha de Sao Paulo, who talks about the rise of the printed newspaper in Brazil.

The show airs at 1200 CET, Sunday, April 4.

For more information : www.monocle.com

Two weeks after relaunch: Romania Libera doing well

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Romania Libera art director, Catalin Dumitri sends us pdfs of several pages of the past few days. As you know, we laucnhed RL”s new look in Bucharest last March 15. The reports are that readers and advertisers like the new look. These pages show that the team is becoming more comfortable with the new concept.

Amalia Badescu, marketing director at Romania Libera, reports that the launch party held earlier this week was a smashing success, with more than 400 in attending. As I could not be there, I prepared a video introducing the new look.

Those interested in seeing a gallery of photos of the event, and my own video, go here:

Mario’s video introducing the new design:
http://www.romanialibera.ro/multimedia-video/mario-garcia-despre-noua-romanie-libera-181577.html)

Gallery of photos of the launch party
http://www.romanialibera.ro/multimedia-foto/petrecerea-de-relansare-a-romaniei-libere-181651.html

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