TAKEAWAY: The second in The Clip Report series is out and it points out the various modes in which media companies are operating today in terms of content, from the serious and immersive to the more popular and silly. Is it possible to attract readers and to establish a good brand identity by adhering to both? PLUS: Some elegant and very visual Olympic pages from the Times of Oman
In case you have not read it yet, there is a second edition of
In Germany, Die Zeit is the ultimate immersive/serious newspaper, while Bild is definitely silly and fun: their combination could be the formula for “smartly silly”
The immersive journalistic experience is a more meditative experience. In fact, it is an experience for which the tablet is ideally suited.
At the end, however, we may wish to share what we have learned. My experience shows that sharing is an important component of how we consume media today. Maybe we immerse in the process of getting the information, but then we switch into sharing mode quickly.
Sharing has become so prominent that often times content will be decided upon for its sharing potential. Content that triggers sharing may be considered more desirable than that which does not.
In 2012, if you ask me what the trend is, I would say that it is a lot of publishers trying to straddle both worlds, the immersive and the silly—-not an easy feat. And perhaps something that might be difficult to achieve, although it can be done, if one can arrive at good definitions of the two—-especially what “silly” means.
In fact, only last week, while discussing the once a week printed newspaper I suggested a happy cocktail by mixing two German newspapers, the very serious and immersive Die Zeit, with the very fun and smartly silly Bild. Two very different newspapers for two audiences that reside on opposite ends of the scale.
The key to straddling both worlds and having a newspaper that travels both as immersive and smartly silly is the editor.
It is only natural that smart and well educated editors do immersive/serious journalistic content well. However, it takes a very special (and super smart) editor to do silly smartly.
It is a matter of understanding the difference between immersive/serious and fun/silly.
The Clip Report 2 helps us to think about the differences.
Pages we like
The London Olympics are over, the athletes have flown home with or without medals, and everyone has pronounced the 2012 Olympics a big success.
These pages from the award winning Times of Oman—-one of the best designed newspapers in the world—-remind us of the glory of the games. I like these pages sent today by Adonis Durado, design director of the Times of Oman. The elegance, simplicity and powerful use of photos here—-in what seems to be a Flipboard style design—-are worth taking a look at.
The following pages from Times of Oman are devoted entirely to informational graphics on some aspect of the London Olympics:
The curious item of the day
Why is the BBC buying so many copies of The Guardian?
The BBC buys lots of copies of the Guardian. What does that really say?
Highlight:
No wonder the Guardian is the most bought newspaper at the BBC. Both are imbued with a public interest ethos
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/14/bbc-guardian-most-popular-newspaper
Of special interest today:
– New stats show iPad surging again as Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet fall
http://paidcontent.org/2012/08/14/new-stats-show-ipad-surging-again-as-kindle-fire-nook-tablet-fall/
Highlight:
Market research firm IHS iSuppli shows that iPad shipments surged in Q2 2012, as Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablets saw major drops. Kindle Fire’s share of the media tablet market fell to 4.2 percent, with B&N’s at 1.9 percent.
SPD: Speaker Series Begins with “News You Can Use”
(Joe Zeff Design Illustration, courtesy of SPD)
Tickets are now available for the Society of Publication Designers’ first Speaker Series event of the fall, “News You Can Use,” scheduled Sept. 10.
For more information:
http://www.spd.org/2012/08/speaker-series-begins-with-new.php
SND Scandinavia Space 2012 conference
Still time to get a spot to attend the SNDS conference in Copenhagen, Sept. 27-29;
For more information:
SNDS workshop ever. Read all about SPACE 2012 here:
The iPad Design Lab: Storytelling in the Age of the Tablet
Video walkthrough of the iPad prototype of iPad Design Lab
Mario Garcia’s upcoming speaking engagements:
WAN-IFRA World Editors Forum, Kiev, Ukraine, Sept. 2-5
http://www.wan-ifra.org/events/64th-world-newspaper-congress-19th-world-editors-forum
Cumbre Mundial de Diseño en Prensa 2012: Mexico City; September 24-26
http://www.cmdprensa.com/mx2012/
SND (Society of News Design) Cleveland; Oct. 11-13
http://cle.snd.org/