As readers of TheMarioBlog know, I am a devoted student of how this is accomplished. I have been working with the talented team of Newsday on a weekly basis to discuss visual storytelling. We do real time workshops in which stories are discussed from the moment of conception to planning to execution.
I am particularly interested in how stories that are first crafted for mobile end up in print. Here are two examples published recently that proved how it can be done right:
Winter care tips for your car– Notice that the segmentation created for the mobile stories is followed for print. Also, the story about winter car maintenance does not use the same lead visual for mobile and print, while the one about performers does. The visual editors must have the freedom to lead with different images. These examples both work!
Print cover and inside page concept: Seth Mates. Art director, Andrew Wong.
Meghan Giannotta art directed the digital version .
https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/recreation/winter-car-care-tips-long-island-1.50156645
Performers cope with a long Covid19 intermission:
https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/covid19-pandemic-theaters-actors-singers-1.50156444
Lessons and tips for effective conversion across platforms:
- Remember that one size does not fit all.
- While you wish to have a common visual language across platforms, the images may differ, or how they are played. A lead photo for mobile could be a secondary photo for print. In a perfect world, the same image is used for all, but NOT necessarily so.
- Vertical images will work better for mobile platforms.
- If segmentation is used, maintain it as similar as possible for each platform.
- Typography and color palette should be identical.
Inquire about our mobile storytelling workshops!
Every week I bring my mobile storytelling workshop to a different newsroom around the world. I begin with a 90-minute presentation about the essentials of crafting/editing/designing stories for mobile consumption. Then I break the participants into groups and for two hours they produce a mobile story which they then present to the entire group for evaluation. It works all the time.
Another type of Garcia Media program is when we sign up for mobile storytelling coaching after completion of the first workshop. Once a week, or as planned, I work virtually with a team of reporters, editors, designers on actual stories that will be published as linear mobile stories. Let me know if you are interested in more information: mario@garciamedia.com
Professors: get your review version of The Story on time for fall classes
As an academic, I know the importance of having the right tools to advance our students, especially on the important subject of mobile storytelling. Please drop me an email if you would like to sample The Story in its digital edition: mario@garciamedia.com
Start writing or type / to choose a block
The full trilogy of The Story now available–3 books to guide you through a mobile first strategy. Whether you’re a reporter, editor, designer, publisher, corporate communicator, The Story is for you! https://amazon
TheMarioBlog post # 3283