Response: iPad design

"I have conquered the iPad. Hire me." 

 — Christina Shimer

Since we sent our final product to the printer last week, we've moved on to developing content for our publication's iPad application. Our goal for Nosh is to convert our entire issue into a format suitable for the iPad.

We're not just uploading pdfs of our publication onto our application, though. We're recreating it for an iPad platform using the software that the J-school has recently bestowed on us ever so graciously. Heck, we can even get free copies of it uploaded onto our personal laptops.

So just how useful and relevant is our current work on the iPad? Only time will tell. For all we know, iPads could be irrelevant in a few years. Or maybe they'll be the default computer operating system for half of America. While I don't think the former is likely, I do think the latter is a prediction by Apple techies who are overestimating the appeal of the iPad.

Do I think a design company will hire me solely based on the fact that I've used iPad design software? No.

Do I think that the additional experience portrays me as having both the interest and capability needed to learn software that could be obsolete in a couple of years? Absolutely.

Do I care about iPads? Not so much at this point in my life.

Do I care about knowing how to design for the iPad? Absolutely. (Hrmmm this seems hypocritical.)

Crap, I might have to give in and get one. If only I had a coupon...

Critique: snack your ass off — final(ish) Nosh production

The following designs are the culmination of my work as a designer for our Nosh magazine prototype.

cover

The publishers wanted some extra covers for their prospectus, so I got a chance to design the autumn cover for Nosh. The cover story is slated as "healthier halloween," and I didn't want to use cheesy autumn colors. I also created the sweet sell lines.

NoshMagazine.com

 This page had a lot of information about the additional content readers can find both online and on iPads. I wanted to show people interacting since this page was all about interaction. Also, we had few opportunities to use photos with people since so many of our pages featured recipes and food histories, etc. I wanted to take advantage of my ability to run a great picture here as big as possible.

Seasonal snacking department page

The content on this page is about combining rhubarb with strawberries to make use of a pretty unique — or maybe just weird — vegetable. I found that phenomenal parfait photo, and Theresa suggested I bleed it to take full advantage of it. I think everything on this page just goes together.

Three ingredient snacks

 This my least favorite of the pages I worked on. I never really liked how that vertical photo fit onto the page, but I just kind of went with it and kept working with it hoping it would evolve into something more interesting. Overall I think the page is too white for my liking, but there comes a time when you have to prioritize and move on with your life.

Feature: International snacks

Coming up with a concept for this took quite a bit of thinking, but I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I even came up with the title, which I think is pretty clever. You might notice the large amount of copy. Even though there was a lot of copy, I still decided to run the photos as big as possible because I thought they really lent to the story, even if that meant forfeiting my only real ability to use white space. I'm ok with my decision, though, because there's a great deal of white space on the splash page that opens the spread.

Packaged to homemade

 The content on this page teaches readers how to take packaged snack foods and make them from scratch. I love that photo of puppy chow, and the color scheme turned out quite nicely.

You don't even want to know how much noshing I did while working on these pages....

Critique: nosh magazine prototype

For our final project we're developing magazine prototypes for a major magazine publisher. My group is working on a publication called "nosh," which is a magazine for young adults who prefer to eat healthy snacks throughout day rather than three larger meals.

The following are some concepts I developed to help me keep on track as I created my prototype.

branding

• “savor the small things” 
• allow the readers to consume the magazine as they would their food: in bits and pieces
• the content should be easily accessible
• articles should be quick reads that busy young
• adults can consume and relish. short & sweet.
• readers want to display nosh on their coffee table and pass it around to their friends

design tone

• light
• fresh
• clean
• a modern adaptation of “retro chic”

covers

• will feature photos that use simple yet elegant compositions and vibrant colors
• fonts and sell lines set the tone for the magazine
• nothing bland or predictable 

departments

• trendy, fresh color palette
• photos feature people reaping the benefits of advice found within the department
• recipes correspond with each department
• take advantage of space in a way that does not overwhelm the reader 

features

• dramatic use of art to entice the reader
• fonts suited to the tone of the story
• healthy food is both aesthetically pleasing and fun to eat, so it should be presented that way

The following spreads feature the sample designs I created for my prototype.

color palette and lifestyles feature splash page

lifestyles sample spread

department spread

additional feature spread

Anyway, I can't wait to see which of our four designs gets chosen. (See Theresa's design here, Christina's design here and Tanya's design here.) The winner will act as art director for the project, and the whole team will work together to create a professional magazine prototype.

Cheers!