April 02, 2010

popular science+

Really looking forward to Popular Science+ on the iPad, which is based on the Mag+ concept that Bonnier developed in concert with BERG.

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The blog post on BERG provides some interesting details...

We found little games to play with the reader, having them assemble infographics in the act of scrolling, and making pages that span multiple panes, only revealing themselves when the reader does a double-finger swipe to zoom across them.

And they not only designed the front-end app, but the editorial and production workflow to produce it next month. And the month after that. And the month after that.

The story, for me, is that the design work behind the Mag+ concept video was strong enough to spin up a team to produce Popular Science+ in only two months. Not only that, but an authoring system that understands workflow. And InDesign integration so art directors are in control, not technologists. And an e-commerce back-end capable of handling business models suitable for magazines. And a new file format, “MIB,” that strikes the balance between simple enough for anyone to implement, and expressive enough to let the typography, pictures, and layout shine. And it’s set up to do it all again in 30 days. And more.

Congrats to Matt Webb, Jack Schulze, Matt Jones, Tom Armitage of BERG and Sarah Öhrvall at Bonnier. Shipping trumps all.