Prezi Issuu Slideshare

Recently I've been exploring how to make an interactive, narrative magazine online. Why? I can't afford to create one in print yet and a brilliant friend suggested I explore ways to use the internet to get the magazine out there.

What do I want from the online experience? Clickable links, non-linear narrative option, can translate to print (maybe), easy to view and use, fun, more exploration than passive viewing.

I've been wandering around shops in downtown Canmore Alberta,  and have found some truly beautiful, fun, intriguing things. And I'd like to write a little story to go with them.

I checked out Issuu first and it looks fantastic and intimidating. I'd need to be a real graphic designer to create something in there that looked any good. Or at least that's what it feels like to me. If we ever do a full-on print version of the magazine, you can be sure that I'll take those files and put them up on Issuu.
Check out Highline Magazine's Winter 2011-12 to see just how magazine-like the experience is. There are Issuu aps too for a better mobile experience. What I don't like is that the links aren't clickable so it's a more passive experience like reading a magazine. You are a viewer, not an explorer. It's linear.

Then I went to Slideshare thinking, "You can click on links and embed video on Slideshare." I also discovered that you can add audio too but it looks like a lot of flipping back and forth between iMovie and Slideshare, so I said, "Forgettabout it." Forget audio. Slideshare is linear too though, and while that has its advantages, I wanted to see what else was out there.

Last year I experimented with Prezi, doing meeting minutes from the Canmore Community Garden brainstorm in Prezi. It was fun to do, and a great way to organize lots of inspirational images. You can pack a lot visually into a Prezi inserting key words in text, but surround the word with pertinent images. I might have to experiment with Prezi again to create the magazine journey that I'm thinking of. The thing is, I like to do the work and leverage it a few times. As Highline does print files that can upload into Issuu, I'm pretty sure that Prezi doesn't work very well for offline experience. So the energy gone into making a Prezi doesn't translate into other media.

More research ahead...any suggestions anyone? Anyone?

Artistry and Styling

Previously I wrote about Plumage and Dazzle, and how we need to be mindful of it here in Canmore. You might say, "But Marty, Canmore is beautiful enough on its own. We don't want to take away from the view."

Looking for evidence, I stumbled on a fantastic wedding blog, Wedding Obsession, that shows how an eye for styling and artistry can contribute to creating the perfect ambiance by adding to the sense of place--celebrating the place along with the occasion. Author, Melissa Liu Gorman, really knows her stuff when it comes to the sheer entertainment and artistic merit fashioning a fabulous wedding, which, after all, is THE occasion in the life of many.

Melissa of 3 blog entries caught me:

1) I am blown away by the deft hand-eye coordination shown by Tara Whittaker, a Calgary photographer, who specializes in weddings. Her Retro Appeal Wedding photo shoot conjures whimsy and wholesome fun. As a promoter of Downtown Canmore, I'm thinking Scrabble-ads, billboards, skill-testing questions, competitions...

Who else wants to decorate their home in these colours?

2) Tara's Spring Zing Wedding which would be PERFECT situated here in Canmore. It also makes me want to meet Tara as she's clearly got a great sense of humour and an evolved aesthetic sense.

Mirror mirror on the...

 

3) A Burberry Styled,  winterscape wedding in a rustic setting with barn board and reddened foliage. Stunning mix of bark, burnished tones, and black iron accessories. Wow!

I love the Bride's dog "gown"!

Lovely details.

Pine cones are not just for Christmas any more.

The credits for stylists, event design, and photography are all on Wedding Obsession. Please go to Melissa's blog. You will be inspired! It's full of luscious creative juice. Pour a glass of wine, and enjoy!

Now do you get where I'm coming from? Plumage and Dazzle require creating a sense of occasion by celebrating the people and the space. Event Design pure and not so simple.