| dc.description.abstract | In the publishing industry where 0s and 1s have replaced an archaic material
called paper as the primary form of distribution, the struggle to bring content
from analog to digital has been frought with questions about how to create digital-
native publications. Of existing solutions, most can be put into two camps;
those that look like websites, and those that replicate print layouts on screen.
Unfortunately, these approaches lessen the integrity of content by forcing it
to live in the shell of a website sans consideration for editorial context, or are
committing usability faux pas by simply mimicing print-like forms on a screen.
Through the Looking Glass is a prototype concept for a true 21st century publication,
from information architecture to design and development.
This project was conducted at a time in between the app revolution - where
publishers rushed en masse to deliver content via applications made for specific
devices - and a return to the browser and open web as the preferred content
delivery platform of choice for publishers. A key catalyst for a shift in interest
back towards web sites or web apps for content delivery was the advent of
responsive web design, or an approach to designing and developing sites that
automatically adapted to the screens on which they were viewed. This method
of creating a content delivery platform appears to be, after discussion with a
number of professionals who have experience designing and building both native
applications and web sites and web apps, less time consuming and certainly
less frustrating when considering the necessity to distribute content across
various screen resolutions, platforms, and devices while trying to reach design
parity.
Of course, the trade offs of moving to the web from apps aren’t 1:1, additional
pros and cons to each approach exist and this project simply sheds light on
some of those areas. The year 2012 is still just the beginning of the migration
back to the browser for the publishing industry, and knowledge gained from this
degree project will hopefully help to provoke thought on this subject and be carried
forward in my own future endeavours. | sv |
