Books
10.16.12
Must Read: iPad Design Lab
Having spent some time with Mario Garcia's new iBook, the only way to start off this post is... THE TAKEAWAY: If you're working in publishing, iPad Design Lab is a timely and informative must read. Design Lab ($9.99, Apple iBook, Amazon Kindle) is chock full of valuable information for anyone working in publishing today, including several interviews with today's top designers working on this new platform. One thing that I appreciated in the book, was the way that Mario related designing for tablets to the basics of storytelling -- as well as reintroducing web design basics that could be overlooked by print print designers forging new territory in a digital sapce. We live and work in a multi-screen world, and I quite enjoyed was the discussion of this topic which Mario call's "Four devices in harmony".
Here's a quick look inside iPad Design Lab:
A brief run through of the app shows off it's many interactive storytelling bell's and whistles:
Each chapter begins with a audio "Takeaway" from Mario Garcia (bottom right):
Regular readers of SPD.org will recognize some familiar faces that we're interviewed about designing for tablets for iPad Design Lab including TIME's D.W. Pine:
The app's many interactive elements include pop-overs for more information about several topics in the book:
New apps designed by new designers are launched every day, and I expect this book will become (at least for a brief time, things changing as quickly as they are) the "bible" of tablet design.
This book has a perfect subtitle, because Mario has always been a master visual storyteller (and a storyteller in general, as those who follow the elegant and enchanting prose on his blog are well aware). It's fitting that the person who did so much to bring newspaper design into the twentieth century (they were a little behind) is now bringing publication design into the twenty-first.
Indeed, a thought that was recently brought up at SPD's Speaker Series: We're still in the infacy of designing for the tablet, with exciting (and challenging) days ahead. The iPad Design Lab provides a handy map for the road ahead.
iPad Design Lab is available at the iTunes store.
For daily updates on iPad design and creation, visit Mario Garcia's The Mario Blog.
iPad Design Lab is available at the iTunes store.
For daily updates on iPad design and creation, visit Mario Garcia's The Mario Blog.
