For anyone who’s been itching to try their hand at tablet publishing this is the perfect opportunity to get started, with the help of Mag+, the publishing platform that took the first ever magazines on to iPad.
The contest, live now, is a chance for designers to lodge their work on the virtual shelves of Apple iTunes’ Newsstand or iBooks, alongside groundbreaking digital titles like Popular Photography+, Maxim+, Sound+Vision and Popular Science+ – all of which were also created by designers using the Mag+ platform.
Two prizes, each worth up to £1,700, will enable winners to publish their dream app to iPad for free.
Whether that app is a festival programme, recipe book, glossy magazine, album notes, children’s book, blog digest, annual report, user manual, or yet unimagined digital publication, Mag+ breathes life into it. Fully integrated with InDesign and allowing for two layers of content on the limitless canvas of iPad, Mag+ lets designers make the best of rich, moving, visuals and sound, to make their inspiration a reality, says the company.
Mag+ is urging designers to get creative, using its design and publishing platform to demonstrate the look and structure of an idea. To enter the contest, there’s no need to produce the whole digital issue. Contestants need simply to upload their MIB-file (automatically generated by the Mag+ tool) comprising one or more pages created with Mag+.
Once a shortlist has been decided, one winner will be selected by peers via public voting on the Mag+ website. The other will be selected by the Mag+ panel of design experts.
How to enter
Creating a Mag+ digital issue starts with InDesign, so there’s no need to learn any new software.
Designers can download the Mag+ production suite for free and use it to build their dream tablet publishing idea. Video tutorials and manuals are all available on the website, too.
Designers then submit the final issue file along with their name and email address, using the submission form on the competition web page. It’s completely free to enter.
Deadlines
Submissions close at 9pm Eastern Standard Time, 28 November 2011. It’s soon, but remember, there’s no need to produce the whole issue – just demonstrate the idea.
The judging panel announces the three finalists and public voting begins on the Mag+ site on 7 December 2011.
The concept with the most Facebook likes by 3pm Eastern Standard Time on 16 December 2011 will be the winner of the public vote. At the same time, the Mag+ judges will announce their winner.
*Publishing to iPad with Mag+ normally costs £1,700 per edition.
About Moving Media+ and Mag+
Moving Media+ says: “Mag+ is the most flexible and efficient platform for publishing creative content on touch screen tablets. Mag+ premiered on the first iPads in April 2010 with the award winning Popular Science+. It supports dozens of live titles in the Apple Newsstand and has titles on the Samsung Galaxy Tab now too. One push takes tablet magazines to Google Android and Apple iOS. With its streamlined production system, powerful backend and feature-rich app framework, Mag+ is ideal for anyone — from magazine and book publishers to catalogue marketers and design agencies — wanting to bring beautiful, immersive content to the millions using this new generation of digital devices. Built by the R&D task force of global publishing powerhouse Bonnier Magazine Group, Mag+ was spun out into its own company, Moving Media+, in 2011.”
More about Mag+ for designers
Moving Media+ says: “Mag+'s simple InDesign-based workflow puts full creative control in the hands of the designers, not the tech guys. Video, HTML5 elements and other interactive features are added directly in InDesign. Mag+ is the only system that offers instant fully functional layout review on the iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab, which lets designers try new things and see immediately what the user experience will be. Mag+ offers a flexible and cost efficient solution for getting your publication live on tablets: Free tools and a fully branded, feature-rich reader app. You only start to pay when you publish and can choose a monthly subscription- or per issue model. You can then go a head and publish, using the powerful web-based backend to manage your users, issues and analytics. The platform’s built-in features include analytics from Omniture, Localytics or Flurry; in-app subscriptions; Tapjoy, Admob and Appirator integration.”
