A panel of industry leading judges praised all the entries to the international competition across six categories as ‘outstanding’, saying the high quality and variety they’d seen made choosing a winner particularly difficult.
“The judges were unanimously impressed by Scrawl, however, and I couldn’t agree more” says Micke Kazarnowicz, Mag+ content creator and social marketeer. “It showed great technical skill and imagination as well as providing a platform for the work of independent artists. The creators really took advantage of the Mag+ features, to reveal something unique and beautiful.”
Scrawl’s creators take home US$5,000 as “Best in Show”, as well as US$1,000, having also won in the Comics category. The app’s stunning visuals are a testament to its illustrators. It is also the first example of Mag+’s tilt function, and takes advantage of tap navigation, guiding readers chronologically through the comic.
Best in Category winners also take home US$1,000 each. They will also feature in the next Mag+ advertising campaign and are showcased on magplus.com for the remainder of 2012:
• Editorial: This competitive category was won by RedEye for iPad – a Chicago newspaper from Tribune Group, turned digital. Packed full of bonus materials, the app allows for readers to choose which stories to explore.
• Music and Movies:Hash magazine used embedded playlists to its advantage with seamless audio and video integration, showcasing eclectic musical talent.
• Books:Wootini is a colourful children’s book which stole the show; full of illustrations and simple, but thoughtful interactivity.
• Brochures/Catalogues:Hi Hirvi, a creative t-shirt brand, showcased a unique design pattern, and used click through in-app purchasing links.
• Self-Promotion:J3Z:SE featured unique cut-out layering with their stunning photography, allowing readers to view whole or templated images from this photo studio.
• People’s Choice: The horizontally designed Zone Blitz used creative layering, interactive pop-ups and borderless high-res images, bringing football to life and winning the public vote.
Members of the judging panel included the Senior Art Director of How Magazine, the Chief Creative Officer at Great Works, and the Editor in Chief of American Photo.
“It’s great for all the shortlisted entrants to get this kind of industry exposure for their work. We are committed to opening up digital publishing opportunities, and this shows how great design can come from anywhere,” says Kazarnowicz.
Last year’s Mag+ app design competition winner even landed a job a creative agency in New York; so watch this space, says Mag+.
More about Mag+ for designers
Mag+ 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 ahead 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; and Tapjoy, Admob and Appirator.”
