Virgin Group has launched an iPad-only magazine called Project, which is now in the App Store.
In looks and in subject matter, it is very much like Wired, minus some of the technicality and the extensive, in-depth features (the articles are all noticeably short), and with a greater focus on entertainment. An article about emerging astronomers, for instance, muses about who would play them on screen.
Although the animated cover (below) and other special effects are fantastic, the design is otherwise not quite as clean as Wired’s. It sports many of the same interactive feature we’ve become familiar with through the iPad editions of magazines like Esquire and O: The Oprah Magazine, including embedded videos and sound clips, and tab-to-browse slideshows.
The magazine clearly wants to be social, but I question its execution. On each page is a link to a (as of yet unpopulated) forum for discussing, presumably, each of the articles and other topics of interest. It’s not yet clear how effective this will be, but it’s a nice idea. The only other sharing option is through e-mail; users can e-mail images of individual pages, but not full articles. These images cannot be shared automatically to Facebook or Twitter — a painful omission — nor can the text be selected and copied to share via third-party apps.
It’s a decent start, but Project will have to push much further in terms of design, functionality and yes, content, to succeed against the established players in the space.
Project is available as a free download in the App Store [iTunes link]; issues are priced at $2.99 each. A web version is also available at projectmag.com.
Reposted from the Original article over on Mashable.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
