Apr
16
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In the process of researching another article I stumbled on a very clean and functional page turning script being used by IKEA to show their mammoth catalog. Wow! A clean interface and new functionality? ZMags, the company that provides the script and backend content controls, did an amazing job with this.
It provides a whole list of new functionality in flash applications. You can search the zine’s content, zoom in on pages with a really interesting real-time transition, and see thumbnail previews of the previous, next, or any of the preview images on the bottom. It’s a super easy interface for large catalogs with lots of scanable content.
I called to enquire about pricing and found it to be pretty reasonable, given the amount of backend support and tracking that’s built into the application. I don’t think flash can do everything that analytics can just yet, but they boasted as if it was pretty close.
Other notable mentions for clean design include JFK Magazine: a euro GQ, which has a really interesting page flip script that’s second to none at showing high res images. The zoom and pan feature is not as intuitive as maybe I’d like, but extra functionality is for me a welcome problem to overcome.
Both of the above scripts are sold as license agreements; you don’t own the script and so you can’t develop off them or use them once your contract with whoever expires. The alternative is to buy the scripts and develop the functionality yourself. PageFlip Developed by 2advanced, a sick nasty studio in their own right, is an economical package (under $30) and has everything you need to get started working with the raw component objects in a .fla file. A working knowledge of action script is all you really need as there is a thick help file, lots of commented code, and tons of examples of it working to pull apart.
Thanks for the kind words! It’s flattering to read.
At Zmags we pursue higher levels of usability in web-based publications. The Internet is filled with hard-to-read applications in various forms, and we know that providing a user-friendly interface actually makes the readers more loyal, they are prolonging the time spend reading the content and most important: Readers more frequent turns into customers.
Regarding the tracking: Behind the smooth interface we track statistical data about all visits. (No, I’m not watching you know, and I don’t know what you got for lunch). We do the tracking in a quantity- based way, so all zoom-clicks are highlighted with small dots to let our customers explore their readers’ needs. No chance you could get that information in a traditional printed issue. Marketers really love that!
We can’t match the capabilities of Google Analytics (yet), but we present the data with more graphical oriented way. I believe hardcore statistics from a neatly designed online magazine is somehow less important. It’s much more important to know exactly where your readers attention is caught.
Sure, you can buy the pageflip script and create something on your own. But it will only make your magazine pageflip and requires some configuring and a DIY spirit. Hey, the wheel is already invented!
I subscribed to your blog, so please keep me updated on what you are doing. Expect a trackback as well in a few days - we have just begun blogging ourselves, so please drop in to know more about online publishing.
/Joakim
btw - there is an error in your url to Zmags in your entry