Fluidity: When it comes to interfaces on the Internet, the more fluid an interface is — and the more instinctively it interacts with the user — the more likely it will succeed in serving its intended audience.
Over the years, we have learned a lot about website interfaces — as I said in an issue of Creative COW Magazine a while back, failure is a great teacher, and we have always learned much more from our failures than our successes. This is especially true when it comes to learning what works and what doesn’t on the web.
While we have yet to see the perfect interface, when it comes to magazine sites, we believe no magazine site rivals the simplicity and instinctive flow of the new Creative COW Magazine site interface. But we’re sure that you’ll see it copied liberally on the Net in the days ahead. And we hope it is, for the sake of the audience. We have borrowed plenty from the ideas of others, so here’s one that we throw back into the mental collective.
Here is a glance at the Creative COW Magazine's new interface, with explanations following below...
WHY IS IT SO REVOLUTIONARY?
One of the goals of our new magazine site was to accentuate the themed “concept album” nature of our issues — a move to downplay the cover date (though it’s easy to find), while up-playing the content. Creative COW Magazine’s content does not quickly become birdcage liners. Many of our issues are as fresh today as they were when we originally issued them. Our new interface respects that and can present each issue as if it were just released. Hey, it’s always new to someone, right? — especially when you have the huge growth that Creative COW sees from month to month.
ARROWS & SLIDERS
In the image you see here (at right) featuring our Visual Effects Issue cover, you can see the arrows to the right and left of the cover. Click one of the arrows and you can go forwards or backwards through our issues and the entire site will auto-update all of the articles, writers, and sponsors to reflect the displayed issue. Change it to another issue and the entire site auto-updates to reflect the issue you’ve chosen.
At the bottom of the interface, a timeline slider (see the bottom of the complete interface graphic, above) functions the same as the arrows do in the covers section, and will update the entire site as you scroll through the issues.
Not only do the articles update automatically depending upon the issue, but as you explore the articles of a specific issue, the writers area will also update reflecting the article you are now looking at. Change the article and the author changes to reflect that article — a truly integrated user experience.
Click the sponsor and you will be taken to a summary page of the issues they appear in, with links to both their site and to PDF versions of the ad they ran in the various issues of the magazine. This will prove a great help to those who are looking for something that they remember from an ad in a past issue.
SPEED REDEFINED
From its single front door page, you can now find nearly every page that was ever contained anywhere in any of our issues. Now that’s speed.
If you scroll or arrow through the issues, the featured articles title graphics auto-update, reflecting the content in the issue you are now exploring.
The sponsors update to reflect those that made the issue possible. We wouldn’t be able to bring you all the free services and information that we do. If you get the chance, tell them you appreciate their support of the COW. We do.
ISSUES TOO INFORMATIVE & RELEVANT TO DISMISS BY DATE
As pointed out earlier, we work far too hard on Creative COW Magazine to concede our issues as “dated.” They aren’t. The topics discussed are too useful and pertinent to allow them to fade into irrelevance by making their release date the “major” — content isn't always king but real content can be king, not the clock.
Using the new Creative COW Magazine interface, the issues can be explored as if there are no “old” issues of Creative COW Magazine, just ones that you may have already seen. Each issue is now able to be “top tier.”
Think of the new interface as a “nonlinear” interface that allows you to explore Creative COW Magazine in much the same way that you might edit a video or film project. You can drop in anywhere on the timeline and experience that issue in a logical, fluid presentation of all that is in that issue — as if it just shipped.
Each issue builds on the others, in a progression of great content that you can mine for education and knowledge — or inspiration.
At the new magazine site you’ll find more than just re-purposed print articles. We take advantage of the site to do what can only be done on the web: expanded versions of articles with more and larger pictures, multimedia, and links galore — including links to additional Cow resources, such as podcast interviews with the authors.
And when we point you to a community forum to discuss these stories online, you can be sure that there’s a “there” there — with thousands of industry pros talking about what matters to you. None of the empty forums you’ve seen at many of the other magazine sites.
Put it all together, and you’ve got an exceptionally fluid interface that integrates within the Internet’s most dynamic and complete experience for media creation pros — CreativeCow.net.
A FEW NOT-QUITE-HIDDEN “EXTRAS”
In the green grass bar at the top of the screen, visitors can find links to create or modify a subscription, contact the team, and perform many other functions.
Just below the darker green bar in the grassy area, you will find topical sub-sort links that allow you to quickly find all the articles in the site that deal with a topic.
I want to thank our tech director, Abraham Chaffin, as it is always great to work with someone who “gets it” the minute you begin to lay out something new to them. When I called Abraham and presented the Photoshop mock-up to him, he was so enthusiastic that he had the test site up and working within the day. Abraham, you are The Man.
Abraham has proven a strong addition to our team; with Kathlyn as directing liaison to our leaders and writers, Tim Wilson heading the magazine, Nora Williams heading our DVD series, Tim Matteson directing the site’s ad programs, and Ellen Parker handling sales for the magazine — we’re grateful for such a great team.
The new Creative COW Magazine site is yet another practical and functional addition to Creative COW. We hope that you find it useful, and very easy to use.
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©April 4, 2009 by CreativeCOW.net. All rights are reserved.
