Tips for making your digital magazine as readable as possible.
User behaviour on the web differs from the reading behaviour of print media. It therefore makes sense to prepare and adapt the content for digital magazines accordingly.
For printed publications, the classic page layout, the content categorisation and, above all, the haptic experience are important. Online readers, on the other hand, appreciate the clarity of the home and content pages, the variety provided by multimedia and interactive elements and the manageable text length of articles.
Digital magazines thrive above all on eye-catching & multimedia content
Suitable design templates: Novamag offers a variety of standardised templates that allow you to present your content in the best possible way. When creating an editorial plan, it is therefore advisable to familiarise yourself with the available design templates in advance in the software or at https://novamag.de/designvorlagen and compare your materials with them. Questions such as "Which templates are best suited for longer articles?" or "What is the best way to display videos?" will help you put together the right selection.
Emphasise clear added value: In the long term, digital magazines should never be a 1:1 translation of the print version. At best, the content should be tailored to the digital medium in order to meet the expectations of readers. Print is static, digital is dynamic. You should make use of this advantage by enriching your content with multimedia. Videos, podcasts, audio files and the integration of social media create real added value for your readers. At the same time, a digital magazine offers you the opportunity to tap into a completely new target group for your content. It is important to realise the strengths of the medium and use them in a targeted manner.
Reduce complexity: As a general rule, texts should be kept short, as the attention span of your readers is much shorter digitally. Longer texts need to be broken up in a meaningful way. For example, they can be livened up with the help of bullet points, quotes, subheadings or the integration of media. It is also possible to divide up more complex content in a meaningful way by using several levels of content.
High-quality media: Ensure good image and video quality. If possible, incorporate a lot of your own image and video material instead of relying exclusively on stock material.
Recognition value & clarity: Make targeted use of your own CI/CD when it comes to the use of colours and fonts. Digital magazines should always stick to a common thread. For example, subject areas or labels can be delineated or highlighted using uniformly defined colours, individual fonts or coordinated design templates.
Linking various channels: To make content attractive and snackable for your readers, it is advisable to integrate other media formats and communication channels directly into the publication. Social media accounts and posts, video content from YouTube or the integration of suitable podcasts are ideal for making your content versatile and exciting.
Interaction with readers: Feedback forms can be a valuable tool, especially at the beginning, to better understand the needs and wishes of your readers and to optimise the digital magazines in the future. Push notifications, in which offers, new issues or updated content can be communicated, are a great way to get in touch with readers.
Technical requirements for the materials
Images
High-resolution as jpeg (.jpg) or PNG (.png); for background images, a minimum format of 1920 x 1080 px or 16:9 Full HD is recommended; no larger than 72 dpi; RGB colour model, as CMYK images may not display colours correctly digitally. Uncut images offer the most scope for optimisation.
Ideally no larger than 2 MB.
The file size of the images can also be larger than 2 MB, but you should take your own upload speed into account here. Uploading files that are too large can also lead to delays in working with the software, as large files take longer to be made usable by the software.
The system automatically creates web-optimised images in WebP format.
Images that are used as backgrounds, for example, should always be in jpeg (.jpg) format.
Videos
In landscape format; at least in 1080p (1280 × 720 pixels), .mp4 or .mov.
Videos should have at least HD resolution, preferably 4K. The system creates different versions of the video for poorer internet connections, which are then output depending on the connection when the publication is called up.
Background videos are always played without sound.
Background videos can have an unlimited length and repeat automatically. The video should be at least 5 - 10 seconds long, as there is a 3 second buffer time.
In principle, the file size of the videos is unlimited, but the upload speed should be taken into account. This determines how long it takes for a video to be uploaded to the software and ready for further use. The larger the file size, the longer it takes to upload.
Ideally, the file size should not exceed 50 MB.
The start image of the videos can be customised in the software and you can choose between five different thumbnails.
Videos that are blurred in the front end have been uploaded with a low resolution/quality. As the videos are further downsampled by the system in order to optimise the loading time, they often appear even blurrier when viewed. It is therefore essential to ensure good video quality.
GIF: In .GIF format, up to max. 2 MB.
Colours: Hex codes or RGB colour codes to be used.
Texts: Proofread & unformatted, ideally as a plain text document, e.g. as a .txt or Word file (.docx). Copying from InDesign files or PDFs is also possible, but poses some challenges. For optimal display in the frontend, it should be ensured that texts are transferred to Novamag without formatting and are only formatted and styled in the next step.
Fonts: As .otf, .ttf or optimally as .woff.
Audio: As .mp3 (files should not exceed a maximum size of 15 MB).
Novamag is responsible for creation
If available, a template in the form of the print version as a PDF (.pdf), ideally also as a packaged InDesign file.
If no PDF or InDesign version of the publication is available, it would make sense to prepare an editorial/theme plan in Word or PowerPoint. In addition to the edited texts, this plan also contains information on where which image, video, logo or link should be placed. Optionally, requests for the use of fonts and colours as well as initial suggestions for templates can be taken into account.
Summarise additional content for print in a list with assignment to the topics (social media posts, YouTube/VIMEO videos, podcasts, topic-related articles from external sites, etc.).
If available, include a CD/CI manual.
If, for example, podcasts are to be included, the link to e.g. Spotify is sufficient.