Interactive Annual 17:
entertainment
Book Preview: Born Presents 417•903
“A creative way to promote books that
really allows visitors to get an understanding of what’s under the covers.”
—Oscar Llarena
“The elegant design and typography create a nice sense of pacing that isn’t often found on the Internet. The work immediately sucks you in and doesn’t let go until the end.” —Jill Nussbaum
This engaging interactive presentation is a preview of an upcoming multimedia book project featuring Born’s global literary arts network that allows users to experience each project in its entirety. It’s a curated, book-like experience that also promotes the interactive features available in Adobe InDesign CS5. The wealth of projects included in this volume also serve as a visual timeline of digital media and the evolution of the medium during a fourteen-year span. The primary navigation structure is linear and mimics the experience of reading; the secondary nav is more fluid and allows users to navigate through rich supplemental content or leave the project and experience the works in their original environment.
- • Case studies feature video documentaries showcasing the work with contextual commentary from Born’s internal team and interactive galleries of project stills. The projects also feature curatorial texts focusing on the collaborative model Born used to pair writers and artists in its experimental lab.
- • Although a few of the more complex animations were brought in from Flash, the majority of the interactivity was created in InDesign. One of the constraints that had to be dealt with during this process: Longer load times were disguised by fading in levels of content-text first, richer media following-that helped to make the loading more palpable.
- • The book can be printed traditionally or exported as a SWF.
Comments by Thomas Ryun
“This project was unique on several levels: We were creating an interactive experience with InDesign, software generally believed to be used only for print, and creating a book featuring projects that were predominantly media-based. Throughout the process we zigzagged between the worlds of print and interactivity, finally settling more into the interactive side for this preview portion. The user definitely benefits from the ability to not only read about a project, but experience it at the same time. Using InDesign in this capacity was a new experience as the built-in interactive features were new territory for us and Adobe. We were able to talk through issues and ideas with their engineering team; an interesting and insightful process. In working through this project we found a new tool that can help us create richer, more satisfying extended print experiences for our clients.”
“The response was an extremely positive one for Born and Adobe—and for Belle & Wissell. This project has allowed Born’s rich archive of projects from the past fourteen years to find new audiences and garner new interest and energy. It’s also given Adobe a compelling example of how their software can be utilized to create rich experiences that go beyond traditional expectations of print.”
Credits
Thomas Ryun, art director
Edrea Lita, associate art director
Amy Spreadborough/Anmarie Trimble, writers
Scott Benish, lead designer
Gabe Kean, design director
Craig Ernst, online editor
Chad McMurray, sound engineer
Marq Dean, project manager
Adobe Systems, Inc., consultant
Belle & Wissell, Co. (Seattle, WA), project design and development
Born Presents (Born Magazine), client
