Adobe® Digital Publishing Suite delivers
higher education in tablet form
Recently, Adobe gathered a panel of executives
from Condé Nast, National Geographic, Newsday, and
other publishers to discuss their organizations’ efforts
to create a new breed of e-publications based on the
mobile computing power of the tablet. They shared
experiences and challenges surrounding the new
communication channel, touching on a wide range of
subjects, from the editorial to the creative process.
The panel agreed that interactive content
being published to tablets today is still in the early
stages. However, the quality and volume of digital
publications is expected to rapidly evolve and expand as
sales of tablets increase. Apple alone shipped 15 million
first-generation iPads in 2010. The global investment
bank RBC Capital Markets believes the number of
tablets in general will explode over the next few years
as competing devices become ever more capable and
affordable. Expectations are that tablet sales will reach
185 million in 2014, up 83% compound annual growth
rate from 2010. Publishers in attendance at the Adobe
conference as well postulated that by 2015 more than
20% of their subscribers will be consuming content
on tablets—with digital periodicals attracting a new
generation of readers who have eschewed yesterday’s
print magazines and newspapers.
Such predictions prompted the faculty at
the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism
and Communication to explore the intersection
of journalism and tablet technology through a
groundbreaking course focused on mobile media
production—and designed to prepare students to
become producers of this new form of communication.
Ed Madison, graduate teaching fellow at the university
and a co-founder of the program, explains that
the driving force behind the course’s construction
was a January 2010 Wall Street Journal article that
Madison had circulated among faculty and graduate
students. The article related how Harper-Collins was
developing enhanced e-books for a yet to be released
tablet device created by Apple (commercial sales for
the first iPads began in April 2010). “I had a realization,”
said Madison, “that this innovation would create
new opportunities for digital storytellers in the
publishing field.”
Madison and his colleagues began formulating a
curriculum that would launch in the spring of 2010,
aimed at giving students the ability to create their own
digital publications for tablet consumption. The course
actually began a few days before students had iPads in
hand. “Given our shared enthusiasm and the rapid rate
at which publications like the New York Times and USA
Today were rushing iPad applications to market, we
saw few reasons to wait,” said Madison.
The experimental course drew students from across
all majors—from journalism and public relations to
advertising and design. At its core, the course taught
students the importance of working together to
integrate various disciplines in the cohesive production
of highly interactive digital apps filled with videos,
animated graphics and customizable viewing options.
In the process, students cultivated skills that were
multidimensional; graphic design students learned
about writing for mobile media, while journalism
students became more proficient in video editing
and photography.
That opportunity to cultivate a deeper, more
complete understanding of the possibilities of
delivering compelling content to tablet devices
expanded greatly in the spring 2011 semester, when the
university became one of the first in higher education
to receive prerelease access to the new Adobe Digital
Publishing Suite software. Students were now able to
work with the same software used by WIRED magazine,
Martha Stewart Living, and numerous Condé Nast
publications—and develop real-life, transferable skills
in the process.
Adobe Digital Publishing Suite is a complete
solution for creating highly designed, interactive
content and delivering it across devices—including
Apple iPad, Android and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets.
Used in combination with Adobe InDesign® CS5.5
software—the leading professional layout software—
the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite provided students
in the mobile media production course with a range of
viewer technology, hosted services, and sophisticated
tools needed to create, deliver, and optimize digital
publications that engage readers with immersive
interactivity. Innovative features such as a zoomed-
out browse mode and dual-axis navigation allowed
the students to present content in new and exciting
ways. And over the course of 10 weeks, a team of 15
undergraduates applied the Digital Publishing Suite to
produce the first-ever student digital magazine for the
iPad—OR Magazine—a lively, multimedia exploration
of happenings in and around campus.
Student motivation in pursuing the course was
spurred by the knowledge that they were working on
similar projects and facing similar challenges as their
professional counterparts in the publishing field. As
course participant Michael Ciaglo, photo editor and
a university junior noted, “I am going to come out
of this university with more than a degree; I am
going to come out of here with the experience and
expertise to go to an employer and say ‘look what
I’ve done.’”
Indiana University expands its audience through
digital publishing
At Indiana University, another landmark in digital
publishing was recently achieved when the institution
became the first in higher education to partner with
Adobe to make university publications available
for download to tablet devices through the Apple
i Tunes Store.
Explained Bob Flynn, university manager of IT
community partnerships, the Adobe Digital Publishing
Suite was used to create the IU Libris application,
downloadable from i Tunes, which allows iPad users
to access for free a number of university magazines
and publications. Titles in the open series include IU
Teaching & Learning, Indiana University-Purdue University
Indianapolis Alumni Magazine, and the Principles
of Excellence, a publication issued by the office of
university president Michael McRobbie. Additional
publications are scheduled for future release. “Adobe
Digital Publishing Suite is allowing us to enter another
phase, where technology has given us the opportunity
to creatively extend our reach,” Flynn noted.
“I had a realization that
this innovation would create
new opportunities for
digital storytellers in
the publishing field.”
—Ed Madison
The new distribution model provided by the Adobe
software allows the university to not only significantly
expand access to its publications, but also helps to
create a more sustainable publishing process. Paper
and printing requirements associated with traditional
methods are significantly reduced. And, said Sue
Workman, associate vice president in the university’s
Office of the Vice President for Information Technology,
“Other cost benefits could be realized as designers work
simultaneously on both digital and print products.”
“By developing publications within the Adobe
Digital Publishing Suite with the customized viewer,
Indiana University is in a unique position to offer one
of the highest quality viewing and reading experiences
in the world. With this pilot project, we can now offer
a digital viewing experience on par with leading global
publications,“ Workman continued.
The university’s slate of e-publications effectively
employs Digital Publishing Suite software’s
complement of interactive view features, such as
360-degree rotations and panoramas. Plus, the
software gives the university the opportunity to
brand its viewer with unique displays and navigation
options. While currently available for use only with the
iPad, future plans for IU Libris will enlarge the viewing
audience, enabling readers to access publications on
the Blackberry Playbook and Android based tablets,
such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
According to one early reviewer of IU Libris, ”After
just a few minutes of reading my first publication in
this app, I felt completely surrounded by the content
because of the true multimedia experience. This is far
above simply reading a PDF version of a magazine.
Now, I anxiously await more publications.”
