By Georg Obermayr, Cleverprinting
Dynamic Publishing is simple. You take design templates, which assure the design quality, enter the templates into a system that enables collaboration between designers and technical departments and, when you are ready, simply press the “Output” button. With the push of the button your content is published automatically via all channels – from print and Web media to digital devices such as the iPad and to social media networks such as Facebook. Dynamic publishing is simple, straight-forward publishing strategy and yet completely revolutionary. In this Cleverprinting series, we have taken an in-depth look at the makings of the dynamic publishing of the future:
Templates bring to life corporate brands by allowing rich, professional, and compliant content to be produced across an organization. Designers’ control the templates and are responsible for the foundation of dynamic publishing.
Content management systems govern cooperation among teams and channel projects through workflows. These systems tear down the existing walls between graphic designers who rely on layout programs and engineering departments using office productivity programs. All parties work in the same system and can influence the project’s progress at any time via web-based interfaces.
Automated processes pick up status-based tasks from the content management systems and route them appropriately. They produce not only packaging layouts or product data sheets automatically, but also supply websites and social networks with content. Or they bring new messages on to the iPhone or iPad. This cross-media publishing takes place automatically based on templates designed specifically for the intended medium.
Templates, content management systems, and automated systems are the fundamental elements for dynamic publishing. Because new marketing channels constantly emerge, it is hardly financially feasible anymore to provide a separate supply of content for each channel. This is also true for project coordination in ever larger teams formed on an international basis.
In this final issue of this article series, the three components of dynamic publishing will be interwoven to form one tangible project: an iPhone messaging application for Arosa Bergbahnen, a popular Swiss resort. The application offers much of what is important for visitors to and lovers of this skiing region: weather updates, webcams, a map of the trails and, first and foremost, the latest news. This news forms the heart of the application and it offers – often on a daily basis – information on events, campaign or the nightlife.
When designing the iPhone application, the “news streams” formed the central idea. They should not be isolated solutions and should require as little time as possible for content maintenance. This is why the iPhone application was incorporated into a sustainable architectural concept. The application became, in addition to other marketing measures, part of Arosa’s dynamic publishing system.
And this is how it works:
1. Advertising material is produced for an event in Arosa. To this end, posters are put up locally and flyers are distributed. These are produced in the print layout program. In doing so, cleverly constructed designs (templates) are used, which already incorporate the corporate design, and are automated to a large extent. Drafting these templates is the core discipline of the creative artists and designers. Dynamic publishing can only become reality with well constructed templates.
2. In the conventional process, PDF files would then be sent back and forth to coordinate content and design. The customer highlights his changes in the PDF file, sends this back again, waits for the corrected PDF file, checks his changes again, highlights new changes…
In a dynamic publishing environment, however, the customer is involved directly in the process and can make any changes directly to the content through Web-based interaction with the publishing solution. As soon as his edits are complete, the client returns the “job” to the agency via the system. In this way, the project is channeled step-by-step through a workflow. In this process, there are no PDF files for viewing and no dreary rechecks. Everyone works as a part of the same system. The modular construction means that more than one person can work on projects simultaneously. The customer works on the text via the Web, whereas the designer tweaks the design in the layout program. The synchronization between both takes place in real time. This also opens up great opportunities for better project management. Questions such as “Where exactly in the text are we stuck?” or “How are we getting on with the advert?” can be answered directly via the system and do not cause annoying chaos in the project. Collaboration via a content management system is a new work experience which, once experienced, becomes indispensable.
3. If the print product has reached print release, a print PDF file is produced automatically based on the “Output” status. But that’s not all. A special “Send to Mobile” checkbox in the content management system also automatically publishes the information on the iPhone. In doing so, however, no PDF is simply transferred 1:1 into the application by Arosa. Instead, the content is extracted from the print design and recompiled in an optimized form on the iPhone. This takes place via an XML transformation, which separates the content from the design and displays these specifically for each respective output channel. The news in the iPhone application virtually becomes an automatically generated re-application of the print product. However, the most important thing is that the iPhone channel can be updated in this way without additional expenditure.
Incidentally: This print-centered process can be escaped from at any time. In this way, the supply of exclusive content for iPhone can also be displayed. Of course, these can be reused later in other channels.
This generates an exciting strategic outlook. Just like the iPhone channel, additional marketing channels can be added in the future. Web presence, for example. Or additional Smartphone platforms. The expenditure for producing an android application, for example, is no longer so high, because the news flows exist already. This means that content editing and publishing are possible as a single process: Once generated, the content can be used again as desired. Synergy effects arise, especially because labor-intensive, manual copy and paste processes that are prone to errors and the synchronization between different media are now superfluous.
The Arosa project is not a vision of the future of dynamic publishing; it is a reality. Template-based publishing, new collaboration and cross-media publications are no longer pipedreams. The philosophies behind dynamic publishing mark a turning point in media production. Future projects will take place in the new paradigm of dynamic publishing.
This is a great opportunity for the creative design community. The designers’ work will become even more important the increase in agility will give both customers and agencies time and cost savings in the long term and, in this way, a competitive edge in the market place. Everything you need for future-proof publishing is here – grab it now!
