Guest guest Posted August 19, 2009 Report Share Posted August 19, 2009 Welcome to the first digital edition of Aquarian Times : a magazine created for and by the 3HO® Global Community. This magazine is in a page flip program which includes media content for your enjoyment. You will find several Kundalini Yoga sets and Meditations designed to assist you on your soul journey, inspirational stories, and helpful resources. Enjoy! Read Aquarian Times Now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 21, 2009 Report Share Posted August 21, 2009 Wahe Guru, Aquarian times has gone digital, and I must admit that I am going to miss the paper version, as there's nothing quite like reading from pages instead of a screen. But the benefits of going digital are numerous. And of course, there are several drawbacks, which I'm sure you at 3HO have gone over ad naseum. However, now that you've put this transformation into reality, there's another transformation that in my humble opinion you really must consider for the future: updating the vertical format to a horizontal one. Because for perhaps a hundred years or more, the 8.5' x 11' inch ratio has been the standard for paper. But online, screens have a much different horizontal ratio of 4:3. As a web designer of 15 years, one thing I have learned about the medium is that it has unique & different properties from the print world. It just doesn't translate 1:1. When you stick with the vertical format, it brings up an especially difficult situation for people with laptops and small screens. The aspect ratio of 8.5:11 on a screen makes very poor use of screen space. Therefore viewing this magazine on a small screen is practically impossible, reading the tiny type is difficult, and option of zooming and scrolling up-down-left-right each page to read it makes it a nightmare to manage. In fact, in my situation, it makes it more of a challenge than it's worth. So, please consider that " Form & Function are One " (Frank Lloyd Wright), and work towards reformatting the entire magazine in the future years to a 4:3 aspect ratio. That means also losing the entire " book/magazine " concept of " pages " being side by side - there are 'pages', no staples, and no binding on the web. Each page should be flush to the edges of the screen, at any screen size, for the most efficient viewing. I know this is no small task, but now that you have committed to a DIGITAL format, you should also work towards a commitment to a digital FORMAT. The positive side to this change, is there are hundreds of new and interesting ways to work this format to your advantage - the primary one being a MARKED increase in advertising space. That alone should make the cost of the change profitable in a short time. HINT! HINT! >> The standard online is to integrate full page ads (interactive ones too) into your format. As opposed to what you have now, these are ads that people will actually read. This leaves the content areas clean at the same time that it enlarges the ad area. Wow, wahe guru, a WIN-WIN situation! Well, I hope that you have already been considering this... Not knowing what's in store for the future, I had to share. Until then, you've lost at least one reader, purely because it's too difficult scrolling around each page. It may work fine for a large computer screen (as 90% of designers have, but not everyone else) but for laptops and anything smaller than 16 " -18 " wide, it's no longer viable, or does it take full advantage of the medium moving forward. That's my two-cent diatribe/consultation on magazines going to the web, and I only went on for so long because of how much I love Aquarian Times, and I'm really gonna miss it until it comes to my screen in a format that fits my computer. Sad on a Laptop, Fateh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 Sat Nam, Trying to read Aquarian Times and use the magnifyer has been the most frustrating experience. I had to use the magnifier to see the words, in order to move down the page I was clicking back and forth between magnification and none and the same with going horizontal across the page, but when I turned the page and tried to read the upper left corner with magnification on it would turn the page back to the previous one. I just gave up trying to read the magazine. I really like Aquarian Times, but this I can't deal with it. plus the manification makes a jump from just right to super manification oh, and I could not print a page that I wanted to review later (is this what is meant by copyright protected) then I was trying to see what was under a photo and I suddenly found myself at KRI, didn't know I was going there...is this edition a beta test? thre was a page where the quote went across several colums and a photo took me abut 9 clicks to see the entire quote trying to see the right lower corner and the upper left corner with the magnifer and not have the page turn back or forward is like watching a huge mantra ray attack This is impossible, 9 or 10 clicks, up and down and skipping articles I would like to read. I am disappointed. And I am sure everyone really worked to make this happen, but..... I am so sorry, Sat Avtar Kaur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 Sat Nam! I've found it's easier to me to download it (clicking on the arrow pointing down) and then read it with Acrobat (or any other software able to read .pdf files). I hope this can help you. Blessings! Sujan S. ---- Original Message ---- " myralorey " <myralorey <Kundalini-Yoga > Saturday, August 22, 2009 3:31 AM Re: Announcing the new Aquarian Times magazine > Sat Nam, > > Trying to read Aquarian Times and use the magnifyer has been the most > frustrating experience. > .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 22, 2009 Report Share Posted August 22, 2009 Thanks Sat Avtar for your honest assessment. Honestly, I'm gonna take off the kid gloves for a moment... I don't want to be negative... but my prediction for the future is that this magazine translation to web is not going to work, unless Aquarian Times gets WITH the times. As per my previous recommendations... Translating the mag simply to a horizontal page flipping format is only one answer... I think a lot can be done in the format... but essentially, it will still be a MAGAZINE in an ONLINE environment. But it's a waste of time in this day and age gathering content for 2 months, putting into a a printed magazine template, and releasing it all at once in 11x8 format ONLINE - especially when so many different, easier, options exist in the medium. Ultimately, to seriously survive and thrive I believe it must become a WEBSITE/blog with content updated daily or it will die - like all the magazines are doing now. They need to turn it into an ongoing interactive blog/mag and release the articles as they are ready, along with all sorts of other little snippets of info to keep the audience coming back regularly - like any good site. The sooner they realize it, the better it will be - unfortunately, perhaps this is too quickly asking print designers to become web designers -- and that just doesn't happen overnight. This production just makes 3HO seem (ironically, or not) out of step with the times, unfortunately. Sorry, but that's my opinion coming from years of marketing experience. I could be totally wrong. But I don't think so... I wish I could somehow deliver it kindly and uplifting way more like Yogi Ji would, but I'm not that good a yogi... yet. Working on it! I only critique (AT) because I love (AT) and wish it to thrive! -FS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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