Project Overview
HM. brought a different perspective to Pause festival event collateral demonstrating how digital technologies can enhance print, revolutionising the way we consume content.
In partnership with fluoro magazine and Pause, HM. was commissioned to design ‘Pause Magazine by fluoro’, a print publication presenting content curated by fluoro in an innovative manner, while simultaneously reflecting the 2017 Pause edition and its theme ‘Different Perspective’.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Miguel Valenzuela, Creative Director, HM.
Luke Cameron, Graphic Designer, HM.
Lucy Brand, Graphic Designer, HM.
Audrey Bugeja, Managing Editor, fluoro.
Nancy Bugeja, Editor, fluoro.
Spicers Australia, paper supplier.
Rupert Deans, Plattar.
Gunn & Taylor, print.
Project Brief
Pause is Australasia’s premier innovation festival, offering unique insights into the digital trends disrupting the creative, tech and business sectors. With a programme of prolific speakers from around the globe set to invade Melbourne for the three-day event, the festival wanted to produce a magazine that would build anticipation and drive ticket sales.
As such, a standard collation of Q&As, set against some abstract imagery was never going to cut it. Instead, the magazine required a design approach that reflected Pause’s thirst for constant innovation, its unwavering commitment to cutting-edge experiences and its 2017 theme - ‘Different Perspectives’.
Combining fluoro’s design elements, including the brand’s symbols suite, grid system, article layout and caption style, with Pause’s html website code for major headings, the magazine evoked a distinctly futuristic feel, supported by the decision to use Astrobright Papers® for the cover, in homage to Pause’s main keynote speaker, NASA.
More than 5,500 copies were printed and freely distributed to fluoro’s database, key design and tech networks, and various outlets throughout Melbourne in the three months prior to the 2017 event, to bolster ticket sales and attendance.
With the magazine positioned as an added value feature within the ticket price, we thought it was only right to bring some added value to our design concept.
Project Need
Through innovation in design and technology, and the support of Plattar’s Augmented Reality (AR) app builder, we built a bespoke AR experience into the magazine cover. The experience showcased Pause's logo, html coding and keynote teasers, bringing to life a ‘Different Perspective’. This offered readers a unique way of connecting with the content and core topics that would be discussed at Pause.
In a world where traditional media is in question at the hands of all things digital, we’ve shown how technology can be used to compliment print, and vice versa. This example also bridges the gap between recounted and real-life experiences.
It would have been simple to have conformed to audiences’ focus on online only mediums by designing an interactive e-book or an app or a microsite, but print is, and forever will be such an important part of the way we approach design. That said, technology is always embraced and we take pleasure in finding ways, like this one, where we can bring print and technology together.
As audiences become desensitised to the glut of online content, traditional media has ironically become the unconventional, often engendering a greater level of interest and engagement as a result of its demise. The Pause Magazine by fluoro commission is evidence of that, with readers not simply browsing through the content, but connecting with it to such an extent they actively sought out supplementary information and experiences linked to the event.
User Experience
Ensuring there was cohesion between the high-brow content curated by fluoro and HM.’s design presented something of a challenge given the project’s limited budget. Particularly in relation to selecting paper stock and print techniques, we had strike a happy medium between a finish that resonated with the quality of the content and one that aligned with the budget allocated.
Similarly, the dual sponsorship of the magazine meant the design became something of a brand balancing act, with the team creating a unique format that showcased both fluoro and Pause evenly and effectively.
With a tight budget came a tight turnaround and the magazine quickly became one of the studio’s major undertakings for the summer season. With just three months for the entire end-to-end process and content being supplied on a sporadic basis, the project was at risk of dominating all the creative team’s time, requiring strategic management of other projects to stabilise workflow through the studio.
Project Marketing
The final product not only nailed every objective set, resulting in an exceptionally happy client, but drew praise from each of the prolific creatives featured in the magazine, including representatives from the likes of Pixar, Lucasfilm, The Mill, frog and NASA.
As a result, appetite for the magazine far surpassed the original expectations outlined in the briefing phase. Almost all the brands and individuals featured requested copies to distribute to their internal teams and clients, while our fellow Pause sponsors needed, on average, double their original allocation in order to meet demand.
When the magazine was released into the public domain, it worked effectively in driving online ticket sales, which grew substantially, as did fluoro’s organic website traffic. And on top of all this, Plattar reported that downloads of its app hit an all-time high.
The three-day festival itself was a sea of colour, with attendees immersing themselves in the content and using the AR experience to bring context to the keynotes, panel debates and workshops they were participating in.
Digital - AR / VR - New Experiences
This category relates to AR / VR - New Experiences.
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