Internal Magazines In A Digital World

When creating a digital internal magazines you can’t simply copy and paste directly from an MS Word doc that you wrote an article on, nor can you keep the same formatting as old newsletters. Elements like font size, layout, and image size need to be kept in mind to make sure that users can easily consume the content.

There are dozens of 'flipbook' providers out there that do a great job of taking print publications and directly converting them to digital, however, very little is done with regards to design and layout. Because of this, much of the text becomes difficult to decipher without some serious scrolling and clicking around (see example below).

It’s best to go with a platform that requires you to rethink your content for digital. It might take a bit more time, but the interactions and the user experience will ultimately be much better and your readership will remain engaged.

Readz offers a suite of web fonts, grid layouts, responsive design, and visual effects that all highlight content in a way that looks natural when in a digital setting. To get a clearer picture of this, take a look at the screenshot below of an communications publication being created in the Readz editor.

The first question is, do you want to create an app or a digital publication? Though apps have plenty of enviable features, keep in mind that magazines are a form of ephemeral content. They go out periodically, and each issue is separate. One month's or quarter’s information doesn’t replace that of the previous quarter, but it does make it irrelevant to a certain extent. A mobile app is designed to hold and organize lots of content, but the more content it contains the larger it is. By developing an app, you’re putting up a barrier to entry that isn’t necessary.

Using digital publisher, Yudu, the Football Association (FA) published an that acted as an interactive training guide for its coaches and players. It’s OS limitations require updating, and it’s fairly large size discourages frequent downloads. Additionally, the design can become quickly outdated, and an app doesn’t provide the flexibility necessary to adapt. See a screenshot of the FA publication below:

On the other hand, a platform like Readz allows you to create digital magazines that feel app-like in their behavior, even though they are not native apps. Their suite of tools offers an easy-to-adjust design that is responsive and updatable without needing to resubmit to the app store, and their guided DIY approach means that new issues can be created internally without needing too much assistance. Companies like Deloitte use Readz to create and publish internal magazines to its employees: