Role:
Design Lead — UX/UI, Art Direction
Working with Mobile IQ, the goal was to develop PressRun, a cloud-based digital publishing solution designed to deliver innovative, interactive digital magazines. The challenge was to empower print designers to use familiar tools like InDesign to create rich, HTML5-based apps, enabling them to integrate animation, audio, and 360-degree imagery without writing a single line of code.
Team:
Ryan Shelton, Mobile IQ (Development)
The initial phase focused on discovery, imagining the unique digital extras we could offer iPad users that were simply impossible in print. We explored how to turn a static reading experience into a tactile, immersive journey.
Users could spin, rotate, and zoom into car models, while integrated Maps and GPS data allowed readers to see exact routes driven and where photoshoots took place.
We pushed the boundaries of the hardware, allowing users to scan the physical magazine cover to drive an augmented Ferrari SA Aperta.
Interactive hotspots allowed for deep dives into car features, while embedded video and audio let readers hear the roar of the engine or listen to curated Driving Music playlists.
Beyond the front-end experience, I designed the architecture of the PressRun system itself, the interface that allowed publishers to build and deploy these complex iPad apps.
While these features are expected today, they were revolutionary at the time. We unified these elements into the Story Strip, a single, cohesive narrative flow that combined engaging video, engine audio, and stunning photo libraries into one fluid experience.
Following its acquisition by Quark, Inc., the PressRun technology was rebranded as App Studio and integrated as a core feature of QuarkXPress. This evolution turned the original iPad solution into a permanent industry tool, allowing designers to natively transform print layouts into interactive digital experiences.
