ipad graphics by Applied Works

Gary Neill sent through a really interesting little Vimeo movie showcasing some new ipad applications for The Times.

I think there is something very interesting happening here, firstly - for a 'design' point of view - these are stylistically very much like something you would see in The Guardian, The Times is making a huge investment in this media and taken huge risks by placing their website behind a paywall, I've never like the way they work visually in print - but these are good. The simple stuff - like the visualisation of the national debt - work well, and really aid the absorption of the information - the Battle of Britain slideshow is also very strong and appropriate.

Two really important things to understand now.

1. The technical skill demanded by the industry now is very, very high - you need to understand that any potential employer will demand you are either proficient - or sympathetic to new media ( they are two, very different things - think about that )

2. From a graphic design point of view - these are also very, very good - the designer understood the platform and made his image, typography and animation work with it to enhance the consumers 'experience' of information - the reader is no loner a passive element in design - he is working with you.

This means that we are in a unique position of having an industry that's more advanced and fast moving than ever before - yet the core traditional skills of layout, composition and typographic excellence have never been more important!