New Cloud-based App Studio Helps FusionLab Create Innovative Art Photography App

DENVER, CO – VIEW Magazine, an iOS app created by FusionLab, Inc., is now designed and published with the new cloud-based App Studio^TM. App Studio is the digital publishing solution that uses HTML5 to transform print content into apps for iOS, Kindle Fire, and Android devices. It supports content created with both QuarkXPress and InDesign.

FusionLab is a full-service design studio and digital publishing consultancy based in New York City and the Hudson Valley. In addition to impressive client work, the FusionLab team, led by founder Alon Koppel, produces VIEW magazine – an iPad and iPhone app focused solely on art photography. The team previously created VIEW with the version of App Studio powered by Aquafadas but has transitioned to the new HTML5-based App Studio.

“I really trust the new App Studio,” said Koppel. “It’s cloud-based, which has improved our workflow significantly, and because it uses HTML5 I don’t have to use any other applications to create animations for the iPad and iPhone. The transition was not difficult – the Web interface is easy to learn and I should be able to convert my previous issues without a problem.”

According to Koppel, having made the transition, there are a number of key benefits with the new App Studio that will be relevant to others considering moving in this direction:

• Workflow: Being able to upload InDesign files to App Studio via the cloud minimizes the time it takes to view both app previews and app updates.
• Universal iOS: With App Studio it is not necessary to convert file sizes (unlike Adobe DPS which requires an expensive enterprise package). Designers can use the same file to publish to both the iPhone and iPad.
• iPad 3 and 4 support: App Studio automatically scales images based on which iOS device a reader is using. If downloading VIEW onto an iPhone 3, it will deliver the appropriate image. It will also use images optimized for the Retina screen depending on the device.
• Easy-to-add animations: Designers can create HTML5 animations with InDesign that can be used as standalone pages or inserted onto a page. It is not necessary to create an animation with a separate HTML5 tool and then layer it on an InDesign file.
• Web interface: The App Studio interface is easy-to-use, loads content quickly, and provides an accurate download time progression.
• Social tools: It’s possible to integrate social sharing tools into apps so that readers can interact with Facebook and Twitter from within their app.
• Push notification: FusionLab worked with Urban Airship, a mobile relationship management solutions provider, to integrate push functionality into VIEW. When a new issue is ready, Koppel can tell readers instead of hoping they see the red alert icon. It’s a crucial element for publishers who must attract advertisers.

Koppel suggests that other publishers who are moving to App Studio first dive in with new content that can be created specifically for App Studio. Once the process has been completed one time with new content, older issues can be converted much more quickly since the process will be familiar.

“I appreciate that with App Studio I can now work faster to convert my older issues and I can even teach an intern how to do it, which I could not have done before. With the cloud-based solution you can build a team that can work on a project from any computer, from anywhere, which is huge for agencies,” said Koppel.

VIEW Magazine
VIEW is available for free for both the iPhone and iPad. New issues for each are now available and FusionLab is converting all previous issues.

See sample photos of VIEW: http://fusionlab.com/viewmagazine/
Download VIEW for iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/view-magazine/id422061173?ls=1&mt=8

FusionLab is adding innovative, interactive projects to VIEW. For example, issue 6 features a new section for which photographers Nate Larson and Marni Shindelman look up interesting tweets that are also geolocated. They then take a photo at that specific location. In the magazine a reader can click on the “bird” icon to see the Twitter message overlaid on the image, revealing an interesting juxtaposition.

Also new are Chris Dorley-Brown’s evocative photographs that span time. The section features sets of two photographs of the same location, shot nine to twelve years apart. Readers are surprised to see – as they tap between the photos – changes to landscape, interior, and even people.