Bianca David

“The Shrine Down The Hall”, posted on the New York Times Magazine website, is a beautiful example of how poignant a simple photo slideshow – no sound – can be. The project is a collection of photographs by Ashley Gilbertson showing bedrooms of young American soldiers who died serving in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

It’s not clear whether the series is meant to commemorate the soldiers or drive home some message about the tragedy of America’s young giving up their lives in a doomed war. The ambiguity makes the collection all the more interesting; I like that there’s more than one way of looking at it.

The photos themselves have a very haunting quality to them and the viewer really gets a strong sense of the tragedy and sadness associated with the loss of these young lives. There’s just something very chilling about seeing a space as intimate as someone’s bedroom when that person is no longer around. The photos evoke that indelible stillness that you feel when you step into the bedroom of someone who has died.

In all the cases, the rooms look as though they have been left exactly as they were when their occupants were alive. There is the bare minimum in terms of textual information: each photo has a small caption underneath with the person’s name, rank, the date they died, how and where they died, their age, and their hometown.

The fact that the photos are black and white set a certain mood that is appropriate for the subject matter. The colour scheme of the layout – the charcoal grey background and white and red text – also enhance the mood and go well with the theme.

The fact that the viewer can manually choose when to change photos – as opposed to many of the timed slideshows I’ve seen – allows the viewer to take as much time as they want in looking at the pictures. I found myself spending more time looking at certain pictures than others. With something as personal as a bedroom, there will be some pictures that will be more interesting to some people than others.

Overall, I think this piece worked very well on several levels: it evokes powerful emotion, prompts the viewer to consider the issue from more than one perspective, and, from a design standpoint, is very easy to use and interact with.

“Lost Between Justice and Charity”, the audio slideshow posted on guardian.co.uk illustrates the plight of Chinese families who have lost loved ones to the Morecambe bay incident. Narrated by the Guardian’s Jonathan Watts, the soundslide uses a combination of photos and natural sound as well as the reporter’s narration to shed light on the massive debt and grief of losing a loved one that the families continue to endure three years after the incident.

The organization of the piece is well done. The characters provide strong quotes and the photos effectively demonstrate the environments these families live in. I especially liked the photo featuring a boy living in a small cottage right beside a neighbour’s mansion. Watts said the boy is living in the shadow of the massive debt left behind when his father died. The juxtaposition of the photo with the narration provides a powerful image; it demonstrates both the literal and figurative way the boy is living in the shadow of debt as the mansion behind him towers over his small home.

That being said, there are a number of things that I feel could have been done better. The use of natural sound in an audio/visual piece can be an important element however I think for this piece it was not used properly from a technical standpoint. Most of the natural sound was too jarring probably because I found it to be much louder than the reporter’s voice-over. Also, it would have sounded better if the natural sound faded in and out and remained as background sound during some of the narration.

At the beginning of the slideshow, Watts was talking way too fast. It seemed at times as though he had too much to say for one photo and had to hurry up and say it all before the photos changed slide. This really detracted from the piece and if it were better scripted and better timed, the problem wouldn’t have happened.

Aside from that, the piece was not too long at just over 5 minutes. It held my attention and the stories of these families was presented in a moving way. The photos were captivating and I found the information presented in the narration to be complete.

The New York Times designed a very effective interactive map of the luge crash at this year’s Olympics that killed athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili. We have all read the news reports and seen the video footage of the crash on TV but I though that these did not adequately explain exactly how and why the crash happened. The NYTimes map effectively illustrates how it happened by taking the viewer through a detailed, step-by-step account of the accident.

The first slide illustrates the layout of the track and some important facts, such as the different speeds attained at different points on the track. The rest of the slides illustrate what happened at specific points during the course of Kumaritashvili’s progress down the track by combining stills of the crash with factual information from the map.

They’ve kept things short and simple so that each point in the crash is extremely clear to the viewer. The map designers relied mostly on the visual aspect of the map to convey to readers the facts rather than overloading it with textual information. There is just enough text to properly explain what is happening at each interval.

Overall, the map is visually appealing, presents the information in a clear way, and is extremely easy to navigate. Most importantly, it explores an event that got extensive news coverage from a new, fresh angle and helped viewers to understand an aspect of the event that was difficult to explain in other forms of media.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding this year’s release of Apple’s iPad device. Many have hailed it as the saviour of print media because magazine and newspaper publishers have been promoting the idea that the device will allow them to design new, interactive content for consumers.

I recently read an article on the New York Times website: “With Apple Tablet, Print Media Hope for a Payday”, posted January 25. Written by Brad Stone and Stephanie Clifford, the article discusses the ways in which Apple’s tablet computer will help print media charge customers for content.

Brad Stone is a New York Times reporter and frequent contributor to the NYTimes technology blog, Bits. His beat is mainly internet trends and consumer technology.

Stephanie Clifford, a Times reporter as well, covers marketing and advertising in media for the paper.

Their collaboration on this article sheds some light not only on the type of content hat will be available from newspaper and magazine publishers but also on how that content will be marketed and sold to the public. Other articles that I have come across until now on the iPad and publishers’ plans for its use have been pretty vague in what we can expect in terms of how consumers will be expected to pay for news and magazine content. This article gets a little more specific in the ways in which publishers will go about charging consumers for content.

As with another article I recently commented on, this article mentions the success of the iTunes model and the strong possibility that publishers will offer their products in a similar fashion: “By marrying its famously slick software and slender designs with the iTunes payment system, Apple could help create a way for media companies to alter the economics and consumer attitudes of the digital era.”

Stone and Clifford follow this pronouncement with an issue that I had previously not considered. They raise the point that the iTunes payment system didn’t really help the music industry make more money as Apple imposed its own pricing on albums.

Aside from the iTunes payment model, there’s the App payment model. This option seems more viable for publishers because, as Stone and Clifford’s article mentions, App developers – not Apple – choose how much to sell their product for. So depending on the type of content and how much of it there is, a magazine publisher can choose how much to sell an issue of their publication.

The most important source for all the optimism surrounding the iPad “stems from consumers’ willingness to spend money using mobile devices.” People have not paid for music in the way they have paid for ringtones, games, and apps that they’ve downloaded to their mobile devices.

The key here seems to be that people will be willing to pay for things they can interact with. If newspaper and magazine publishers can present the same content, the same information, in a new and engaging way that allows the consumer to interact with the information they’re consuming, the iPad may well provide print media with a successful business model.

Brian Stelter’s article entitled “Magazine Publishers to Build an Online Newsstand” talks about one of the ways that major magazine publishing companies are looking to digital platforms to increase magazine readership and sales.

The article was posted in November 2009 on Media Decoder, one of the New York Times blogs. Media Decoder is a blog that deals with all aspects of the ever-changing media industry. According to the blog’s ‘About’ section, Media Decoder also serves as “a window on how the business of connecting with consumers is changing in the digital age.”

Brian Stelter is a regular contributor to Media Decoder and this article is typical of the subject matter published on the blog. Stelter started a blog called CableNewser when he was in university studying communications. His blog, which dealt with trends in television news, attracted a large readership and was eventually renamed TVNewser. It caught the attention of The New York Times and thus began Stelter’s relationship with the Times.

The “magazine publishers” article appears at a time of great uncertainty for publishers of print media. Countless articles have been published, both online and in traditional print media, that have dealt with the many ways in which publishers are attempting to save the print media industry. Many of these ways involve publishers trying to adapt their product so that it fits digital platforms. Many of us have already read about digital issues of magazines being designed for the Apple ipad; Stelter’s article mentions the December issue of GQ being available for download as an iphone app.

The latest project by magazine publishers seems to be the creation of an online newsstand. According to Stelter’s article, some of the publishers going to be involved include Condé Nast, Time Inc., Hearst, and Meredith. The online newsstand for magazines will work similarly to iTunes, that is one place where a huge variety of magazine titles will be available to the public for download purchase.

ITunes has proved to be successful for the music industry; people love the convenience of finding all their music in the same place. Just as with the iTunes music catalog, an online newsstand will probably be able to provide titles that are rare or that are usually expensive to buy in traditional newsstands because they are foreign imports. Buying a digital copy of these titles will probably be cheaper than buying a physical copy. I buy a ton of magazines at 20$ an issue and they cost me so much because they come from foreign countries.With the elimination of expensive shipping rates, the consumer won’t have to pay as much for the foreign publications.

Once an online newsstand is established, publishers will probably start developing certain things like automatic downloads for subscribers. Say you subscribe to a publication, you probably won’t have to go online every time you want to buy an issue. The companies will devise apps for the iPhone, BlackBerry, iPad, and other devices that automatically download the latest issue onto your device, ready for viewing.

While an online newsstand will offer many exciting prospects for the magazine format, there are people like me who will always prefer a physical copy over anything digital. The success of new digital formats for magazines will all depend on whether a digital format for magazines catches on with the public. If people decide that they want to read magazines online or using other digital platforms like their mobile phones or e-readers, the model of an online newsstand will probably work very well.

screengrab of the QDS website

Montreal’s downtown area has always had an impressive concentration of a variety of entertainment and arts venues. In 2003, the city of Montreal established the QDS Partnership. The Partnership is dedicated to creating a brand, a whole identity, around the area so that it would be easily marketable to tourists and would establish Montreal as an international culture metropolis.

The QDS website was set up as a source of information on everything to do with Montreal’s entertainment district. The home page features the latest news, which can include anything from the opening of new venues to upcoming events to recent or upcoming building developments.

There is also a list of the day’s events, shows, exhibits, and other happenings featured on the home page. This sort of information is also accessible through the calendar on the left side of the page.

On the surface it seems as though the QDS website contains a wealth of information. It does, but not in a clear way. Just visiting the ‘About Us’ section of the site is illustrative of the useful information that should be available to the public but that is not presented in the clearest, most engaging way. I would have liked to read a more detailed account about the vision, concepts, and objectives for the QDS.

Some of the sections also seem incomplete. For example, the projects section is divided into two sub-sections that are supposed to list projects completed vs. those still in progress but there seems to be ton of stuff missing from both those lists.

However, there is a sub-section called ‘Publications’ – also in the ‘About Us’ section – which contains links to a variety of PDF documents on everything from the lighting plan to the business side of things. While many of the documents contain useful information, they are presented as a hodge-podge of official press releases and can be quite tedious to go through for someone who just wants general information on the different elements of the district.

While the website may not be the ideal source for information about the development of the QDS, including what has already been done, there is sufficient information about a couple of the most important elements of the district. The site’s information on the lighting plan, for example, is very comprehensive. Listed under ‘Projects (in progress)’ in the ‘About Us’ section, the aims, concepts, and achievements of the lighting plan are described along with links to articles from other media sources, press releases, and other documents.

Venues within the district are conveniently listed in alphabetical order in the ‘Venues’ section under the ‘Neighbourhood’ category. While the site provides the address, website URL, and contact info for all the venues, some lack descriptions.

Aesthetically, I find the site to be well put together. The overall theme, colour scheme, and graphic elements of the website are in keeping with the theme of the QDS itself (the ubiquitous red dots that characterize the lighting plan, the luminous quality of the headers and titles, etc.).

That being said, I would have liked to see more photos; surprisingly, there aren’t very many and one would think, given the stunning visual aspects of the district, that there would be more. I even expected a photo gallery of some sort.

The development of the QDS has been the subject of extensive media coverage ever since plans for the development were unveiled in 2004. If it’s information on development that you’re looking for, you’re probably better off googling articles from news outlets as I found these to be more informative than anything on the QDS website. There’s also the issue of clarity: news articles are clearer and more engaging than the formally written stuff on the QDS website.

I am inclined to think that the website may not have been designed so much to provide detailed information on the development of the district as to highlight events and make people want to visit the district. With better organization, the QDS website could be presented not only for this purpose but also as a credible source to be consulted for any information regarding the district.

Here’s the sound assignment we were supposed to post today. I interviewed Matei Paquin. He works at Moment Factory and was one of the designers involved with La Vitrine. He wouldn’t let me come to the office, saying that it was a ‘war zone’ over there (those were his exact words) so I had to settle for a phone interview which explains why the sound quality isn’t so great. Matei Paquin – Moment Factory

The topic of my presentation was the Quartier des spectacles: Montreal’s entertainment district. The area is historically important because it was there that the first cinemas and theatres opened nearly 100 years ago. Over the decades, bars, concert venues, studios, galleries, and other theatres opened up in the area giving the district the highest concentration of entertainment and arts venues in the city.

La Vitrine Culturelle, currently located near Place des arts

A few years ago, the government decided to officially name the district the Quartier des spectacles and put in place a detailed revitalization plan that is to take place in 4 phases and is to be completed in 2012. Funding from the three levels of government combined with private investment equals a projected $1.9 billion budget for the area.

I went over some of the established attractions in the area to give people an idea of the variety of venues that the area encompasses. I talked about projects that have already been completed, such as the place des festivals and the vitrine culturelle. I also spoke about future developments.

For my final project, I won’t focus at all on specific venues because there are just too many of them and deciding which are the most important is too difficult to choose. Instead, I will focus on those aspects of the QDS that tie the whole area together: the signature lighting plan, the vitrine culturelle, and the place des festivals. I will also talk more in depth about what’s left to be completed: the construction of a building on the lot around St. Laurent metro and the construction of the 2-22.

The latter ties into an issue that I didn’t mention in my presentation but that a couple of people mentioned afterward. That is, the expropriation of certain businesses to make way for new developments, as is being done for the 2-22.

Place des festivals

Many people have also been expressing concern over the possibility that these new developments around the corner of St. Laurent and Ste. Catherine will drive up housing prices. This means that the people who currently live there – many of them artists – will have to move out of the area as they may no longer be able to afford to live there. I will be addressing these concerns as well.