Comments on: Print meets QR – a review of Spektacle

By: The power of Twitter…? « Justinized

The power of Twitter…? « Justinized — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:22:20 +0000

[...] What started out as a few question, culminated into his sending me a copy of the magazine, gratis, with a hand-written note and business card. To say the least, I was surprised, and also thrilled, to behold both the power of Twitter and the kindness of Spektacle’s editor, John Noi. [...]

By: Magtastic Blogsplosion | Spektacle frames

Magtastic Blogsplosion | Spektacle frames — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:13:37 +0000

[...] I reviewed the previous issue of Spektacle here. [...]

By: PRINTERESTING · The QR Code: Building Analog-to-Digital Bridges

PRINTERESTING · The QR Code: Building Analog-to-Digital Bridges — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:32:40 +0000

[...] more here and a less positive take on the technology here. var addthis_pub = ''; var addthis_language = 'en';var addthis_options = 'email, favorites, digg, [...]

By: John Noi

John Noi — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:21:34 +0000

Hello Andrew –

Thanks for the insightful review! We’re still experimenting with the magazine’s format so your critique has helped out tremendously.

In terms of QR code usage in magazines, I don’t believe any magazine has made them a primary focus of how they deliver content to readers, but we have seen many publications drop in QR codes here and there as an experiment. In November 2007, we launched Spektacle as a trial (glossy perfect bound mag) and opened it up for all phones, but as we saw from consumer feedback, there’s zero consistency with most mobile phones in terms of how content renders. Until a common browser is adopted by mobile phone manufacturers and/or carriers, there will be too many discrepancies in creating content that looks as appealing on screen as it does in print – hence our decision to go the iPhone route.

The point about the size of QR codes is quite relevant as older iPhones do indeed have difficulty in capturing QR codes when they are small – our goal has been trying to devise ways on how to make them look appealing on the page without having the publication taking on the aura of a tech magazine, so in the future hopefully we can go smaller and more aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

We have a new issue on its way this August 2009 and are waiting for the Spektacle iPhone app to be approved by Apple which is a paid hybrid magazin / style guide for readers in London and beyond. I’ll keep you updated.

Cheers,

John

By: andrew

andrew — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:55:02 +0000

Thanks Stewart. Spektacle says that it only guarantees the iPhone experience for the QR tags – I think that’s because they link a few times to music videos in iTunes.

By: Stewart McKie

Stewart McKie — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:32:08 +0000

Andrews – Thanks for a well crafted review of the use of QR Codes in Spektacle. As you suggest it’s hardly the first – we put a page full of qr codes into a Brighton listings magazine called XYZ a few months ago. But as you say, it is one of the more extensive and integrated uses.

It’s worth remembering that QR Codes are not iPhone specific – you can snap them from almost any modern mobile phone. But the non-3Gs iPhone’s camera is not the best so it helps that the codes are bigger.

I’m not sure I agree with your point about placement and size of the tags. Personally I think they are in a good place and need to be big – it’s hard enough to get people to snap tags as it is.

You can find out more about lots on interesting uses of QR Codes (not just in magazines) at our own blog at vizitag.blogspot.com