6 4 7 . 9 8 9 . 2 1 9 6 8 t h e p o r t f o l i o o f a d i g i t a l a n d b r a n d c r e a t o r . . . Thinking about digital formats from a predominantly print background requires a different mindset. Someone who has transitioned from traditional print to digital formats will understand. Once content reaches the art department, it begins to take shape on Adobe’s InDesign; from there to print and alternatively on the website in PDF formats. From a digital perspective, conventional workflows slow the process of content updates. When a marketing manager initiates awork request it follows a predictable path shuttling between marketing, product, and art departments, then the sign-offs, and on to the printers. To upload PDFs and link it to content on the website usually took another work request as websites are under the purview of IT. Depending on the size of the IT department and workload this could take months, unless the update was critical. Reducing this timeframe was another project and not addressed at this time. There are two thought streams here: a) find a solution revolving around the design software, or b) rethink the whole process from a digital perspective. Thinking ‘A’: InDesign, the design software used to create marketing materials, lend itself to at least two solutions – Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite [DPS], and MagPlus’ Designd. What better stream of thought than to go with Adobe as it was a natural fit for InDesign. After much research and testing Adobe DPS emerged as the ideal solution. But then Adobe changed its price points and this solution became prohibitively expensive. Back to the drawing board with the second solution. Designd is a plugin for InDesign and proved to be the ideal choice. Thinking ‘B’: Adobe was already dabbling in a product called Adobe DPS [Digital Publishing Suite] and this has now become part of a larger platform called the Adobe Marketing Cloud. This could be a long term solution provided the price justified the requirements. Phase two: My research at the time was in everything digital. This required more focus on converting print to digital. Digital landscape at the time was quite fragmented and there were a lot of players in the market. The ideal STRATEGY Since it was ‘zero budget’ for research I bought my own hardware and software and experimented with trial versions of various app platforms. continued ...
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