Vogue Magazine Online

One multimedia site that I have always liked is Vogue Magazine’s online component. It has been recently redesigned and it is so much more functional than it used to be! The navigation bar across the top has categories that are the sections inside the print magazine, which is great for someone who is familiar with their print product. If a user was not familiar with the print product, that would be alright as well because they would be drawn in by their highly visual home page (below) and can scroll around until they find something that they are interested in. When clicking on any of the photos/stories below, the user is linked through to an interactive interior page that is unique to the story.

The best part of the magazine’s site, of course is its level of interactivity. Once the user is in the interior page, they are greeted with the headline, a choice to click to the right or left of the main headline to a new headline story, the option to click through a slideshow below the opening photo, or simply the ability to scroll through the story and read it. For this specific example, I wanted to use a story that was done about how Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are grown up and leading a highly successful fashion line. The story was told from both a professional and artistic angle, and it made me look at these young women in a new light. I think that this had a lot to do with the way the story was presented.

Here is my favorite part: When the user clicks on the opening photo or on the ‘See the Slideshow’ option, they are redirected to another interior page that is an entirely different shell, and this acts much like a photo viewer. Here, the reader can look just at the interactive graphics, videos, are photos and read the captions, or even view the photos from a thumbnail setup. It is really user-friendly, and is a great way to digest the stories on the magazine’s site – the reader can exit the photo viewer at any point and return to the story. The reader can use the site and dive into the multimedia without feeling overwhelmed, and is directed through the story’s components with a moderate level of control from the web designer.