Sports– iPad Magazine Apps
Project Overview: Before the Daily Breeze became part of the Southern California News Group (SCNG), it was a part of the Los Angeles News Group (LANG) which sought to unify its premium sports content into an interactive, magazine-style app for iPad users. As the lead designer, I managed the entire design process, working with editors, photojournalists, and developers. I consolidated weekly sports highlights, feature stories, and photo galleries into “issues,” creating wireframes to define user interactions like swipe gestures and tap-to-expand galleries. I developed a custom visual style with a color palette inspired by local teams and designed custom mastheads, headers, and statistics callouts. I reformatted high-resolution images and infographics for DPS compatibility, integrated the assets into Adobe DPS, and conducted user testing to refine the app's functionality and user experience.
Deliverables: A suite of four digital magazine issues (Fall 2014–Spring 2017), each 30–40 “pages” in DPS format, featured a dynamic Cover & Table of Contents with a current scores ticker; In-depth feature sections with full-screen spreads (e.g., “Rivalry Recap: UCLA Bruins”) combining long-form journalism and large photography; Game Recap & Statistics interactive infographics redesigned for touch (tap to reveal player stats); Photo Essays & Highlights presented as swipeable galleries with pinch-to-zoom; Sponsor & Ad Placements consisting of scalable ad units (728×90 leaderboard, 300×250 MPU) built into the DPS story flow for synchronicity with print advertising partners; and a Design Style Guide & Asset Library including a comprehensive InDesign styles set (paragraph/character styles, DPS overlay templates) and an exported DPS asset package for ongoing issue production.
Outcome & Impact: Within the first two months of launch, LANG’s sports magazine apps exceeded expectations, achieving 25,000 downloads and 150,000 page views, surpassing their six-month goal. The apps saw an average session duration of 5 minutes 30 seconds, demonstrating high engagement. Digital ad units and sponsor placements generated a 20% increase in mobile ad revenue, with local advertisers reporting a 15% higher click-through rate compared to traditional web banners. Internal surveys rated the project “excellent” for advancing LANG’s mobile-first strategy, and the apps were featured in a MediaPost case study. By treating each digital page like a magazine spread, the apps balanced quick scoreboard snapshots with in-depth stories, keeping users engaged. Close collaboration between design, editorial, and DPS engineering ensured smooth production, and the style guide and asset library I created helped maintain a consistent look across multiple issues.
