Oliver Bothwell Designs iPad App for The Times
Oliver Bothwell graduated from LCC this year with a degree in Graphic and Media Design. He specialised in Information Design and, over the last few months, has been working with The Times’ Eureka magazine – a monthly science supplement – to produce an iPad app that explores how the ‘science of sport is changing the human race.’
Eureka’s Art Director Matt Curtis was impressed by Oliver’s work at the 2010 degree show, Super Graphics, and invited him to an interview. “He told me they were about to start working on an iPad app and asked whether I wanted to be involved,” Oliver explains.
Naturally, he jumped at the chance: “the project was really exciting and interesting, it was a new experience for all of us, Matt is a traditionally print-based designer and so we got to explore from scratch how best to move the essence of Eureka magazine to this new medium.”
For Oliver it was also provided a valuable insight into this fast-paced media industry. “The Times team was very different from anywhere I’ve worked before. At some times it was like a small studio, for example when Matt and I were working late on designs exploring the best ways to do things, but at other times there was a big community of people; writers, sub-editors, picture editors and management all working on the project. Obviously in a large project such as this there were frustrating moments where changes were made very last minute and we had to adjust or redo a lot of work.”
And for someone so well versed in communicating information, I wondered whether Oliver felt the iPad could ever mean the end of traditional media. He’s doubtful: “the iPad is a fantastic device and I see it replacing desktop and laptop computers for home users but I’m not sure it’s the future that some media groups are hoping it is.
Tablets are more like the web than print, yet very different from both. I think Eureka is the closest any app has got to understanding this; the juxtaposition of pages designed for the format with interactive content that work together.
The iPad and tablets will play an important role in the future of media but print is never going to die and designers and clients need to shift their way of thinking for this new medium.”
For now, Oliver is still at The Times and looking for other interesting projects to get involved in. With a smart outlook on an almost incalculable future, we’re sure he’ll land plenty more pioneering roles like this one. Visit Oliver’s website for a leaf through some other fascinating briefs.
