This week has seen the launch of Big Issue in the North’s digital street magazine which has aimed to offer customers an online format for the popular printed edition.
As such it has been revealed that 999 Design were commissioned by INSP (International Network of Street Papers) to work on the design and digital development of the digital edition.
Based on feedback from the pilot, 999 Design have suggested there are ambitions for the digital edition to be rolled out across the INSP worldwide network covering 6 continents and 24 languages
Mark Beever, director of innovation at 999 Design, was clear to point out the importance of this kind of project: “Digital experience is now more apparent in our lives than many physical communications (how many people aren’t looking at a mobile whilst navigating a city these days), and so this project offered a great opportunity to reconfigure the way online and offline experiences talk with each other.
“Building valuable new connections between brands and people is at the heart of all our work – we wanted to enhance the value of the magazine in the digital space whilst helping the street news vendor to remain part of the consumer process to sell a digital newspaper product online.”
INSP’s director Lisa Maclean added that the digital project is key to the future of street papers: “With more than 56 million readers globally, print and digital papers provide a powerful platform for unheard voices. We believe this project has the potential to become not only one of the world’s largest paid digital media platforms, but one of the most important too.”