MEDIA RELEASE – 16 MAY 2012.

Essentials Magazine released this week onto the iPad and wow what a fantastic first edition!  Essentials Director, Jamie Durrant rang up Oomph a few short weeks ago to investigate our platform and see how it comapred to some of the other global publishing platforms.  Jamie quickly signed up to be an Oomph Self Service customer – meaning that he used our LearningHQ to teach himself how to use the Oomph platform.

The magazine compliments gorgeous photography and words with clever interactivity, including music exclusives, mouth watering recipes and hotel reviews. Yes I do want to go back to New York!  Jamie has quickly introduced interactive advertising into the magazine which helps drive additional revenues for this exciting new magazine. Apple were also impressed and have featured Essentials in their Travel section on the Newsstand.  Apple have recently introduced sub categories in the Newsstand making iPad magazines a lot easier to find.

You can download Essentials Magazine here.

See Media Release Below.

ESSENTIALS MAGAZINE LAUNCHES NEW IPAD MAGAZINE

It’s an absolute revolution, and one set to save the independent publishing industry – Jamie Durrant, Director of Essentials Magazine.

Victorian based publisher Essentials magazine has launched its debut iPad magazine internationally. Essentials (express) was developed to take advantage of the New iPad Retina display with what director/editor Jamie Durrant calls “super high resolution” food and art photography.

“It’s an absolute revolution, and one set to save the independent publishing industry,” says Durrant.

Essentials, a much loved culture and arts magazine has been read by up to 2.4 million food and art savvy tourists over the past 6 years. Previously distributed as a 70-page hard cover glossy to food and wine touring regions including Canberra, High Country Victoria, Melbourne and Yarra Valley, Durrant says Essentials will remain in print; however is now capable of growing to meet its new international iPad audience.

The magazine was founded in 2006 to promote the then, less known businesses in Victoria’s High Country. It’s a trend that has continued and Essentials has grown a reputation for unearthing new food and cultural experiences. With the iPad edition, Durrant has expanded this view further with articles covering destinations from New York to Bali, while retaining its strong local appeal.

“Essentials is a photographic degustation,” says Durrant, referring to its rich visual content. “As a child, I had a strong interest in photography and publishing, and have strong memories of flicking through a huge pile of National Geographic magazines that my father (realist artist Ivan Durrant) had collected. I think my love for photographic composition started there, and over the years developed from hours spent pouring over collections of images taken by Ivan, as visual references for this paintings.”

“The last 18 months has been incredibly difficult for independent publishers, particularly ones such as ourselves who rely on advertising revenue from local small businesses. For the first time we are able to compete with major magazines. We are no longer limited in page space by cost and are now guided by our own creativity – a desire to work hard to produce a compelling product. I think we’ve created the perfect launch issue – it’s a dream come true really.”

Made available to 1.13 million Australians and 35 million iPad owners world-wide, via the Apple App Store, Essentials (express) is one of the first Australian independently published magazines to take advantage of the new iPad’s technology.

“It’s a serious breakthrough,” says Durrant, ‘both the Australian software developers (Mogeneration) and Apple – they’ve finally got it right”.

It was only a little over a month ago that Durrant heard about Sydney software developers Mogeneration and their Oomph publishing platform, which has helped major magazines such as Gourmet Traveller and Qantas digitally launch on the iPad. Within hours Durrant began producing a digital magazine edition, taking advantage of Oomph’s beautifully smooth swipe navigation and high resolution multimedia components such as in-page video, sound and digital galleries.

Essentials (express) Magazine, has a strong arts based content, and includes several HD digital art slide galleries built into articles, including stunning previews: Fred Williams – Infinite Horizons (NGV), Grace Kelly – Style Icon (Bendigo Art Gallery) and The Benalla Art Gallery’s impressive Ledger Collection. Also featured is an ‘in-cover’ music single release of Melbourne rock musician Davey Lane.

“I don’t believe that print is dead, but I’m totally convinced that the new release iPad with the Retina display is a game changer for presenting art. If a $560 base model iPad can outperform all of our expensive graphic design monitors, it’s only a good thing for the general public. If people cannot manage to get to the art galleries, we’d doubt they could find a better way to see art than via our new magazine.”

Essentials (express) Magazine is now available in the Apple App Store Newsstand for $2.99 single issue. Direct App download link.