Mean
My Issue with Issuu
Issuu’s slick yet invariably muffled interface aims to mimic the printed page with ‘animated page flipping’ and rendering the shadowed contours of a flayed open book/magazine. Such dramatic flourishes beg the question: what the fuck?
In order to actually read the words, one needs to zoom in, an experience likely to induce vertigo spells. The lightest tap on your cursor will throw your eye over a vast terrain of ‘zoomed in’ space to another part of the book, abandoning it from the context usually established by peripheral vision. (Imagine having your nose to a page then getting hit in the head with a force going 20 miles per hour.)
Issuu’s navigational cursor, unlike the more intuitive ‘hand grab’ employed by Google maps and Adobe reader, is ‘involuntary’ in the sense that it’s summoned by a roll-over instead of the more controlled right-click (there is an option to ‘hand grab,’ though it’s difficult to get to without said vertigo). In order to hit any button, one’s cursor must dangerously traverse the space in between, invoking a reading (or lack of) experience which feels like inebriation.
Compare this to Googlebooks, which translates the qualities of printed matter without the eagerness to stun. I’m not trying to get all Amish on anyone — Googlebooks I can deal with. Google, in all its forms, is in essence very utilitarian, and thus of permanent nature.
The internet, while becoming ‘more easy,’ is inadvertently becoming more difficult at once. Designers and coders are a different breed; like YouTube and facebook, nobody trusts the full evocative qualities – made infinite by its very constraints – of the written word. The irony, I think, is that Issuu actually glorifies the printed page – as if the subordinance of publishing online is somehow elevated in its full mimicry of the printed page.
Many writers I respect have been published via Issuu, and this is no commentary on their work. I simply see a day when a new generation of click-happy readers glaze over word-faithful sites like elimae, bearparade, and McSweeneys – in need of something flash-ier (pun intended). The words should be still. The moving parts should be in your mind.
Television killed reading, and the internet just might kill it all over again.
Tags: flash design, issuu
Well said. As soon as I see Issuu I’m kind of put off. Still, Locus Novus is pretty f’ing cool.
Well said. As soon as I see Issuu I’m kind of put off. Still, Locus Novus is pretty f’ing cool.
I posted a comment to this effect a while back. I don’t like it. In the late 90s, there was a surge in Flash-heavy sites that were as difficult to navigate as they were “creative,” but after a while, people realized that content is king. The fewer obstacles between the reader and the content the better.
Also, no one will ever stop reading elimae. Ever.
I posted a comment to this effect a while back. I don’t like it. In the late 90s, there was a surge in Flash-heavy sites that were as difficult to navigate as they were “creative,” but after a while, people realized that content is king. The fewer obstacles between the reader and the content the better.
Also, no one will ever stop reading elimae. Ever.
Speaking of which, Superbad still exists.
Speaking of which, Superbad still exists.
mmm…somebody likes Mondrian
mmm…somebody likes Mondrian
holy shit! superbad is awesome!
holy shit! superbad is awesome!
i liked issuu for like ten minutes. and then i stopped.
i liked issuu for like ten minutes. and then i stopped.
[…] HTML Giant, Jimmy Chen looks at Issuu’s method for displaying text, which — to these eyes — […]
Thanks for taking a look at Issuu. We really appreciate it.
We agree completely that each content type should be displayed the best possible way. That’s why we have a Paper viewer (still beta). It’s ideal for reading text, without any fancy Flash interaction (in fact, it’s one of the few online viewers out there that can run entirely without Flash). Here’s an example:
http://issuu.com/guardian/docs/guardianbookoffootball/1?mode=a_p (you get this view mode by clicking the View mode button in the Flash viewer).
The Flash viewer is primarily for magazines and presentations. The zoom mode can be changed (also globally if you’re a member). Obviously we cannot make monitors larger than they are, and if you’re on a bigger monitor you shouldn’t have to zoom to read text (of course depending on the layout which we also can’t change).
Finally, we’re continuing to improve our site. A quick look on our blog (http://blog.issuu.com) will hopefully show you that we try to push the boundaries of what might be the future of publishing. We are learning and improving our service step by step while listening to quality feedback such as yours!
Once again thank you for your interest in Issuu.
Martin, on behalf of the Issuu team
Thanks for taking a look at Issuu. We really appreciate it.
We agree completely that each content type should be displayed the best possible way. That’s why we have a Paper viewer (still beta). It’s ideal for reading text, without any fancy Flash interaction (in fact, it’s one of the few online viewers out there that can run entirely without Flash). Here’s an example:
http://issuu.com/guardian/docs/guardianbookoffootball/1?mode=a_p (you get this view mode by clicking the View mode button in the Flash viewer).
The Flash viewer is primarily for magazines and presentations. The zoom mode can be changed (also globally if you’re a member). Obviously we cannot make monitors larger than they are, and if you’re on a bigger monitor you shouldn’t have to zoom to read text (of course depending on the layout which we also can’t change).
Finally, we’re continuing to improve our site. A quick look on our blog (http://blog.issuu.com) will hopefully show you that we try to push the boundaries of what might be the future of publishing. We are learning and improving our service step by step while listening to quality feedback such as yours!
Once again thank you for your interest in Issuu.
Martin, on behalf of the Issuu team
I want to make a print magazine that is 11″ x 15′, so I can get that “feel good” internet scrolling vibe from it.
I want to make a print magazine that is 11″ x 15′, so I can get that “feel good” internet scrolling vibe from it.
I agree, though issuu is a good way to share stuff. The animated page turns hurt my eyes. the zoom button is annoying, but there is a full screen button.
Scribd.com has a better reading experience and the website itself is better than issuu.
I agree, though issuu is a good way to share stuff. The animated page turns hurt my eyes. the zoom button is annoying, but there is a full screen button.
Scribd.com has a better reading experience and the website itself is better than issuu.
i like issuu
i like issuu
me too
me too
that picture scared me
that picture scared me
scrib my crib
scrib my crib