HOT 50: THE TIMES

The iPad is changing the way we receive and purchase media.

Dedicated apps for the device are still relatively new, but this is changing. The Times design team, including art director Jon Hill, should be applauded for their efforts to create an iPad version of the newspaper, launched in May 2010, that people are prepared to pay for. The team has managed to make complex information look simple, creating statistics and data that attract readers to a paper that is full of imagination and techno-wizardry. The Times has also worked with design consultancy Applied Works, relying on its expertise to create interactive info graphics that present complex data in a visually interesting and immersive way.

Info graphics behind The Times’ pay wall included the 2010 Fifa World Cup statistics, which tracked fixtures, displayed match information via a live feed and showed key data on each of the 736 players through‘ flip-able’ Top Trump-style picture cards.

Applied Works’ info graphics have also been shortlisted for a Design Week Award, to be announced in March. The Times app has set a benchmark for others to follow– and it would be great for the public and media if more designers and content providers took up the challenge