Creative agency Imagemakers, responsible for the design and creation of the Philips myshop magazine, has expertly integrated Layar into the latest issue to provide readers with direct purchase links.

Philips, the global electronics giant headquartered in Holland, publishes myshop magazine - a discount catalogue for those eligible for employee discounts. This latest issue, complete with Interactive Print pages made with the Layar Creator, was recently delivered to over 70,000 recipients.

“The idea to make the magazine more interactive came during a brainstorm session on how to optimize the Philips myshop magazine for online sales,” says Imagemakers project manager Rik Staals.

Readers can scan the pages of the magazine with Layar to see videos of the products, receive more product information and tap direct buy links to the Philips webshop to purchase the products. You can see an example in the images further down in this post, or browse the magazine online on Imagemakers’ website.

“Imagemakers came up with the idea to implement augmented reality into the magazine to combine online and offline sales,” adds Staals. “With the integration of augmented reality, we guide people from the offline magazine to the online webshop.”

The strongest part of the magazine, however, is the full-page introduction and explanation of Layar and augmented reality located on the very first spread of the magazine (as seen below). Click the image to see the larger version.

This page is a great way to ease readers into Interactive Print. Imagemakers clearly spells out how the magazine has been enhanced with Layar Creator and instructs readers on how to use it properly. Step-by-step instructions and familiar imagery, such as the Layar logo and the various app store icons, really create a better experience that readers are more likely to use.

The Philips myshop magazine is a great example of how using clear instructions can help readers experience Interactive Print. Check out some more examples from Philips myshop magazine below. Click the images to view larger versions and scan them with Layar to experience the augments.