We’re happy to share another great example from the States as respected publishing industry magazine Publishing Executive has enhanced its latest issue with Layar’s interactive print technology.

Publishing Executive is a magazine tailored for, appropriately, publishing executives! It provides case studies and discusses new innovations in the publishing world, among other things, so it’s natural that Publishing Executive will include interactive print going forward.

Click here to view and scan the Publishing Executive cover!

“We make it our business to keep up with and write about new technology in the magazine industry,” said Editorial Director Lynn Rosen. “I think it’s really important that we also use the technology we write about. It helps our readers learn more about the various products and how they work.”

Publishing Executive first heard of Layar when co-founder Maarten Lens-Fitzgerald spoke at Dr. Samir “Mr. Magazine” Husni’s ACT 3 conference last fall. “It was a very compelling presentation,” said Rosen.

“We found the [Layar] system to be extremely user-friendly and the results had a lot of impact. It has a real “wow” factor. And the customer service is excellent!”

The cover of the latest edition of Publishing Executive, titled “Reinventing Publishing,” offers links to social media, subscription options, slideshows and videos help bring the publication to life.

When asked about the magazine’s experience with the Layar Creator, Rosen called it “clear-cut and simple.”

“You can be up and running quickly,” she adds. “We went from deciding to use it to closing an issue in about two weeks!”

Publishing Executive plans to use the Layar Creator to enhance each of its issues with more and more interactivity going forward. The magazine joins the growing group of publications and industry influencers using Layar’s interactive print technology.

“Everytime I pull out my smartphone and show people how the cover comes to life, I get a great reaction!”

The following post was written by Layar’s Marjolein Stromeier.

Puur Natuur is a quarterly magazine sent to 730,000 members of Natuurmonumenten, the Dutch Nature Association. I spoke with Marianne Nouwens, Manager of the Corporate Media & Online team at Natuurmonumenten about why they recently made their magazine interactive with Layar.

In May of 2012, Marianne heard Layar co-founder Claire Boonstra speaking at the Nationale Coverdag, an international event for magazine publishers, and became very enthusiastic about interactive print. The next day, she involved the editorial staff in her plans and they got started. Puur Natuur used Layar to enhance the pages of its September issue, and Marianne was amazed by how easy the Layar Creator works.

“The instructions are very clear, it is so easily accessible and extremely simple to use,” she said. “The Layar Creator is a wonderful platform.”

Marianne also praised the support and development team for listening very well to her as a customer and answering her needs.

Natuurmonumenten has really beautiful, wonderful content, both offline and online, so it’s a no-brainer that they have embraced the opportunity to connect this content to their print readers.

Marianne says readers are very enthusiastic about the interactive magazine. In the winter of 2012, Puur Natuur enhanced its second issue with Layar, and saw 80% more viewers from the previous edition after just three days of publication.

Natuurmonumenten employees have provided lots of positive reactions from out in the field, which may be featured with Layar in the next edition of Puur Natuur in the spring.

It’s that time of year again - the holiday season - and while many still send the same old Christmas cards out to their families and loved ones, a few ambitious companies out there are taking the opportunity to create a more engaging print to digital experience with Layar.

We’ve noticed several Christmas Card campaigns being published, so here is a handful of some that caught our eye. Flip through the slideshow below to see the cards, which have all been augmented with Layar - some even with our new dynamic widgets. 

Click the thumbnails below to view larger versions of the images for scanning with Layar.

Christmas Cards are a great opportunity to add digital content to printed material, whether it’s company videos and slideshows like the ones above, or a personal message to someone special. Sign into the Layar Creator today to get started making your own AR Christmas Card!!

Special thanks to Mic-Media, Orange Barrel Media, Kennispunt Oost, Colour Tech, Drukkerij van Deventer and Reclamebureau REM for allowing us to feature their cards on the Layar blog!

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.

Just in time for the 2012/2013 season, Voetbal International has released its yearly season guide, featuring player bios, team stats, schedules and more for all of the top teams in the Netherlands. Only this year, things are different - the pages have been made interactive with the Layar Creator.

Now when readers peruse the nearly 400 pages of the guide, hoping to learn more about how their favorite team might fare in upcoming football season, they can also uncover more info by scanning the pages with the Layar app. Each team’s page features quick links to news, schedules, results and transfers. Some of the ads in the guide have also been enhanced with links and videos.

This is a prime example of how the Creator can easily add interactivity to print products. Editorial magazines and newspapers are great for Interactive Print, and so are informative guides such as Voetbal International. Readers are already turning to the pages of the guide for specific information, and the opportunity to learn more and to view dynamic digital content within the pages of the guide adds value to the guide.