Creating the Tech Talk & Travel App, Podcast, Instagram, Magazine and VR Experience
Branding with different platforms and making each uniquely amazing.
Picking a topic for multiple platforms
After a lot of ideas and many changes, I settled on the topic of Tech Talk and Travel. It was a theme that I could have fun with and was broad enough to use on multiple channels and platforms.
I love technology, photography, traveling, VR, and anything new, so this was the perfect theme to use on many platforms and make unique for each channel.
1st Platform — Creating a Podcast
In a busy world, Podcasts are filling a need. You can listen while doing other things. What makes Podcasts different from the other platforms is they are all audio. They need to draw people in with the storytelling or content.
I started with an outline to see if I had enough content, experts, and a good flow.
Episode 1 — How to handle travel trouble
- Interview world travelers on their travel troubles
- Security problems
- Any solutions or advice?
Episode 2 — A hostage negotiator talks travel
- This part was so interesting that it became its own episode. He has been working as a hostage negotiator for 25 years. He has great advice.
- How to avoid trouble?
- What are the newest scams?
Episode 3 — To go or not to go: the best and worst travel locations
- Interview our travelers on their favorite places to go and why
- What places surprised them
- Where not to go from a hostage negotiator
Episode 4 — Capturing your travels with new technology
- Camera wars, what is the best to travel with
- Interview tech specialist Christian Wensel
- Drone rules around the world
Episode 5 — Why we would NOT want to summit Everest
- Interview Greg Paul on his process of finally summiting Everest after many disasters that canceled his climbs.
- Have him give all the reasons why not to climb Everest. Have him talk about all the crazy and horrible stories. He is used to telling his happy story. I wanted the bad parts.
My Cover Art Process
I wanted something that you could see both new tech and travel in the cover art. I wanted it simple. Here’s the look I wanted and my final cover art.
Final Cover
This is what I ended up with. I like the feel of modern, chrome, and tech of this plane.
Creating an Intro and Outro
I really enjoyed making my own music. I wanted a feel of tech and mystery. We were discussing some scary subjects in this podcast and I wanted the music to show that. I used GarageBand and loved every minute of that process.
Gathering my Resources and Finding the Experts
Knowing a hostage negotiator was something I wanted to use for this podcast. Also having a family member that was the first to summit Everest with two prosthetic knees was a perfect expert to have as a source.
I looked for crazy stories and fun guests. It was amazing to have them share stories and make these podcasts amazing.
https://open.spotify.com/show/5Arxmgkt2SyD7NUL3IzoV4?si=_x6ECWqeQRCjjAlBfA20eA
Publishing
I uploaded my podcast to Anchor and they are now in many places.
2nd Platform — Social Media, Instagram
This is a place to highlight visual storytelling instead of audio. A place to create a community.
One of my post ideas, Instagram vs. Reality, compares real picture views vs. those that are posted. I would like to get feedback from people who travel to a picturesque spot expecting to see what they saw posted on Instagram but experienced a much different reality.
For this brand, I would like to use the 10 photo slide swipe. Showing examples below of 3 different posts.
1st post
2nd post
3rd Post
3rd Platform — A Mobile App
Know before you go app
Using a mobile platform gives us an opportunity to reach many and help fill a need that is not out there. I wanted to touch on the reality of traveling. People are wanting truth and transparency. They are wanting information from sources they can trust.
This app can be a place of valuable travel information and fun immersive experiences playing with the reality of travel.
The different sections in my app will be…
Location warnings
This area will have up-to-date information on the safety and precautions around the world. Using travel warning API information, I will utilize information from the State Department and embassies around the world.
Travel warning options
Utilize current photos of the “do not travel” areas. Visuals of the beautiful places in the world, that are in turmoil, can help us understand. This part will focus on the places that are level 4, do not travel to because of civil unrest, terrorism, or danger.
Travel checklist
This app will have advice from our many experts on what to do before you travel and how to avoid problems. This will be an informative checklist of many things that can help travelers. It will have things that many people are unaware of.
Instagram vs. Reality
I have shared filtered travel images on Instagram vs. the real pics people take. I‘m adding a section in this app that encourages everyone to share their own pictures. Helping us see the current state of places.
4th Platform — A Digital Magazine
A digital magazine can add many immersive experiences that traditional magazines cannot, such as videos, audio, VR experiences, and links to other experiences. It is also the platform where we can do a deep dive into popular subjects. By using progressive disclosure people can read as little or as much as they want.
I designed it to make it easy to find articles by using a menu. This way people can get to the articles they want to read instead of swiping until they finally get to the section they want.
Here is a prototype of the first issue of the magazine.
5th Platform — A VR travel experience
Where would you like to travel today? I would love to mix VR and AR and be able to travel virtually with our loved ones. The possibilities are great for the travel industry, the elderly, and for those of us that want to travel but are not able to right now.
Final Observations
Working with multiple platforms really opened up the door to play with many interactive technologies. I learned that using different platforms really enhances a topic.
I learned that having multiple platforms is a great way to connect to a wider audience. It is a way to deep dive into a topic, and treat each platform with a different experience and approach. It was a crazy and fun process.
Derek Balkman is a student in the Web Design with Interaction and Product Design Emphasis. Utah Valley University, Orem Utah. The following article relates to (Authoring Adaptive Experiences) in the (DGM 3280 course) and representative of the skills learned.
