Look's Interactive Magazine Review

When I saw on Twitter that Look were searching for bloggers to review a new interactive issue I was intrigued, so dropped them a line to find out more. I was expecting something similar to other digital magazines, where you have to download the magazine onto your iPad and then read it much like the paper version. However, this was quite different.

I had to buy this week’s Look magazine, at a special price of 99p (usually £1.80) and also download a free app, Blippar. I downloaded it to both my iPad and iPhone, so I could have a play with both. You’re greeted with a screen, which explains the basics of how to use the app - very useful as I was a little confused a first! But once I’d had a go, it soon became clear.

Basically, you sit with your copy of the paper magazine in front of you, then use the Blippar app to access interactive extras, such as behind the scenes videos and your chance to be a cover star. The first thing I decided to try out was the ‘Be a Cover Star’ feature, so I hovered my phone over the front cover, using the Blippar app, and this uncovered a selection of orange ‘blobs,’ as you can see in the image below.

To replace the lovely Kate Moss with your own face, you simply tap the central orange ‘blob,’ take a photo of yourself and the app makes you a Look cover star. This was my attempt…I’m certainly no Kate Moss!

Flicking through the rest of the magazine you are greeted with further orange blobs on certain pages, giving you more chances to interact with the articles. Something I thought was particularly good was the chance to ‘buy something now’ simply by tapping the orange blob by it. So, if you see a gorgeous dress that you simply must buy, all you need to do is use the Blippar app and it will take you directly to the online store. What could be easier?! Perhaps not so great for my bank balance, but makes online shopping so much quicker.

When used with Look magazine, the app also gives you access to behind the scenes videos from their fashion and beauty photo shoots. It also allows you to try out hairstyles from the magazine, by cropping out a particular style and enabling you to take a photo of yourself sporting the style. Hairdresser nightmares will be a thing of the past!

It’s not just Look who have made use of this new app either. I hovered it over my bottle of Heinz Tomato Ketchup and a recipe book appeared with different Heinz recommended recipes. I’m sure other brands will also start to see how fun and useful this app is in the coming weeks, so the brands you can engage with will grow and expand.

Within the app you can also see new brands to interact with, popular brands or choose from a wide range of categories to explore. I’m quite excited about this – I think it’s a great way to engage with brands using the latest technology and I can’t wait to see how it develops over the coming months.

Have you used Blippar yet? What are your thoughts?