New Digital Projects from Delius

Frankfurt Book Fair 2009: the Delius stand features a mock-up an iPhone-screen lookalike. And that’s where the story begins.

Having been market leaders in illustrated reference books for twenty years, Delius recognised at an early stage that digital presented a remarkable opportunity. Knowledge could be conveyed in new ways, focusing on presentation and interactivity, giving the pursuit of learning and knowledge a radical new dimension. 

Websites

Books like Delius’s international bestselling (1/2 million copies) Visual History of the World remain unbeatable. But for impact and excitement, try out Delius’s 100 MILESTONES OF HISTORY website, 1,000 illustrations and 80,000 words, based on Visual History of the World.

It makes for a new and interactive experience, building on a powerful milestone concept, and acts as a perfect way-in to the more comprehensive coverage the original book has to offer.

Click on 100 Milestones for an information sheet with full details.

The French edition was published in autumn 2011. To request a link to the French website contact Chris Collier at rights@collier-international.co.uk

Apps

Delius is focusing on two areas of app development, museums and galleries (iPhone) and the visual arts (iPad).  There's also the event app, a template designed for special events, which could be exhibitions, festivals or indeed any kind of celebration.

iPhone Apps

m-guide

Delius’s ground-breaking M-GUIDE is a template which museums can make their own, importing their own content and creating their own dedicated apps, giving instant access to floor plans, exhibits and special events, and offering a visual dimension, interactivity, games and social media links which could well change the way museums and their visitors interact forever.  Apps can be matched to budgets, contain more or less content, and range from the introductory to the definitive.

m-guide apps are currently in development for three German museums. There is great potential for other markets, whether UK, US or elsewhere in Europe. For a demo, based on Berlin's Museum fur Naturkunde see http://www.delius-books.de/Apps_home/Apps_Museum_E.html

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City Apps

Apps can also widen their focus – for example, bring together all the museums and galleries in a city in one app. MUSEUM GUIDE BERLIN (all Berlin’s museums), launched last year, is now popular and well-established.

To download the app visit the App Store: http://bit.ly/mZO8Db Click on Museum Guide Berlin for an online demo.

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Event Apps

Apps can also focus on specific events, which could be festivals as well as exhibitions, indeed any kind of major one-off event, and Delius's LONG NIGHT OF THE MUSEUMS (a major summer highlight in Berlin) and other local Berlin apps have blazed the trail here.

To download the app visit the App Store: http://bit.ly/noNKZ4

iPad Apps

Just imagine…

• paintings which fill the whole screen and which can be blown up to show details which otherwise you’d only see in a gallery, and which books simply can't convey.

• instant availability, interactivity, ease of use, seamless links with social media.  

• not forgetting games, helping make the knowledge experience fun as never before.  

The 50 MASTERPIECES series will highlight cultural achievements over the centuries. All the apps will be in a standard format.  Moving beyond the 'Masterpieces' concept but staying with the format Delius are planning to work with publishers to create an exciting range of apps using publishers' own content. The aim is to produce superb apps while keeping costs at a highly competitive level.  Marketing is also a part of the ‘Masterpieces’ concept. Please contact Chris Collier at rights@collier-international.co.uk for further information.

40,000 YEARS OF ART has as the title suggests a much bigger compass, and is a remarkable and ground-breaking venture: RENAISSANCE, planned for next year, will the first of a series of nine apps. [Details and link to come.]

Other subjects ... The visual arts are Delius’s starting-point but other subjects can also be covered in the same format. Where the imagery exists then the app can tell a story, whatever the subject, with greater impact than anything we’ve known before. 

CMS

And finally…Delius now have a powerful content management system, which can be used to create new products from the publisher's own content, exporting data to apps, websites, ePub and even to print layouts, providing maximum flexibility and the potential for spreading costs over several formats.

They can provide a full service, adapting the layout to new content, uploading text and imagery, producing and indeed launching apps into the market.

See also under 50 Masterpieces above.

Partnerships

Whether publishers, museums, galleries or other third parties Delius are looking for partners who can bring complementary experience and skills to the mix.

Contact Chris Collier at rights@collier-international.co.uk, or Peter Delius direct at pdelius@delius-books.de

The next step?

Delius are knowledge experts of many years standing, and to that they've now added state-of-the-art digital skills, creating digital products that take the visual arts, history and potentially so much more to a new level of immediacy and accessibility.

There may be something here that catches your imagination, that could bring a new dimension to your business. Or there could be something you'd like to develop with us, taking advantage of the skills and experience Delius have to offer.

Either way... we look forward to working with you!

Additional links:

Essential Art app

Memory Game