Front-end Development
Rendering of an article on the Game Informer app on a mobile phone.

I designed and engineered the first mobile app version of Game Informer, transitioning the legacy print publication into a modern digital experience for the App Store and Google Play.

Recognizing that smartphone users previously lacked an optimized way to read the magazine, I created a smartphone-optimized reading experience that made full magazine issues accessible, readable, and visually rich on mobile devices for the first time.

Creating the Mobile Edition

I created templates for a variety of pages and content using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and jQuery to work with the MagPlus+ publishing app. Each issue, I used these templates to adapt the print designs for mobile users - during my time at Game Informer I developed over 70 issues. These templates were also continuously updated for better user experience, to address bugs that arose over time, and to adjust to meet branding or content needs.

Screenshot of the header of "The Greatest Fighting Games of All Time" on the Game Informer mobile app.
"The Greatest Fighting Games of All Time" was featured in one of the issues of the mobile app. Featured articles like this were often give a custom look to match the magazine and catch a reader's attention.
Screenshot of an article on the Game Informer mobile app.
The articles often featured lists of games with detailed information, such as this item for "The King of Fighters XIII", shown on the mobile app.
Screenshot of the header of "Ten Fighting Games on the Horizon" on the Game Informer mobile app.
"Ten Fighting Games on the Horizon" was also featured in this mobile issue.
Screenshot of part of the text on "Ten Fighting Games on the Horizon" on the Game Informer mobile app.
Each list item featured details about the game and a short description.

Adding More Devices

In August 2019, I updated the mobile template to allow it to be used on tablet devices as well. This larger screen size allowed us to reduce the workload required to create a digital magazine each month by eliminating a special tablet edition, while still allowing users a great reading experience.

Screenshot from the tablet edition of the Game Informer mobile app.
The tablet version of a review for "Fire Emblem: Three Houses". For this update, existing templates were modified to work for the larger screen size as well.
Screenshot of a review page from the mobile app.
The same review shown at smartphone size.