I tell stories for a living, mostly on behalf of companies eager to convey their brand promise to others.

Many companies struggle to get their message across. They create materials that are uninspired, disorganized, confusing or just plain ugly. They present too much content with too little structure, yielding one inpenetrable page or screen after another. And when that happens, they alienate employees and customers alike.

They wreak havoc unintentionally, eager to reap the benefits of storytelling but unclear on how to do it well. It is my job to show them the way.

The way, it turns out, is to separate the story from the telling.

The New York Times yesterday released an exhaustive report that prescribes changes intended to carry the news organization into 2020 and beyond. A key recommendation: turn up the visuals. 

I am proud to have taken part in a previous effort to uplift the visual report at The Times, when I was hired to be the newspaper’s first presentation editor for its Metro and Business sections. Since then I’ve directed graphics at Time magazine, created interactive storytelling apps for iPads and iPhones, and helped companies like Apple and AT&T tell stories more smartly on digital platforms.

In my opinion, the report focuses too heavily on visual journalism. Putting pictures next to words is a step in the right direction but not enough. That’s what we tried to do 20 years ago, launching an uphill battle that continues today. The report states that 12.1 percent of Times stories have accompanying visuals.

The emphasis should be on experiential journalism, stories that audiences can make their own.

Storytelling has changed the way businesses communicate. Look no further than the Coca-Cola Company home page, where sugar water takes a back seat to storytelling. “Refreshing the world, one story at a time,” Coca-Cola trumpets. The Chase home page is another example, where the bank presents a dozen stories intended to engage customers more deeply than deposits and withdrawals.

How is your business telling its story? Here are 10 suggestions on how to step up your game:

A message to the incoming board of directors of the Society of Publication Designers from Joe Zeff as he concludes his three years on the board today.

This organization is as relevant as you make it.

The publishing industry is in transition, as are the lives of its members. As magazines continue to vanish from newsstands and mailboxes, the Society of Publication Designers exists to remind the world why magazines were invented in the first place, to deliver serendipitous delight through indulgent but purposeful rhythms of words and images, delivered with impact and emotion to provide help and hope to anyone who experiences them. Survey any newsstand and immediately understand who we are as a civilization and what we aspire to be. Websites and apps are very different. They deliver here and now without regard for yesterday or tomorrow. 

Will Mumford of The Newspaper Works in Australia interviewed company president Joe Zeff in advance of Joe's presentation at the Future Forum Aug. 20-21 in Sydney. Highlights:

What makes a good news app, both in terms of engaging consumers and allowing a platform for advertisers?

We consume news much like we consume food. We sit down to meals, and we snack between meals to satisfy cravings or pass the time. Yahoo News Digest is my favorite snack at the moment — flavorful, bite-sized portions of timely content. CNN delivers more nourishing meals, but primarily meals on the go. The New York Times delivers meals on the go, too, plus culinary experiences that go a bit further. These special dishes offer heightened engagement, not only for delivering content but advertising as well. I see tremendous opportunity for publishers to deliver more white tablecloth experiences — ambitious storytelling apps that hold onto consumers’ attention for extended periods, unlike apps built around short bursts of content.

The Final Hours of Titanfall, a news app that goes behind the scenes into the development of this year's blockbuster video game, is now available on multiple platforms.

 It's available for sale at the Tunes App Store (iPad), Windows Store, Origin (PC/Mac), Google Play (Android), Steam (PC/Mac). A free sample chapter is available on Medium.com.

The app demonstrates what's possible for long-form journalism on the tablet, where users tend to be more focused and more engaged than when viewing content on phones or websites. Unlike HTML websites, tablet apps deliver immersive, multi-touch experiences that can be accessed anywhere once downloaded, making devices like the iPad — and now the Surface —unbeatable for storytelling.

Documentary films move us, excite us, awaken us, enrage us. They compel us to act. But for all of their power, they lack the ability to engage us. We watch rapt for an hour or more, and then the lights come on. We leave the theater with no immediate way to channel our empathy, our awareness, and in some cases, our anger.

Our answer: the appumentary.

Appumentaries are digital applications that build upon storytelling presented in books and films to deliver interactive experiences. We can leverage technology to convert isolated groups of individuals into communities. We can transform passive experiences into interactive ones that present content in myriad ways. We can provide ways for audiences to respond, for teachers to enlighten, and for students to explore.

We're pleased to announce that our first such project, an iPad app called Spies of Mississippi: The Appumentary, is now available in the iTunes App Store.

The Official Super Bowl XLVIII Interactive Game Program, an iPad app published by the National Football League, is available today in the iTunes App Store.

The app was designed and developed by Joe Zeff Design using Adobe Digital Publishing Suite. Versions for  Windows Surface, Android and Kindle tablets on their way.

While H.O. Zimman produced the print version of the official program, JZD reworked all 288 pages to create an interactive experience for the tablet. Every article was enhanced in one way or another, and numerous bonus features were added. Some of the highlights:

• More than 30 videos, allowing fans to relive every week of the 2013 NFL season, both teams' roads to the Super Bowl, and the top 10 Super Bowls of all time.

• Animated starting lineups for Denver and Seattle, and a 3D rendering that provides a bird’s eye view of MetLife Stadium. Listen closely for Peyton Manning's signature "Omaha" call during the virtual snap count.

• Real-time Twitter and Instagram feeds, current weather conditions in East Rutherford, NJ, and a countdown clock toward next year's Super Bowl.

• A Super Bowl history section with recaps of every title game, including game photos, text summaries and high-resolution images of every Super Bowl ring, and 16 feature articles with photo galleries.

• Iconic music from the NFL Films archive, presented through an innovative audio player that's as fun for the eyes as it is for the ears.

• Activities for the kids: Picture yourself as a Bronco or Seahawk, or drag warm clothes onto a frozen spectator attending the first cold-weather Super Bowl in decades.

• Sortable lineups by name, number and position; links to every NFL team website; multimedia advertisements for Microsoft, GMC and Adobe; and much more.

If that's not enough to satisfy your craving for content, the app has a custom storefront stocked with past Super Bowl programs that can be purchased and downloaded to your tablet. And immediately after Super Bowl XLVIII, this year's program gets an update with photos, video and a recap of the big game. 

Tick, tick, tick . . . only nine days remain to enter your best publication design work, both print and digital, in the Society of Publication Designers' annual competition. The standard rate of $45 per entry for members, $90 per entry for non-members, holds through January 17, after which there's a $10 surcharge on each late entry.

More information here: http://www.spd.org/competitions/

What we're looking forward to in 2014 . . .

Smarter apps. Technologies like iBeacon will help apps deliver more relevant content to users. iBeacon is an indoor-positioning system through which tiny transmitters send Bluetooth signals to iOS devices within a 160-foot radius. Think customized coupons as you walk into a store. Think popup video as you approach a museum exhibit. Think multimedia that summons you on the sidewalk. Used indiscriminately, it's spam. Used smartly, it's a game changer.

New business models. Of the 1 million-plus active apps in Apple's App Store, 62 percent (617,011) are free and 19 percent (187,292) are 99 cents. Publishers will be hard-pressed to justify high-priced applications in the land of the free, and will be challenged to monetize content in new ways. Worth noting: The average price of an app is $1.39. The average price of an iBook is roughly $9. People are willing to pay for quality content. It's all about the way that it is packaged, marketed and distributed. Hmmmmm . . .

Narrowcasting. At JZD, our workload has shifted dramatically. Instead of developing apps for the masses, we're called upon more frequently to create apps for highly targeted audiences. Currently in development: apps for employees, for sports fans, for tourists, for children, and for retirees. Some are headed to the App Store, others are to be distributed privately. As tablets proliferate, so do opportunities to captivate specific audiences.

Magazines 3.0. As digital magazines flounder, we hope that publishers will rethink their business models. We'd like the option to buy magazines a la carte, choosing individual articles and categories for a personalized experience. We want content where it's useful: Entertainment Weekly reviews in my Netflix app; InStyle suggestions as I'm shopping for shoes; Sports Illustrated content as I'm seated at the stadium. And let us purchase the products we see onscreen without fussing with a credit card.

New delivery vehicles. We continue to build tablet and mobile apps using Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, but we're watching closely as web-first platforms get better and better. We're closely watching Medium, Tumblr, Atavist, Publet, SquareSpace and the ambitious multimedia stories being produced by Sports Illustrated. Web-first publishing offers ubiquity. But it lacks spontaneity, forcing content into templates. Expecting lots of movement here in 2014.

It should be an exciting year. Appy holidays from your friends at Joe Zeff Design, and above all else, stay classy!

The iPad is changing the way companies do business, and changing the way that Joe Zeff Design serves its clients' needs.

PowerPoints are being replaced by interactive presentations that can be distributed to groups, updated in real-time, measured using analytics, and enhanced with polls and surveys.

Ditto for employee manuals, marketing content, e-learning materials, event programs, consumer surveys, point-of-purchase kiosks and more. It's happening now, and reflected in our client list. Our partnerships with Adobe and Tekserve enable us to deliver one-stop solutions for our clients, with software and hardware solutions that integrate with our strategic, creative and production offerings.

Find out more at TabTimes' Tablet Biz conference November 13 in New York City, featuring Joe Zeff Design and other companies that are transforming themselves to leverage the capabilities of tablets: General Electric, Morningstar, Wells Fargo, Salesforce.com, and more.

More details and registration information here.

Learn more about Joe Zeff Design  •  See all of our apps  •  Subscribe to this blog

Joe Zeff Design relocates from Montclair to Manhattan for two straight weeks in October, the first of many tour stops as JZD takes its show on the road. Over the next year we intend to set up shop in different cities for a week or longer to make new friends and partners and reconnect with current and past clients, too.

Let's grab breakfast, or lunch, or dinner . . . come by our popup location near Grand Central Station . . . or invite us to your place to chat. Let's talk about apps — ours, yours and everyone else's — and find ways to work together. We've set up a microsite to schedule appointments — or you can shoot us an e-mail at studio@joezeffdesign.com.

We're planning more popups in more cities — workshops, boot camp, presentations — and want your input. Not only can we design and develop apps using Adobe Digital Publishing Suite — you can see our work here — we can train your organization to make great apps, too, leveraging HTML functionality, animation tools and workflow enhancements to maximize impact and efficiency.

See you soon!

The phone rings. And rings. And rings. Inevitably we get a lot of the same questions. To help our prospective clients make the best decisions, we hereby provide our best answers: 

Why make an app?

• To make money. Tablets continue to become more popular, and software applications created specifically for tablets make content more desirable to consumers. Selling apps is one way to make money, but value can be derived from other sources: advertising, e-commerce, marketing, cost savings and brand building.

• To deliver more effective messaging. 82% of consumers primarily use their tablets in the home, uninterrupted by work, and 1 in 3 uses their tablet more than their TV. Users are more likely to spend extended periods consuming content on tablets, without the disruptions of text messages on phones and banner ads on desktops and laptops.

• To present enhanced content. Bigger screens, powerful processors and added memory make tablets ideal for multimedia content. By downloading an app, the user effectively preloads the content on his or her device. This allows developers to deliver large applications containing immersive storytelling experiences. 

• To round out a communications strategy. Phones are best for delivering short blasts of content. Print goes deeper, but only words and pictures. Websites go deeper yet, adding multimedia, but force content into cookie-cutter templates. Tablets extend the ecosystem of content and context, offering a freeform environment for the richest-possible storytelling.

• To provide companies with greater control. Companies large and small are turning to apps as a way to deliver managed content to customers and employees. Apps allow businesses to measure activity, confine specific content to password-protected areas, perform remote operations including updates, and much more. 

Joe Zeff Design took part in an Adobe Education event in Baltimore yesterday focused on Adobe Digital Publishing Suite and its potential impact on universities. The takeaway:  DPS is not just a way to digitize brochures; the platform can be used to help attract new students, make your school more accessible, enhance learning materials, intensify fundraising efforts and stay connected with alumni. 

Joe Zeff will be on stage at a Society of Publication Designers event next month in New York City to help designers better understand Adobe's new Creative Cloud offering.

Adobe Worldwide Design Evangelist Terry White will present an overview of Creative Cloud, which replaces the company's Creative Suite and requires customers to pay a monthly subscription fee to use applications like Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

More than 500,000 people have already signed up for Creative Cloud, and Adobe expects more than 1.2 million subscribers by the end of the year. ​As part of their fee, subscribers gain access to new collaboration tools, unlimited Digital Publishing Suite Single Edition apps, and more than a thousand fonts for the web and desktop.