Ponton Archive: SPIEGEL Online


		SPIEGEL Online

spiegel logo
Phoor and the PONTON European Media Art Lab are the architects of Spiegel Online.
Since may 1997 "Every Day is Spiegel Day". Within the highly competitive field of the news magazines in the WWW, Spiegel Online (http://www.spiegel.de) has been setting a high standard. With it`s newest relaunch it definitely became an independent medium within the big "media family" of the Spiegel Verlag. The Spiegel is the leading German news-magazine.

As a result there is more original web-content, daily updated news and special online-services at everybodys disposal. The Ponton European Media Art Lab has been designing the user-concept of all the new functions while Phoor has been creating the new navigation system and the layout. This new concept is enabling the Spiegel to present it`s growing news offer and the connecting database in an easy-to-use way. The WWW-Server which is existing since 1994 has become a modern online-service with a classical and functional "Look and Feel" which is common to all Spiegel-products.

On the front page the visitor is welcomed by the new logo, the clear structure and navigation. All functions are logically ordered and easy to use. The six categories, called channels, are accessible from each page. The navigation is based on a colour-coding system as well as on a hierarchic structure. These two systems are making it very easy to orientate oneself within the big variety of pages. The use of frames has been reduced to a minimum.

The design of the approximately 100 Internet-pages took about six weeks. The cooperation of Phoor and PONTON proved it´s efficiency already back in 1996 when the two companies have been creating the awarded Niedersachsen-Server (http://www.niedersachsen.de). The relaunch of Spiegel Online is underlining the meaning of the Internet as a media which is aiming at supplying the engaged and critical reader with the required information as fast, flexible and direct as possible.