To celebrate HEY!’s 10th anniversary, we roll back the years and pull back the curtains on this award-winning magazine in your hands. AR you ready?
by Derek Rodriguez / Videos by Ei Ei Thei
1. HEY! IS THE FIRST AR UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE
Print is as dead as dinosaurs? These claims were sent back to the Jurassic age when a Tyrannosaurus emerged from the pages of HEY! to a packed auditorium of freshmen in 2019 using an augmented reality (AR) app. At its launch, HEY! AR trended number one on both Google Play and the App Store under the education category. Web AR has now arrived at the HEY! website too, which means you can load 3D objects on your phone while reading the mobile version.
2. YOU CAN TAKE SELFIES WITH HEY!’S AR CREATIONS
Strike a pose with the AR objects from HEY!. Better yet, rope your friends in for an epic wefie. Over the last two years, arctic animals, famous buildings, life-size NTU inventions and other quirky 3D elements have been brought to life. Watch out world, there’s more in store!
3. THE LEAP INTO AR ISN’T THE FIRST TIME WE’VE SHAKEN THINGS UP
Rolling with the times, HEY! has evolved technologically. In its early days, HEY! had an iPad app for reading on the go. Then came HEY!Shake, an app developed by an NTU start-up that was used together with HEY! TV screens around campus. Readers who spotted HEY!Shake icons on the screens could shake it (their phones, we mean) to win prizes or take part in mini surveys.
4. TWO MAKEOVERS TO MOVE WITH THE TIMES
We’ve updated our look to keep up with the times, while bringing you the skinny on NTU from new and surprising angles. The one thing that hasn’t changed is our word to being bright and breezy as we share cool facts and tips.
5. 34 AWARDS ALONG THE WAY
These include accolades from the US, UK and Asia, most recently for our innovative use of augmented reality in creative storytelling. HEY! cheered with readers when it picked up the prestigious Best of the Best prize at the 2020 Gold Quill Awards. Said one judge: “The engaging visual style is fresh and fun, bright and bold, and seems on brand for a smart university.” Another praised NTU’s “choice of colours, layout, styles and the outstanding use of imagery and 3D animation, alongside the selective and effective use of AR”. The team behind HEY! also took the global In-house Digital Team of the Year title at the inaugural awards organised by the International Communications Consultancy Organisation in the UK.
“HEY! has earned global recognition as a magazine that creatively harnesses smart technologies to enhance the reading experience. When I launched the revamped HEY! in 2019, I was impressed by how it uses augmented reality to make stories about campus life, students, professors and alumni come alive. It reinforces the NTU Smart Campus branding and has raised the bar in creative communication by universities. Happy 10th anniversary, HEY!”
– NTU President Prof Subra Suresh
6. WHAT’S IN THE NAME?
HEY! is all about sharing the unexpected. To offer an insider view of things and make you take a second look, or go: “Hey, I didn’t know that!” Now you know.
7. THESE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN WITH PHONES!
Unlike professional cameras and lenses, our sense of adventure and curiosity are never kept in the cupboard. HEY! is always ready to capture key moments – with smartphones. Encapsulating this spirit, the photos in HEY! have been taken with mobile phones since the magazine’s latest revamp in 2019. This includes cover photos!
8. HEY! HAS GONE BTS (BEHIND THE SCENES)
To meet celebrity alumni like Stefanie Sun and Joanne Peh, and visiting K-pop idols like Kang Gary and Dal Shabet. Our writers have also gone behind hoardings to give you sneak peeks of everything from the making of NTU’s shopping and food street to designer enclave The Hive before they were revealed to the public.
9. STUDENTS’ SUCCESS STORIES INSPIRE US
Sharing stories of students’ achievements not just in print but with videos and AR has been a source of joy. Over the years, HEY! has covered innovations, inventions and pursuits that have taken the campus and country by storm, and applauded many more record-breaking and inspiring feats.
10. IT’S ALL IN A DAY’S WORK SHOWING YOU A DIFFERENT SIDE OF YOUR PROFS
You may see your profs as wise sages in the lab and classrooms, but there’s more to them than meets the eye. To catch them in their natural habitat, HEY! has dived into shark-invested waters, cut some ice and gotten into skirmishes – just to help you see what else your profs are capable of.
“Digital devices are carried by almost everyone, and today’s smartphones already come with augmented reality. Fast and reliable data networks are everywhere, attention spans are short, and the young expect news to be informative and yet entertaining… it’s especially satisfying to have combined the digital and the physical realms to create a new product that offers new spatial and sensory experiences for our digitally-savvy audience.”
– Dr Vivien Chiong, NTU’s Chief Communication Officer, who conceptualised HEY! and spearheaded its transformation into an augmented reality magazine two years ago
This story was published in the Oct-Dec 2021 issue of HEY!. To read it and other stories from this issue in print, click here.
