Online Design vs. Print Design

The differences of designing for online and print can be compared in major topic areas, for example, types of media, audience, layout, color, technology and careers.

For the types of media, as a print designer, there is magazine advertisement, product design and packaging, business cards, and logos. As for web designer, there is standard HTML websites, flash websites, email newsletters, and banner advertising (Miller, 2009).

In print, most reader would have honed a navigation strategy that suits their interest and motivations for getting news (Schriver, 1998)

In web, reader will first read in a "horizontal movement... then move down to the page a bit and then read across in a second horizontal movement... finally, they scan the content's left side in a vertical movement." (Nielson, 2006).

If readers feel the content for a Web site is disorganised and choppy, it may raise doubts int heir minds about the utility of the information itself (Schriver, 1998).

Image 1. (Sun2surf.com)

Image 2. (Sun2surf.com)

The two picture above are from theSun newspaper. Image 1 is the web version of the newspaper while image 2 is the front page of the newspaper.

In the print version of the newspaper, the layout is neat and clean. It successfully convince the reader to maintain interest in the front page news and nail down the content by choosing visuals that invite them to read about the content more deeply.

In the web version of the newspaper, "newspaper front page construct relations between different events in the news, for instances by positioning some as ideal and others as Real, or some as Given, and others as New." (Kress & van Leeuwan, 1998, pg. 216).

Reference:

Nielson, J, 2006, F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content
Accessed 21 October, 2009
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html

About.com, Graphic Design for Print Versus the Web,
Accessed 21 October, 2009 http://graphicdesign.about.com/od/printvsweb/a/print_vs_web.htm

Schriver, K.A, 1997, Chapter 6: Dynamics in Document Design, Wiley Computer Pub., New York.

Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 1998, Front page: (the critical) analysis of newspaper layout, Blackwell, Oxford.