Dissimilarity Between Print And Web Design And Its Relevance

By Author: Alan Smith
Total Articles: 1285
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For many web design could be a technical evolution of the print media on to the website. Based on this thought, print and web design sound to be very similar, but in fact, this is a blunder because there are a lot of differences between the two.

So, what are these differences?

Vital aspects like the utility, portability, technology, and interface between the computer and the human brain create the basis of this difference.

Layout: The first aspect of major concern is the layout. Some people believe that the layout of the web site should be prepared by Web Art Directors and not just Art Directors. It is the knowledge about web technologies that makes a difference between these two types of directors. A web art director takes into consideration the user interface while the art director needs not do this. The creation of these two types of directors is either a website that looks nice but hardly of any utility or a website with utility without any good looks. Most of the current websites have been designed by print directors because in most of the cases it is the look of the site that matters the most. Slowly ...
... the situation is changing and the print designers are getting equipped with the knowledge of web technologies too.

Portability and Ease: In comparison to web design, the print design is quite portable and can be easily carried from place to place. Web design needs a computer, web connectivity and electric power supply for portability. Reading from the print is more comfortable and convenient than from the monitor's screen.

Visibility: In web design the prospective customer first clicks the URL and then reads the contents of the website, while in case of print design the heading of the topic and its contents present themselves simultaneously forth the reader. Viewing from the print is comparatively easier than viewing from the screen just because the later is subject to the speed of internet connection, quantity of the content, the size of the screen, its resolution and the technology used to prepare the website.

Cognitive load and utility: Cognitive load pertains to load that is put on the working memory in the course the thought process. If a person has to learn less during a longer time the cognitive load is less. Conversely if a person needs to learn more in comparatively shorter duration the cognitive load is going to be more because the magnitude of difficult for processing the information increases exponentially. The relevance of cognitive load is far more for interactive products than in assessment to the print result. The website user in comparison to the print media user uses much less time for searching information. In case of print design, scanning is easy. For website utility, there has to be harmony between the movement of the cursor and the eye. If this pertains to more information that is not easily available, the cognitive load increases and there is a possibility of the user either forgetting the purpose of visiting the site or clicking on the website of the competitor.

Finally it is the need of the visitor that has to be considered and not the beauty of the website. The web design is to be designed in such a way that the website not only looks presentable but also serves the purpose of the visitor.

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