KAVITHA'S MEDIA BLOG: Print VS Online Design

With the world wanting news and information on demand, relying totally on print media to do the job is rather unfair. Accuracy, Brevity and Currency is what most of us look out for when we need information and mobile phones and the Internet have contributed greatly to the way we access information. Being able gain information on-the-go has made online media the preferred choice of medium among many of us. This differences between the two media extends all the way to their designing formats as well. Let me highlight a few.

Print publication has the freedom to choose from a wide range of fonts as long as it does not compromise on readability. Whereas in the case of online publication, specific fonts which are available on a wide range of computer systems have to be used. Therefore choice of fonts types are rather limited for an online publication. And if a non-web-safe font is used it may get substituted with another type that is available on the computer system.

Page layouts for print is static, therefore text and pictures remain consistent. But since online publications consist of graphics, hyperlinks, animations and other elements, the layouts are usually more fluid to allow more information to get across as little space as possible.

With resources like discussion groups, forums, online seminars, online media provides a greater level of engagement and interactivity between the content and the user. Print does not allow real-time interaction and basically lets the eyes walk, selectively looking at information objects and using spatial juxtaposition to make page elements enhance and explain each other.

As Nielson (1999) states what may appear to be a great print design is likely to be a lousy web design. There are so many differences between the two media that it is necessary to take different design approaches to utilize the strengths of each medium and minimize its weaknesses.

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