The Tribune

Designing for print media, as opposed to designing for the Internet, can be a completely different experience. To better understand these differences, each has to be viewed through areas such as types of media, audience, layout, colour, technology and careers.

As a print designer you may work on magazine advertisements, product design, packaging, business cards and logos, while as a web designer you may work on: websites, e-mail newsletters and banner advertising.

Audience

With web design, it is important to think about your audience. This differs greatly between print and web design. At the most basic level, the web is interactive, while print pieces usually are not. In print, your goal is to convince your audience to stay on a page long enough to receive a marketing message.

Fonts

There is a major difference between choosing fonts for the Internet as opposed to print. With print design, your completed piece will display the font specified during the design process. However, web designers never know for sure if their fonts will display properly.

For example, your audience can only view the same font you are viewing if it is installed on their computer. If you design a beautiful website using Chaucer Bold, and none of your viewers have that font, their browsers will have to find a substitute.

Image Files: Gifs and Jpegs:

When you save a graphic image, firstly consider what type of file it is. Remember, GIFs work best with images having few colours or colour variations for the Internet, while JPEGs work best with photographs or images to be printed.

Although GIF acronyms signify ‘Graphics Interchange Format’, most Internet pages use this format because it is supported by all web browsers, and can display up to 256 colours and include transparent backgrounds.

Keeping up with the latest technology is necessary in both print and web design. Which to choose? Ideally, deciding which type of design to pursue will be based on experience, but learning both print and Internet design will make you even more marketable.

Ultimately, the basic difference is that when designing for print you will end up with a finished product that someone can hold in their hand, and when designing for the Internet you will generally work on an ever-evolving piece viewed on a computer. Until we meet again, fill your life with memories rather than regrets. Enjoy life and stay on top of your game.

NB: Columnist welcomes feedback at deedee21bastian@gmail.com

ABOUT COLUMNIST: Deidre Bastian is a professionally-trained graphic designer/marketing coordinator with qualifications of M.Sc., B.Sc., A.Sc. She has trained at institutions such as: Miami Lakes Technical Centre, Success Training College, College of the Bahamas, Nova Southeastern University, Learning Tree International, Langevine International and Synergy Bahamas.