There are some differences when it comes to designing a print document and a website. The 2 samples referred to when discussing the differences below are:
For print: The New Straits Times (printed edition) a Malaysian daily
For web: The Peoples Parliament, a popular Malaysian socio-political blog
Print document - The New Straits Times
For print: The New Straits Times (printed edition) a Malaysian daily
For web: The Peoples Parliament, a popular Malaysian socio-political blog
Print document - The New Straits Times
Front page of the NST (Source: http://ultimibarbarorum.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/20071212370x1000.jpg)Being two dimensional, most of the focus when it comes to designing a print document has to do with its layout (Nielsen, 1999). For example, the information in the documents should be arranged from top to bottom as the movement of human eyes matches that of gravity (Arnstson, n.d.). That is, it is easier to take in information when one reads the design of words or images from top to bottom.
The placement of articles/topics together with the type of text used will ultimately determine and have some impact on the intended audience of the print document (Chandler, 2000). This makes genre another important aspect to consider when one designs a print document.
The placement of articles/topics together with the type of text used will ultimately determine and have some impact on the intended audience of the print document (Chandler, 2000). This makes genre another important aspect to consider when one designs a print document.
Webpage – The Peoples Parliament
Screen shot of 'Peoples Parliament (Source: http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/)The layout of a webpage is equally as important. Due to the wealth of information that is available on the website, it is not lumped together, as this will just confuse the reader (Parker, 2003). Information is organized with the use of clear paragraphing, white space and segmentation of information.
Texts are written in a more factual genre, providing readers immediate and relevant information with regards to ‘why’ someone visits the site (Walsh, 2006). Hyperlinks are used to good effect here as they bring the readers directly to where the information is located
Being one of the most effective places to demonstrate the effectiveness of multimodality, the text and colours that are used is designed to attract and maintain the interest of the reader. Photographs, videos are used as they can sometimes communicate more extensively than written texts (Walsh, 2006).
Texts are written in a more factual genre, providing readers immediate and relevant information with regards to ‘why’ someone visits the site (Walsh, 2006). Hyperlinks are used to good effect here as they bring the readers directly to where the information is located
Being one of the most effective places to demonstrate the effectiveness of multimodality, the text and colours that are used is designed to attract and maintain the interest of the reader. Photographs, videos are used as they can sometimes communicate more extensively than written texts (Walsh, 2006).
Sources
Nielsen, J. 1999, Differences Between Print Design and Web Design, Allertbox: Current Issues in Web Usability. Viewed on 22 October, 2008 at <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html>
Arnstson, Amy E., n.d., Graphic Design Basics 5th edition, Thomson Wadsworth USA
Chandler, D. , 2000, ‘An Introduction to Genre Theory – The problem of definition’, viewed 21 October, 2008 at <http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html>
Parker, Roger C. 2003, Designing documents for web distribution, Looking good in print, 5th Edition, Paraglyph Press, Scottsdale, Arizona, pp. 265-293
Walsh, M. 2006, “‘Textual shift’: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts,” Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol.29, no.1, p.24-37.
Other references
Reep, Diana C. 2006, ‘Chapter 4: Principles of Document Design,’ in Technical Writing, 6th ed., Pearson Edu, Inc., New York, p.173-190.
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