Document Design: Screen vs. Print

Although screen documents and print documents share the same purpose of displaying information and graphic to it's readers, both are very different and face their own set of challenges and design parameters.The differences can be defined through,


Dimensionality
Print design is 2-dimensional with much attention focused on it's page composition, the layout. Web design however is both 1-dimensional and N-dimensional (Nielsen, 1999). This is further strengthened by Bear (2011) when she mentioned that page layouts in print designs are static as readers view the graphics and text columns on the page at the same size and place. In contrast, screen designs are more dynamic and fluid as readers can control how they view the pages.


Navigation
According to Nielsen (1999), the web is all about moving around. Hypertext navigation is the essence of the Web in the N-dimensional aspect of the web design. Bear (2011) explains that the only navigation in print is page turning. Navigation in a Web is different compared to the linear navigation of the pages of a book like a newspaper or a magazine.


Response Time, Resolution, and Canvas Size
Nielsen (1999), believes that print is much faster in speed, type, image quality and size of space than the Web. But this phenomena is bound to change as bandwidth now is so fast that downloading a web page is as fast as turning a page in a book. Not only that, screen resolution has become sharper while screens as as big as a newspaper or even bigger has emerged.




References
1. Bear, J, H, 2011, Print Design vs. Web Design, viewed 24th August 2011, <http://desktoppub.about.com/od/transitionprintweb/tp/Print_Design_vs_Web_Design.htm>


2. Hume, A, 2005, The Anatomy of Web Fonts Article, viewed 24th August 2011, <http://www.sitepoint.com/anatomy-web-fonts/>


3. Neilsen, J, 1999, Differences between Print Design and Web Design, viewed 24th August 2011, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html>