Having started off designing as a print designer and later venturing off into the world of web design I can honestly say that I have always been a print designer (and logo designer) at heart – less limitations, the rewarding feeling of holding your own design, seeing your logo implemented on various collateral… and the list continues for me.
Although as the demand of web sites have grown over the years I have found myself staying true to my roots in print and implementing “print principles” into my website designs – focusing more on typography, structured hierarchy, and placement.
Provoke a feeling, tell a story
Below is a fantastic video by well known graphic designer Jason Santa Maria, discussing the effect print design can have on the web. He discusses how in print design the feeling of an article is presented in the design, where in web design, the content seems to be more “dumped on a page”.
SVA Dot Dot Dot Lectures: Jason Santa Maria from MFA Interaction Design on Vimeo.
Which do you prefer? Print or Web Design.
As usual I typically get the feedback of my friends and the design community, so I asked my Twitter followers, which do you prefer – Print or Web Design, and why? Here’s what a few had to say.
PRO WEB DESIGN
@noxonstudio: I personally like web design much more than print, simply because web design is usually interactive and dynamic. You can change even the smallest of details as many time as you like, even after e product is finished. While with print design you have to get it right on the drawing board because once its printed, its there forever.
@rutiso: I like web design because of it’s variety of possibilities and options that have to be cooked down to the essential.
But I love print design because of the “touch factor”. You not just can adore it, you can feel it, smell it and of cause share it as present.
In short: Web is my passion and business. Print is my origin and home.
@formagenda: I prefer to choose the right media for the project. But i think web design has more possibilities and prefer to design in the digital world. You have the posibility to change, adjust and analyse every move, and really get your message out to lots of people with a small budget. But, webdesign is offen devaluated and its potential is wasted. Also the budgets is lowered because the market is so intense. But with a pistol to the head, gotta go with webdesign.
@luvx3: I prefer web design since the process allows for more flexibility in its layout presentation. And depending on its purpose and targeted audience, web interfaces can be implemented with technology, programming (javascript) and animation (Flash) to create a more interactive and visually aesthetic experience. It is more engaging and more fulfilling to produce.
PRO PRINT DESIGN
@cowaboonga: I really prefer Print design because I enjoy designing things that people can touch, I like to see my design outside a screen and I enjoy a lot thinking about my design applied over 3D objects and 3D people. I rarely design for the web although I have the knowledge, I just found that I don’t enjoy as much as I do for Print, so I only do it for personal purposes.
@missdetails: I prefer print design, I get an immense sense of satisfaction and pride seeing my clients using the print collateral I design for them. I get a lot of people asking me to design their sites and I refer them to other web designers. I suppose I could learn all that stuff but I just don’t want to and why not leave it to the designers who really enjoy it. I love what I do, and that is creating the initial identity and branding and I work really well with other designers.
@designtwit: That question is hard. Love web’s interactive aspect. Typographic limitations are disappearing. The visual experience is enhanced by exploration and engagement. But, print has PAPER. And paper is the added dimension that can play out for a real-life interaction that can never be duplicated on a computer screen. I love paper. Print is more intimate. Paper tactile. Feels more like art on canvas.
@jeffreygarofalo: It’s tactile, tangible, all that stuff. Maybe because I like getting snail mail. A letterpress card or invitation is always fun. A magazine to read on a subway. The NY Times on Sunday.
Do you prefer print or web design and why? How can a print background be of benefit to the web?
Through school it was always print for me, and now that I’m out of school I’ve been doing it for awhile now. Now I’m taking time to learn web design, I think that they are both satisfying in different ways. Ultimately I still love print more, I haven’t had as many headaches from problems as I do with web design…. but they both hold places in my heart.
Tough one…these days this almost seems less like a question of preference, but rather one of practicality. Lately it seems to keep myself “marketable” I have had to make sure and be comfortable doing both.
Being that we now have the power of CSS at our disposal, I believe that having print experience in your background helps with the understanding of design for the web, although it’s much more specific to the tools. Having solid print experience = exposure to the design tools within CS4.
The one gap I think has to be closed between design for print and web is that of best practices and interface design / technology. it is possible to be a great print designer and still have no idea of what is possible relative to interface / experience design.
As for my preference…I love the web, and I am committed to keeping myself agile, being able to bounce back and forth when necessary…
Hey, thanks for the spot in the article! I’ve always been more lenient towards the web design side, its just the instant result you can have when you change something. Kind of like painting or drawing but with a more awesome sort of undo function :D. Its interesting to read everyone’s preference though.
[...] debate by Brian Hoff at The Design Cubicle taking the opinion of Print and Web designers. (me included) [...]
I’m definitely a web designer. I’ve designed print peices before and I’ve enjoyed it, but it’s a whole different medium to understand.
Recently I designed a site and logo for a client but when he asked me to create some business cards I brought in a friend (print designer) to help me. What she came up with was way beyond anything I would have come up with because of her experience. The final card is here (http://www.behance.net/Gallery/NationBuilder-Pop-up-Business-Card/255142) and I have to say she did a way better job with my illustration then I ever could have.
Like Brad, I’ve enjoyed the little print design I’ve done but for me it just doesn’t compare to web design. I love the process of turning a static image into something interactive.
I’m more of a web designer than a print designer, but I believe a good designer should be versatile enough to do both. The basics principles of design should be integrated in both print and web. There are just more rules and constraints to web design.
I like web design because it’s not permanent, and I like print design because it is permanent. Hell, I just love what I do.
Although print advertising and design has it’s uses, web design is much easier on the environment. Less paper wasted, and there’s more marketability for web design.
I started out as a print designer and have been designing for the web for the past 10 years (still doing print / logo / branding now and then) and I think my background in print compliments my web design skills in some ways. I definitely enjoy the flexibility, rapid change, and interactivity that web design allows for though…
web = instant results
print = one error and you have the client on your a$$, dish out for the re-print, etc …
also, easier to optimize for the web vs print. print resolution, color, pantone, font package, etc … just a head ache if it doesn’t go right …
Thank you, Brian. I like how you’ve represented both sides. Each has its own desirable aspects. Listening to Jason’s presentation right now — great include.
Web design is communication, structure, movement & navigation. Web design is give and take, a learning environment, did I say movement. Web design is deep as hyperlinking takes you endlessly into unknown places.
Print design is aesthetic, feeling, art in a classic sense, free but falls withing boundaries. Print design can be deep, but it’s deep in the imagination.
I love them both!
I really like both but my degree is in print. If I didn’t know front end web I don’t know if I’d have a job right now! The print designers who willingly or unwillingly poke their nose in web design are in demand!
Print design all the way. Web design may be more interactive, but well done print design communicates in ways no web can. I believe. Just the fact that you can hold the object and display it is a winner for me.
Much like you – I’m a print designer who has also become a web designer.
Nothing beats the feel of holding and smelling a new print job. The stakes are higher – there can be no quick fix with typos, if the colour is off, there is no last minute tweaking and if the stock isn’t quite what you expected you can’t just ‘undo’ and start again. The satisfaction gained from completing a quality print job is so much more than that experienced from completing a quality website.
Yes you have to be technically gifted to design for the web, especially if you code yourself, but the skills needed to be a print designer in getting the design from screen to a letterhead, brochure, external sign or banner are so much more difficult to learn – it is only experience that can teach you.
The web is great and designing for it can be fun, but its one step removed from reality and your senses.
It’s interesting that we live in a society inundated by media. We’re hit with advertising and design every second of our lives and now have a short attention span for it. We were brought up on 30 second commercials and fleeting glimpses of billboards. Great design is great design, regardless, but is anything really timeless anymore?
However, I’m a print designer and stickin’ with my field :) mostly out of preference for how I have to work in either field.
Maybe I’m old fashioned, but print design is my heart’s desire, hands down. Despite all the cool functionality, I think most of the stuff out there today doesn’t have the same attention to detail, typography and color scheme that we see in print design.
I started as a print designer – in newspaper design (yay! SND!) – and moved into Web. Now, I do both, in addition to web development and marketing. But if I had all the time in the world I’d love to go back to all print, all the time.
I do admit though that when I see amazing web design – truly crisp, clean work – it still takes my breath away.
@pixelpointpress
Though I do like both, I prefer print over web design. I learned both just about at the same time but I gravitated toward print more than web over the years. I like how with print you can feel the finished product and the finished product can come in different shapes, sizes, and materials. Web design can get a little complicated at times because there are so many variables that can happen with coding, different browsers, and screen sizes. But then at the same time web can be much faster and better on the environment. I feel though that both design avenues are great but I just prefer print.
Print or web – that’s really difficult question. I prefer the typographical possibilities of the print, the feel of different print finishes, to hold beautiful piece of design in my hands, althought I’m rather web designer. Anyway both are about getting across the story, message, about the communication and about carrying the information across to customer after all, isn’t it?
As a designer I do prefer print, however I started off as a web designer, and I think it is under-appreciated. There is almost a science to web design and things that a print designer just doesn’t know or understand about it, which sometimes irks me!
But I think they can both be truly beautiful!
There is science to print design. I spend a lot of time at printers and the way ink reacts to different media is something a print designer has to understand.
Trapping, CYMK splits, overprinting, font embedding are all technical requirements of a good print designer – all of which have to be understood from the start, or will cost you and the client more money.
There is none of this messing about doing code – if that dosn’t work, you just adjust it. If the trapping is wrong on a 10,000 brochure run, then the stakes are a lot higher.
Something I’ve realized today is that webpages are more like scrolls. I’ve since been thinking about designing some sort of html document which juxtaposes a scroll setup against a paged layout.
Speaking of scrolls: Back in the day, what kinds of designs did scrolls have?
The true power of the web is the malleability of the canvas. We could make things codex-like, scroll-like, or tablet-like, or create an infinite expanse, like a map.
I think there is a big difference between print media and the web and the design techniques employed. Jumping from one medium to the other may not be as easy as it seems.
I’d have to go with web design. Web design gives you the freedom to always go back and correct or tweek something even after it is displayed for public view. Once a print product is printed whatever errors or flaws you notice at that point are done and done.
Print can present a headache because your design can be destroyed by improper printing. There is so much more to creating a print design than simply making an attractive design. Resolution, bleed, vector vs. bitmap, etc. I do enjoy viewing the final product of one of my print jobs but so much more work goes into creating that job.
oddly enough I trained as a multimedia designer (web design with motion graphics and tv etc) and my first job was designing children’s books so I feel like I did it backwards. There’s so much I learnt from print design and so much more I still need to learn but ultimately I’m happiest in a digital environment and I like to play with print and keep learning.
With print you have to get everything right but when you have your end product, everyone will see it the same – with digital, you think you’ve got it right but everyone will be seeing something slightly different so they’re both frustrating and rewarding in their own ways!
The one thing I resent is a bit of an old school attitude to digital design – I worked in an ATL agency and the ECD just didn’t get interface design at all so he took the project away and gave it to a “real” designer (how rude!). To his credit, the print designer did an ok job but it had to be done in flash and I was left to fix all sorts of problems. I think some people need to realise that the two disciplines are quite different but both deserve the same amount of respect!