e) Screen vs. Print Document Design

The Star Online

The Star Newspapers

There are many different issues regarding the document designs for the screen (online websites) and print (newspapers). As we can observe from the pictures above, the layout between these two designs can be vastly different. Nielson (1999) states that the dimensionality of print design is '2-dimensional' as it is possible for readers to turn the pages, unfortunately, interaction in print designs are rare. A web page on the other hand is '1-dimensional and N-dimensional', and can only be scrolled among the pages.

Apart from that, screen based-designs can be inferior to the print design, for now, because of its current slow bandwidth; reading the papers can be faster than waiting for a web page to load. On the upside, screen based-designs will eventually outgrow print design in the future as technology will super size the screens until it's newspaper-like. 

Emily (2009) also mentioned in one of her postings, 'Print vs Web', that these two types of design will have their differences. In print designs,  it is important to get 'the audience to sit on a page of a magazine long enough to get the main concept and message across' as it is rather expensive for multiple page advertisements. Therefore, textures, shapes and imagery have to draw the audiences attention. On the contrary, screen design require measurements in pixels instead of inches. With that said, there can be multiple pages, given that consistency of the ad is at hand. Additionally, the design has to look their best on all sorts of monitors and monitor resolutions. Take for instance, the Star Newspaper and the Star Online, one of these two has to draw the audience's attention more, however this issue can be debated for a long time due to the different perspective and mindsets people might have.

Reference

Nielson, J 1999, 'Differences between Print design and Web Design', Useit.com, viewed 28 August 2011, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html>.

Emily 2009, 'Print vs Web', ClickBrand, viewed 28 August 2011, <http://www.clickbrand.com/blog/web-design/print-vs-web/>.