Print vs. Digital

For designers, form is the overall look and feel of the elements that make up our designs. However, whether the design is to sell, inform or even entertain (Bear, 2009) it is important to know the differeces between both online and digital.

The major differences between print and digital is readability. Typography is probably the most important difference between print and digital. Serif fonts have traditionally been used for body text in print publications because they are easier to read on paper.







Most print publications use a 10- or 11-point font and some even go as small as 9 points. While this is perfectly legible on paper, it is often very difficult to read on-screen. And in the case of flip- book magazines, it means that even readers with excellent eyesight will have to zoom in to read articles (Chapman, 2009).

There are two major differences between print and on-screen images. The first is the color space used, CMYK vs. RGB. The second is compression and overall image size.
Using CMYK in different screens, you can produce virtually any color in print. RBG, on the other hand, stands for Red, Green and Blue and is what every computer monitor, television and other digital equipment uses to produce color (Chapman, 2009). Therefore it can be concluded that both print and design has many differences that cannot be overlooked. However, it is up to the designer to make the material readable whether in print or digital.

References

1. Bear,J. 2009, Form and Function in Design and Publishing: Form Follows Function ,Online, viewed on 23rd Oct. 2009, http://desktoppub.about.com/od/graphicdesign/a/formfunction.htm

2. Chapman, C., 2009, Print to web: Where to Start?, Smashing Magazine, viewed 3rd November 2009, http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/04/16/switch-from-print-to-web-where-to-start/