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Print and Graphic Design

There is a subtle psychology to graphic design, on the part of the customer and on the part of the business owner. Successful graphic design integrates that element.

Designing for print

Not all designers have experience preparing camera-ready artwork for press, and that can cost you money. Calculating parent-size sheets for best cut ratio, designing bleeds to accommodate gripper edge, taking dot-gain into consideration, working with CMYK to achieve an infinate variety of colors on a 4-color press, these are all part of the science of print design.

Not all design programs, or graphic designers, are created equal. Just because you can print words and images from your office computer to your desk top printer doesn't mean the file will print on a printing press. Files created by Publisher, Word, and Powerpoint are not intended for the high-tech press environment. Desktop programs that combine images and text, such as InDesign or Quark, are better suited to smooth transition to print.

A skilled graphic designer will be capable of designing in both a vector-based program, such as Adobe Illustrator, and a bit-map program for photo manipulation, such as Photoshop. Integrating art, photos, and text takes place within the desktop publishing software, such as Quark or InDesign.

Print vs Web design

Web design is a distant cousin of print design. There are a few things that remain the same and many that are completely different. The "web" is a perfect metaphor for this media. Every page on a website is linked to something else, much like the strands of a cobweb are interconnected. Good design will enable the user to follow a logical path to find the information they seek. If you bury the content too deeply, users may have a difficult time navigating their way to where you want them to go.

Your web designer should have enough technical expertise to wrestle the sometimes hard-to-control web content into submission, but should have a good designer's eye to make sure your site has visual appeal. Is the message clear? Is it pleasing to the eye? Is it easy to navigate?

It's all in the eye

The human eye has been trained in Western culture to begin at the top, sweep from left to right, and go down. It is a natural pattern for the eye to scan in a "Z" stroke. Other elements, like color, animation, or size can disrupt the normal sweep of the eye to capture the viewer's attention.

The purpose of good graphic design is to clearly communicate a message, to create an emotional response, and to convey a solution, or point of contact for the solution. In short, it should be memorable and motivate a consumer response.