Shriver (cited in Whiskey Creek Document Design 2003) explains that document design is an act of combining prose, graphics, typography, to instruct, inform or persuade.
Hilligoss & Howard (2002) mentioned that in order to communicate with readers, good visual design has to match good writing and not substitute it. Visual communication affects how the readers interact with words, therefore important for writers to note.
This blog and newspaper article will be used to illustrate the differences between print-based and screen-based documents.
The Main Differences:
1. Writing
Morkes & Nielsen (1997) states that screen documents are more concise, precise, direct, scannable, include summaries and hyperlinks, which can be seen through the point forms used in this blog.
Print-based documents are more formal, expressive, inclusive of pictures and written in full sentences as clearly seen from the above newspaper article.
2. Design
Walsh (2006) mentioned that screen-based designs include headings, links, images, hyperlinks, which is also evident through this blog.
Unlike screen, print-based has different typography, headlines, large amount of texts (Nielsen 1999) as seen from the above newspaper article.
3. Reading Paths
According to Walsh (2006), Reading paths of screen-based text are non-linear as there are many reading paths which tend to encourage scanning. Besides that, Nielsen (1999) explains that hands move for information by clicking links on blogs, thus interaction occurs. This is true to this blog of mine, as readers can choose either to read the first post, search for other interested posts.
Walsh (2006) notes the difference with print-based reading paths, by explaining that it is non-linear and includes decoding, responding and comprehending. It also flows sequentially. This is true to the newspaper article above as people will tend to read the blog headings before reading the others.
Other Examples
Reference List:
Hilligoss, S & Howard, T 2002, Visual Communication-A Writer’s Guide, 2nd edn, Longman, USA, viewed 24 August 2011, <http://www.ablongman.com/mycomplab_content/pdf/long_hilligoss.pdf>
Morkes,J & Nielsen, J 1997, Concise, SCANNABLE, and Objective: How to Write for the Web, UseIt.com, viewed 24 August 2011,<http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html>
Nielsen, J 1999,Differences between Print Design and Web Design, UseIt.com, viewed 24 August 2011,< http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html>
Walsh, M 2006, ‘The “Textual Shift”: Examining the reading Process with Print, Visual and Multimodal Texts’, Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol.29, no.1, pp.24-37.
Whiskey Creek Document Design 2003, Dynamics in Document Design by Karen A Shriver, viewed 24 August 2011, <http://www.wcdd.com/dd/reviews/schriver.html>
