I was recently was part of a conversation about how the experience of viewing both print and digital work can vary based on the medium it is reproduced in, on screen or paper. One side argued that while it was easy to view interactive work in its original context, print pieces should only be evaluated in person, on paper. The opposite side argued that while medium can be limiting, good work should be able to transcend its medium. This led me to explore the question: how does the medium affect user perception?

the nature of interactive work

Interactive work is intended to exist on screen. The luminosity of the screen and the wide color range of the RGB model make it difficult to reproduce a visual match on a printed page. The screen itself is a variable canvas. The dimensions of a website can vary widely from monitor to monitor. Technology is always evolving, and the monitors of today have better resolution than the ones from a few years ago. Even so, there is no standard for color on the screen, and each monitor displays color differently.

the nature of printed work

Printed work is, of course, designed on the screen, and this allows for the possibility that it may be viewed on screen again at some point (perhaps as a downloadable pdf, for example). Depending on the printing processes used, there might be elements like varnish or metallic ink that do not readily translate on screen. There is a physicality to a printed object that must be considered. The quality of the printing, the fold of the page and the experience of holding it in three dimensions all affect user perception.

To insist that one must experience print in person is to further limit the relevance of print in the digital era. Work should be best served by its native medium, but to remain relevant, print designers must acknowledge the limitations of the screen when sharing work.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 27th, 2011 at 15:11 and is filed under design thinking, graphic design, web design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.