Why should I entrust my creative to a digital agency when my traditional agency can design the web site along with the print? It’s a question that’s often asked by Clients to which I counter by asking if they’d get a painter to knock them up a bit of sculpture.
An absurd analogy? Perhaps. But it perfectly illustrates the point that it all comes down to an understanding of the medium. When it comes to web design, the medium comprises of the mark-up, styling and coding that comes together to display the web site in a browser, along with having a grasp of the limitations of cross-browser compatibility together with usability and accessibility considerations.
A digital creative must consider all of those elements throughout the design process and is able to deliver a realistic, workable design at sign-off that communicates the brand effectively by employing best use of the technology, whilst having a clear grasp of its limitations.
A common scenario might involve the traditional agency handling the design of the website as part of the overall mix, which seems like a sensible option at first. But, all too often, applying skills acquired from one channel to another results in a lack of effective communication of brand values. Poorly considered user interface design and architecture can hamper the visitor’s experience through the site and they may leave, never to return.
Consider a site that is to tie-in with an off-line marketing campaign. One option might be to apply the existing creative, but adjusted to the new format, effectively translating the advertorial to a website design.
Without consideration for the limitations imposed by the web, it’s easy for the designer to layout the page based predominantly on aesthetics. Whilst this may appear to work, overlooking the practicality of their design come the build stage can upset the carefully considered balance.
For example, approaching the design from a purely aesthetic viewpoint does not address the necessity of consistent layout from page to page, it doesn’t consider how a change to the length of the content might impact it, and it cannot maintain the flexibility required in order to allow the client to content manage the site.
A realisation a designer crossing from print to web soon encounters is the amount of variation there can be from browser to browser and also across platforms. Whereas print allows for complete control both of the width and height of the design, web design has to be far more flexible. Although the width of a page can still be fixed and more-or-less controlled, the vertical flow will always be relative – as will the precise flow of words in a line.
In an attempt to force a site into conformity, a print designer will approach a web page as if it were a printed page with excessive use of graphic text and fixed font sizes often being applied in an attempt to match the visual. This ‘print thinking’ results in the underlying code of the web page becoming bloated with mark-up script and styling. The trade-off for pixel perfection is often a graphic heavy, code-laden page invariably sacrificing usability, accessibility and increasing the load time, all in the name of visual accuracy.
Because good web design is intrinsically linked to the technology that powers it, the design will not actually be complete until it’s coded and tested across a wide base of browsers. In web design, there can be a disconnection between the designer and the final product, if that designer does not have an understanding of the process of transforming the creative into a usable website. A good digital design professional must have the expertise and experience to anticipate the outcome and be on-hand to advise the developers accordingly.
Tags: accessibility, cross platform, cross-browser compatibility, design, digital, digital creative, interface design, print design, usability, user experience, web design, web site design
