Screen vs Printed Document Design

What is Document Design?

Reep (2006) defines document design as 'physical appearance of the document'. Written text works together with its presentation in order to provide the readers with the appropriate information needed.

Print Media

Source: Google

Print media presents information in a form of news, editorials, stories, biographies and etc. (Kanagu, 2010)

Online media

Source: Google

Differences?

1. Reading Pattern

According to Nielsen (2006), readers use F-shaped pattern to read web content. It reflects the way readers use to read web content. Readers first read in horizontal movement then the second horizontal and finally the vertical movement.

In printed text, reading is linear and strictly coded. Readers read from left to right and from top to bottom, line by line (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006).

As for web content, readers usually do not read the whole content but instead scanning through the text (Nielsen, 1997).

2. Writing Structure

Nielsen stated that reading from computer monitor is 25% slower than reading print document because it strains the eyes (Redshaw, 2003).
Therefore Nielsen suggested that to attract readers' attention, while writing for the web, web organisers should know a few guidelines which are:

• Be succint (short texts)


• Scannability
  


• Hypertext Structure

Printed media usually uses verbal imagery and emphasises on linguistic discourse, vocabulary and grammar. However, electronic media emphasises on visual imagery and sound effects. Online media tackles the senses of visual, tactile, hearing and kinaesthetic (Walsh, 2006).

3. Layout

Print Design is 2-dimensional. It enables the readers to flip the page while Web design is 1-dimensional or N-dimensional so that the readers would have a scrolling experience (Nielsen, 1999).

Screen media documents their content more precisely whereas print media is more liner and sequential. Thus, it is up to the readers to choose to either read from printed media or online media.

Reference:

• Kanagu 2010, Kill or co-exist?: print media vs electronic media, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://kanaguonline.wordpress.com/2010/06/28/print-media-vs-electronic-media/>.
  
  


• Kress G & van Leeuwen, T 1998, 'Front pages: (the critical) analysis of newspaper layout', Approaches to media discourse, eds Bell, A & Garrett, P. Blackwell, Oxford, ch. 7, pp 186-219.
  
  


• Morkes, J & Nielsen, J 1997, Concise, scannable, and objective: how to write for the web, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html>.
  
  


• Nielsen, J 1997, Writing for the web, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9703b.html>.
  
  


• Nielsen, J 1999, Differences between print design and web design, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html>.
  
  


• Nielsen, J 2006, F-shaped pattern for reading web content, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html>.
  
  


• Reep, DC 2006, 'Document design', Technical writing:, ch. 6, pp. 133-172.
  
  


• Redshaw, K 2003, Web writing vs. print writing, viewed 22 August 2011, <http://www.kerryr.net/webwriting/guide_web-vs-print.htm>.
  
  


• 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.