Both web design and print design can be complicated, as good web and print design is about more than just making a readable brochure or a functional web page. You need to ensure that you provide value to the viewer so that he is interested in learning more about your product or taking action to obtain a product or a service for your company.
Hiring a graphic designer is usually the option chosen by big companies to ensure that the design is pleasing. However, if you are a startup without a huge design budget or if you are an entrepreneur with a creative spirit who wants to tackle the design of your own web and print material, there are a few key things to be aware of that can help you to maximize the chances that your design will come out right.
What to Know About Web and Print Design
Here are the things that you should think about when designing for the web or print:
- Make sure all of the elements that you are including have a purpose. Whether this is on a web page or on a printed brochure or poster, don’t include something unless there is an actual reason for it to be there. The design elements that you select should all be designed to help make your message clear.
- Make sure it is clear what the most important message is. You should ensure that anyone viewing your web site or your print material immediately knows what the main point of the marketing material is. They can then decide if they want to read further or not.
- Ensure your customers can read your information easily. You don’t want to use tiny print or hide the information that you are trying to present. You also don’t want to present too much information (either online or in print) since people don’t typically want to read through large blocks of text. Be short and to the point and don’t make those viewing your web page or print material have to work hard to find out what message you are getting across. Cracked.com also provides a guide on choosing fonts so you can make sure you select the right style for your text.
- Don’t overload the images. You don’t need to include tons of graphics on a web page or print material. This can just make the document looks busy and hide the message that you are trying to get across. Including some imaging material is useful because it can make your website or poster/print material more eye catching and attractive, but you also do not want to overdo it. When it comes to good design, simplicity is key.
- Make sure your images are high quality. You want to use the best images that you can to communicate your message. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words so make sure that they are the right words. Websites such as iStockPhoto can help you to find pictures to include if you don’t have images of your own. Sure you have to pay a little, but to get the right picture, it’s worth it.
- Be bold in your design. You want to be original, creative and stand out from the crowd. If you have a creative idea or a great design thought, don’t be afraid to run with it and see if it works. If you do not get a positive response from the web page or the print material, you can always make changes later. It is better to have people notice your design than to be bored by it and overlook your website or print information as just another site.
- Find a very high-quality printer for print material. The last thing that you want to do is come up with a great design to communicate your message and then have your final product come out poorly because the printer does not do a good job. The quality of the print job is one of the most important factors in how your final product will turn out. Fortunately, online printing makes it possible for you to have your material printed by top-notch professionals. You can choose from a variety of different products and printing solutions so there are no limits to the type of print designs that you can create. And all at a very reasonable price.
These tips should help you to ensure that you are successful with your web design or print design endeavors. Give it a try to see how your design efforts work out.
Tom Chu is the SEO Manager at PsPrint, which is an online printing company specializing in brochure and poster printing As well as other similar services. Follow PsPrint on Twitter and Facebook to learn more.