In the world of business, companies constantly strive to find new exciting ways to advertise their products and services. Whether it’s on the glossy pages of a magazine, a billboard, or even on a t-shirt, to the click of the mouse on an internet website, there are many different ways to get your message across. With the evolution of modern technology, the most commonly used mediums these days, involve graphic design and web design. While most tend to see these professions as one and the same, those in the industry will gladly tell you there is in fact, a big difference between the two. FW delves deeper and explores the world of graphic and web design.

In order to get a better understanding of what graphic design is, we must first define it. Graphic design is a creative process that combines art and technology to communicate ideas. In loose terms, designers create, choose and organize elements and the so-called ‘white space’ around them to communicate a message. The designer works with a variety of communication tools in order to convey a message from a client to a particular audience. These elements often include drawn, painted, photographed and computer-generated images (pictures). Designers also design the letterforms that make up various typefaces found in movie credits, TV ads, books, magazines, menus; and even on computer screens.

On the other end of the spectrum, there is web design. While graphic design tends to lean towards the artistic and visual, web design is more analytical and heavy on the planning side. Essentially, web design is the process of planning and creating a website. As a whole, the process includes conceptualization, planning, producing, post-production, research, advertising as well as media control. When designing for the web, you must understand the habits of your audience and how they move through a website. They can jump from page to page, scanning content for specific words, phrases or icons that inform their decisions on where to go next. These tendencies should then drive your decisions on the design. Web designers may argue that due to today’s heavy reliance on online marketing, print ads cannot compare with the effect a respectable website will have on its targeted audience.

The differences between web and graphic design are evident. Print is generally more linear with most people starting at the beginning of a magazine, book, newspaper, etc. Items on the page do not interact with each other. When dealing with print, you are trying to get the audience to stay on a page long enough to get a marketing message across. You often have a limited area in which to deal with this (ex. a one-page magazine ad). In some cases you are trying to catch their attention and have them dive deeper into your product, as with a book cover or the first page of a brochure. One of the benefits of print design is that you are dealing with a physical product, so physical properties such as texture and shape can help you achieve your design goals. On the web, you are generally trying to keep your audience on a specific website for as long as possible. Users can start from any page and move around on the site, allowing the user to go wherever they want with the simple click of the mouse. The amount of pages to work with is unlimited, so you ‘tease’ the audience with snippets of content to entice them into clicking further into your site. Websites are most effective in helping a company to stand apart from competitors and is one of the top ways people will become aware of your business.

While graphic and web design may have its advantages and disadvantages, the fact of the matter is that when it comes to advertising your brand, they are two of the most powerful and effective mediums in conveying your message. Regardless of which medium you decide to work with, you can still achieve the desired result. In short order, everyone comes out a winner.