One aspect of
Newfangled's agency partnerships is our design consultation. Typically when we are working with an agency or design firm they will send web page layouts to us for review before presenting them to their clients. This allows us to provide technical and information design feedback to the agency so that they can be confident that what they present will be easily produced. We have written a couple of newsletters that provide some tips for print designs as they transition to designing for the web. We're often asked for recommendations for books that can further help in this transition. While there are plenty of books out there on this subject, there are few that provide practical help without getting into the minutia of HTML coding (which most print designers don't want to deal with) or becoming too theoretical. One book that does an excellent job of providing concrete information design tips for the web is Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think. This month's newsletter is a book report on his book as well as a short list of other books we recommend.
It's true that designing for the web can be a tough transition for the print designer. There are a number of technical limitations and physical differences between designing for paper and designing for the screen. There is a lack of precision that can be frustrating for designers that are used to controlling kerning between letters and the rag of a block of text. Some of our previous newsletters call attention to some of these differences and provide tips on avoiding some pitfalls and considering aspects of design that are unique to web sites. Of course, given the length of a newsletter we can't be very comprehensive in addressing such issues. However, many books out there can be even more helpful. There are so many in fact, that finding a good one can be quite difficult. Most of the "learn how to design a web site" books out there consist mainly of technical directions on how to properly format a .gif or compress a jpeg. They get into tips and tricks in HTML coding and browser compatibility. It's been my experience that most print designers have neither the time, nor the inclination to absorb such detail. There is one book out there that I highly recommend for any designer. It goes much deeper than the superficial mechanics of building a web page and addresses the much more important matters of good information design. It's called, Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug.
