The difference between graphic design and web design

During this period of time, I have been working on product design, such as photo books and desk calendars. After switching from web product design, I often think that graphic design and webpage are both design, but the difference is so big. Isn’t that the same as cats and tigers in nature, they are all cats, but They are not the same creatures, they are very different.

Now let us analyze the differences between them as a visual communication design.

1. Visual elements

In terms of color, the color mode used in graphic design and web design is completely different. Because the later implementation of graphic design depends on printing, the CMYK color mode is adopted, and the web page uses the RGB color mode according to its visualization method. The use of colors in graphic design pays attention to visual impact and the guidance of visual flow (in this regard, it is similar to the banner design in web design), while web design (product category) pays more attention to the combing of the information structure relationship. Excessive use of colors can easily cause visual fatigue.

In the design process, we usually choose the fonts of graphic design more freely. Don’t worry about the later implementation. All text will be output as graphics for printing. Web page design needs to be considered more comprehensively. The selection range is also very small. In order to make the output size of the finished product not cause pressure on the server, based on the characteristics of html, all fonts are determined according to the default font in the user's operating system. Of course, with the evolution and development of technology in recent years, this gap It is also gradually shrinking. At present, the use of personalized fonts can be realized through the html5 API without the need to finally output the personalized fonts as graphics. This greatly improves the user experience without increasing the back-end pressure, which is very good.

In terms of graphic use, graphic design is richer than web design, and its expressions are also diversified. Especially for product web design, modular design ideas are more obvious, and the same is true in visual performance. Graphic is not the same as graphic design. Need to consider the later realization, at one point, it is obvious to all. Let’s talk about the size unit used in our design. Graphic design uses the concept of physical dimensions when using dimensions, such as inches, centimeters, millimeters, etc., while webpages use pixels.

2. Presentation

3. Information carrier

4. Browsing method

Graphic design is a gradual browsing method, unable to diversify the entire browsing process. The web design has diversified browsing information methods such as scrolling down and button link jumping. Under the condition of having the same information architecture , The series of information is more abundant, and users have more freedom to choose information, but graphic design naturally has its advantages. For example, when I usually design products such as photo books, it is obvious that this The first-class product is read on the computer monitor, it is better to read it as a real book, and it has more collection and commemorative significance.

5. Information dissemination

Graphic design is a relatively traditional information media design. It is generally spread through posting, sales, mailing and delivery. This way of spreading is small and costly. Relatively speaking, the information dissemination ability of web design in this respect is very good. Strong, but relying on the support of third-party media, graphic design has a wider audience. Different age groups are always better at accepting information from paper or books than online media. After all, there will be Internet information acquisition. A learning cost, in the future, the continuous popularization of network information and the continuous improvement of terminal media user experience, in my opinion, the gap in the audience will become smaller and smaller.

These two design forms have different user experiences. We should choose the correct design form to enhance the user experience according to different design content. The above are just some personal understandings of graphic and web design. They are also used as a starting point. I hope you can share them. For my own ideas on design, I quote a passage from graphic design master Chen Youjian, “The most important thing to be creative is to have a clear positioning. If the positioning is clear and the goal is clear, many ideas will be naturally created. It’s like you want to find a girl you like, just It’s too much trouble to run to the bar and look around. You must first determine what kind of girl you are looking for. When you go to the bar, point to, oh, this, that.-how simple!"