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Designing for Web lacks that special something

By: Andrea Zagata Posted: 10/04/09 9:53pm

Someday, I’m sure my kids will wonder why in the world I chose to work at a newspaper in college. In fact, they might wonder what exactly a newspaper is. They might never experience the inky hands from handling a paper with a huge, dark photo on the front page. They may never sit in class with pencil in hand, doing the crossword to pass the time. I couldn’t feel more sorry for them.

Maybe I’m just a hopeless romantic, but the more endangered printed newspapers become, the more I want to cling to them with everything I can.

I spent this summer on the multimedia desk, designing interactive stories and graphics using Adobe Flash. It was an attempt to plan for the future; I thought that by making myself more skilled in Web-based storytelling I would be more hireable when I graduate in May. And that might be true, but I don’t have to be happy about it.

There’s something about designing for print that is a hundred times more satisfying than designing for Web will ever be. Seeing thousands of copies of your work floating around campus; either in the newspaper racks or in the hands of your classmates is one of the coolest feelings in the world. Even if you don’t get a byline, even if nobody ever knows that you are responsible for how that page looks, print is just cool.

I’ve never gotten the same feeling from a multimedia project. Maybe it’s because it’s harder to witness the user interaction. But mostly I think it’s the lack of something tangible.

Years from now, I’ll still have stacks of newspapers that I worked on. Illustrations that I slaved over. Beautiful, broadsheet copies of pages that I spent hours laying out, with the bylines of my friends scattered throughout. Evidence that I was once part of something way bigger than myself. And my Web-only multimedia projects will just be links, floating out in cyberspace somewhere.

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I Shot the Serif

The State News Visual Editor Andrea Zagata blogs about the world of visual journalism.

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Commentary:

Mike D

10/05/09 8:32am

Mrs. Zagata, I can on some part agree with your article, but at the same time must disagree with you.

As a design professional I have to agree that having a printed piece is one of the greatest accomplishments that you can make with your designs. And Yes the print industry is dying, but I can not see, at least in any foreseeable future, the death of print. Many newspapers will certainly fold in this economic climate, but many will still be around.

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