Web with print designers
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- bort
Question for all the web designers/developers out there. On average, do you find dealing with print designers--who happen to be designing websites--to be a never ending retarded nightmare? I'm coming from a print background, and am slowly trying to ease into more interactive work. I've worked on a couple sites where I have the most technical knowledge on the team (which admittedly isn't much), but am consistently caving to ridiculous requests/demands just because we want it to "look good in the comp". I'm having the hardest time convincing people that this isn't some free -for-all where you can do whatever the fuck you want during the design stage and expect the programmer to deal with it when it comes time to implementation.
This scares the shit out of me because ultimately I want to make interactive my primary focus. But dealing with all the idiocy from both the client and the design team makes me think that every project involving print oriented shops (which for freelancers I presume is substantial) is going to be a colossal disaster.
So is this it? Is every job a hair pulling, ulcer inducing bad dream that pays?
- matt310
just show them the same website in two different browsers - I find that usually makes the lightbulb go on for print designers.
- acescence0
yes
- bort0
I've done that! On different monitors, on different operating systems! And they still say 'Well what about the people on 24" monitors? Look at all that white space!'
That's when I go to the washroom to cry.
- heavyt0
I think print designers think that there is nothing to it when it comes to web. They dont know what fonts to use, what size to make things, or any technical limitations at all.
I would avoid workign with a print designer as much as possible.
- matt310
just explain the constraints then tell them to go nuts,
you have to use x font(s)
it has to work for 1024 cause that is most common
flash is bad for search/mobile
pixel perfection is not possible across all browsers
etc...
- heavyt0
yeah, but they also do dumb stuff with transparency and overlapping elements that is technically "possible", and non-repeating patterns, you end up with an enormous image, or a mess, or a weird javascript to accomplish things that could hhave been designed in a better way.
- PonyBoy0
your pain is felt
- matt310
yeah i've been there. over use of gradient is another good one
- b_electro0
n my experience, print designers generally design the pants off of "web designers." There are tons of web guys woefully deficient of any typography/grid skills, and it shows. A lot of them are self taught and are missing design fundamentals. I should know, I'm one of them, ha.
My big beef with print designers doing interactive work isn't their lack of understanding of the web, it's that a lot of them are actually proud of the fact, and are so stubborn they don't want to learn. The stubborness is like thin sheen that protects their precious ego. It's weird, it sucks.
Anyway, you should learn Flash maybe.
- _rootlock0
hire a web designer... have the print designers provide mood boards and elements and let the expert do the web layout and web design.
navigations and such. print designers responsibility should stop there. i have seen them screw up so many projects.anyways thats the proper process. mood board + wireframes..
- matt310
I'm not saying web designer are better than print. I personally do both. I'm saying that most print designers do not realize there is a totally different set of rules that apply for web design. It's similar to saying designing a catalog has different rules than designing a business card. Problem is most print designers are ignorant of the fact that web has it's own set of rules whether by choice or not.
- jamble0
I can pretty much always tell when I'm given a design to build that it's been done by a print designer. They have little to no grasp of what fonts are available and they're always over keen to use microscopic type little realising you just can't shrink screen type down to the sizes they design.
- JerseyRaindog0
As a print designer I've made it my job to understand the limits and constraints of things that are actually achievable. Certainly there are times when I find my side of things frustrating too. Like putting together a design (to a specific common size) and finding the finished thing bears no relation to my layout grid. Web designers to me often seem more like programmers than designers. I think that both sides need to be more sympathetic to each others requirements. And that print designers should take responsibility about understanding those constraints and limitations rather than burying their heads in the sand.
- trooper0
the issue i have with print designers when designing websites are these:
The page is a fixed width but CAN SCROLL - most print designers heads explode when trying to design like this
Menus have to be in / act a certain way - you cant just arbitrerally plonk them anywhere
Stop trying to think like an animator... it not your field - yes youve seen flash and it looks amazing, this doesnt mean you should try and design a fully animated avantguard navigational nightmare
Fonts and Font sizes - yes there are only 3 or 4 fonts you cna use and yes they have to be a certain size
accessability and usability - learn about them before you put mouse to mousepad it will help a lot
- kev_charlton0
completely different ball game...i've had the same issue on numerous occasions, also having to amend artwork designed by a print designer to make it suitable for web. They just looked at me like I'd ruined their 'website'...good luck!
- trooper0
i love it when they complain that the letter quality is all crappy and why cant their 300dpi artwork be put online?