engleski

Print vs. Web. Is it the new aesthetics, or an old one?

Technologies are changing and designers are trapped in the middle of that transformative process. Designers are lost beetween the way they used to think and the way they are now expected to think. Aesthetics from the past is translated into the new medium without awareness of the most suitable way. The rules from the print era don`t fit in the electronic one. Graphic elements, such as line, colour, shape, typography, sign and symbol are still essential tools for creating visual messages. Yet, understanding and adequate application of those elements in the electronic enviroment as a form of visual communication, demands new visual literacy skills. The skills of the designers, and the skills of the viewers. Aesthetic principles of the print medium, such as composition, contrast, harmony, balance and rythm exist in the electronic one as well. Yet, there is no serious theory about the way how new visual communication medium should be best used. The aim of the research presented in this paper is to compare visual graphic elements in the print and in the electronic environment. The purpose of the study is to determine similarities and differencies in aesthetics of print and digital publication in order to see, if and how, technology has influenced the way visual messages are being communicated. Graphical elements of printed books and eBooks (in PDF and ePub formats) on different platforms (e-readers, tablet, smart phone) are compared using visual content analysis method. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were carried out on the data. Qualitative analysis was carried out with the custom created web application. Graphic design elements are sorted in categories and properties for the analysis. Design of the electronic publication is determined by the features of the specific electronic device. Electronic publications, in many features, still are very similar to the print ones. Added value of the electronic publication must be in user intuitive and accessible design. Multimedia elements, searchability and navigation buttons inside publication must be easy to find and use. Non-linear text, format and pagination are eBook elements that could be advantages or limitations for the new aesthetics. Modern designer must have them in mind before starting to create layout of an electronic publication.

aesthetics; print; web; e-book; graphic design; visual communication

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