Graphic designers for web work on projects ranging from standard HTML websites to banner ads to flash sites and newsletters. Not only are the projects different when working for print, the techniques are different too. Designing for the web can be seen as a continually evolving process, but when designing for print, it is for a finished, tangible product. There are many such subtle characteristics that make graphic design for the web unique.

What does web graphic design entail?

The Users

As a graphic designer for the web, it is important to consider the experience of your users. Most importantly, the web is interactive. When it come to the web, the underlying goal of the design is to keep the visitors to the site for as long as possible. The focus will be on creating clear navigations, and quality sound, animation and interactivity.

Layout

Effective and clear layout is crucial to web design. You will be using various design elements including colors, shapes, fonts, lines and images for presenting the content to the audience in the best layout. Some of the main aspects of web layout include:

• Measurement of space in pixels
• Consistency in design and navigation
• Creating a responsive design  that looks good on all types, resolution and sizes of monitors

Graphic designers for the web must know that they will be designing for a programmer, who will then prepare it for the web.

Colors

When designing for the web, it is important to understand the different color models including CMYK, RGB and HSV. You will face the following issues and concerns:

• Consider the difference in colors between different types of monitors
• Consider how changes in contrast and brightness will affect colors
• When designing for the web, colors will be represented in hexadecimal values

It is the graphic designer who will be providing the values to the programmer.

Fonts

You will have to consider whether the fonts used will be displayed properly in different browsers. Web designing involves the use of a variety of techniques like cufon and @fontface for using non-conventional fonts in the design. The goal is to provide convenience to the users.

Resolution

Resolution refers to the quality and measures of the image in terms of pixels. When designing for the web, you will have to keep the resolution to 72ppi. Otherwise, the image will load slowly on the sites. On the other hand, heavier resolution images can be used by those designing for the print.

File Sizes

As with resolution, file size is usually a concern, only when designing for the web. Even if a file size crosses the limit of 1MB, it will increase the load time for the webpages. On the other hand, files meant for print can be as large as 20 or 30 MB in size.

Web graphic designing is a continuous process, which makes it entirely different from print design. In printing, the designing process comes to a finish once the design is printed. But when designing for the web, it will continue on a path of improvement to keep enriching the user experience.