Design DESIGN TAKES TO THE WEB

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Oct, 2000 by Tom Ernst

From action-oriented content to more efficient workflows, six pros tell how the Internet is moving design forward--both online and off

The Internet has greatly improved my daily workflow, which is about 90 percent print. Communication with clients is much easier and more thorough. I can finally say goodbye to the fax, with all of its limitations. Clients are now able to approve layouts and illustrations in full color by viewing either Web pages I've posted or PDF files I've emailed. Either way, the feedback loop is faster and there are far fewer surprises. And I can art-direct an illustrator much more easily by using the same process.

Getting stock photography or illustration for last-minute editorial changes used to be a mad scramble, and logistics often ruled out getting exactly what I wanted. But with all the major stock houses online now--some with very sophisticated search engines and well-designed user interfaces--finding the stock art I need is actually enjoyable. Factor in being able to download files for immediate use or, at the least, pulling in the screen shot for FPO (eliminating the need to scan all those tiny stock book pictures), and the process couldn't be better. My favorite sites are Corbis and Newsmakers.

From a production standpoint, the Internet has given me a tool for doing much better work under the same crazy deadlines. From a design standpoint, it's had little effect on me. Idealistically, there's little reason it should. The Net is a very different visual medium than print, because it can incorporate sound, animation and video. But has there been an effect on design? In several ways, the answer is yes--and all are negative. Because of the explosion of Web content, design talent has been spread thin. Often, too, designers are burdened with living in both worlds--print and Web design--which presents very difficult technical problems. Just as the integration of the computer into magazine design workfiow suddenly made designers accountable as production managers and technicians, so has the Internet forced many designers to try to become bilingual. It's hard enough maintaining fluency in Quark, Illustrator and Photoshop. Adding Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Flash sustains the designer's evolution from aesthete to technician.

The two media are very different design paradigms, which further confuses the designer's mission. The immediacy of Web information has reinforced the bottom-line mentality regarding content. Macworld's recent redesign is a great example. The review capsule now appears at the beginning of the article, rather than at the end. This predisposition to view content out of context undermines the raison d'etre for magazines as the distributors of information. Macworld editor-in-chief Andrew Gore points to the lack of time people have to read the magazine as a driving force behind the redesign. But if one doesn't have the time to read it, why is there a magazine at all? Cancel my subscription; I'll see you at the Web site.

Julie Larsen Maher Wildlife Conservation

Photos drive the design and layout of Wildlife Conservation. Finding just the right picture to accompany stories about animals and their habitats from around the world used to be time-consuming and costly. Late-night phone calls and waiting for faxes were standard operating procedures as we sought specific images from places like Australia or Africa. Days would pass going back and forth with agencies and photographers. What time is it there?" was a usual question before calling these far-off places, so as not to wake up a best possible source for a certain picture of a bird or a mammal.

Today, the Web has become an important part of our research process in seeking out the latest and greatest wildlife pictures. Our magazine has access to photographers and their work--anytime and anywhere--through e-mail and the Internet. It takes much less time to find the source of a particular subject by using search engines and specialty Web sites.

And once a source is found, we have options for getting the photography-immediately. In the past, a slide submission received from a photographer might contain 20 images and arrive days or weeks into our production process. With Internet access, entire archives of work are available for online review. Images can be selected and then sent digitally (low- or high-resolution) for design or final production, usually within the same day, by FTP or e-mail. In addition, a slide submission can be supplemented by specific requests from viewing an online gallery.

Wildlife Conservation will continue to use the Internet as an important resource and tool in packaging our magazine.

Joseph Broda

New Jersey Monthly

I don't really feel the Web has significantly changed magazine design, but it has changed the magazine industry.

On the contrary, print design influenced Web design, at least in the beginning when the Web was new. You mostly saw text, photos and graphics--the same three elements a magazine designer uses. Today, however, Web design has evolved into something far beyond print because it has the capability to include elements such as animation, sound and video. The pace at which this evolution is taking place is unbelievable and exciting.