Design is more than making it look pretty
A design’s destination, whether it be for print, online, CD-Rom etc. determines how a file should be created. A document that is heading for print will have different resolution, color-space, and trim-and-bleed requirements, for example, compared to content meant for the Web. Knowing the output intentions is important, but ensuring that digital files meet those specifications is equally as important.
The role of the graphic designer is complicated due to the introduction of electronic media and the shift of responsibilities. Prepress has fallen by the wayside, leaving it up to creative professionals to be both designers and technicians, and to bridge the gap between design conception and final reproduction.
Graphic artists of days gone by had it a lot easier than their contemporary counterparts. They could concentrate on the aesthetics of great content, allowing others — prepress and print production people as an example to deal with the mechanics of producing it.
Because the word ‘design’ is more than making it look pretty, it is how the piece works. Not only in what the designers objectives are in terms of getting the reader to ‘do something’ or to ‘think something.’ This is where preflighting with FlightCheck Professional plays such an important role, because it will ensure that the ‘mechanical design’ is accurate. That the intention of the designer, when it comes to the printed piece will print as expected because if this does not happen, the initial design concept won’t be ready and complete.
Share your thoughts and/or stories with us about the problems that creep up while designing and printing the final piece….
