Graphic design has for a long time, relied on print media since its inception. Just like many life aspects, graphic design has been affected by the use of digital media and development of technology for visual communication, which has been reflected in the role and job duties of the graphical designer. However, even with the development of print media through technological advancements, print media still remains a great choice to convey information to the target audience, with graphic designers acting as the bridge between the information and the target audience. Predominantly, it is perceptible that an individual would interact with various print designs. Information reaches the audience in many different forms, from the graphics on the cup to those on a cereal box, information on the bus shelter posters and billboards, magazines and digital media, without forgetting the numbers on the speedometer. According to Moggridge “Information is communicated on signage hanging at the stores, elevator buttons and even through fancy graphics on a friend’s T-shirt” (Moggridge 2010). There are numerous items in one’s life that convey information, all thanks to a graphic designer. My essay focuses on exploring tools for structure and interaction used by designers in the digital and print spaces to build relationship between audience and information. Given that digital media is considered to be inherently interactive, addressing the interactivity concept in printed media may make one question whether interaction with static objects is similar to interaction with dynamic systems. Nonetheless, it is baseless to consider printed objects as static objects. It appears that graphic design is becoming increasingly interactive and this is not just in the field of multimedia. Printed media may also come up with new communication methods and seek active reactions from the target audience (Moggridge, 2010). The above examples illustrate how design media can become a mutual participation process between the user and the producer. In everything that relates to the lives of people, graphic designers are the only chance to prevent innovation and media from becoming distant form the individual’s personal life. The adoption of interactivity in digital creations and visual compositions of objects given room for innovation and improvement of information sharing in both digital and print media.
Customarily referred to as graphic design, communication design is the procedure by which messages and pictures are utilized to pass on data to the target audience. The Digital World is an astonishing development of our time in light of the combination of the computer and information technologies (Moggridge, 2010). The customary requirements of time and space are not any more existing, and the entire world is turning into a worldwide electronic town. The advancements in PC and correspondent innovations have made a notable effect on all life viewpoints in visual communication. The Internet-based services and resources, for example, email, ftp, http, release sheets, mailing records, academic dialog records, electronic diaries, computerized databases, different programs and web crawlers have a solid potential to give monstrous access to every individual; as a matter of fact, the intuitiveness and interpretability of a significant number of these digital media and administrations have seen an extraordinary change. In graphic design, changes have occurred, it has changed from a hand-made to a computerized machine process, from paper to various shapes and types of the advanced media. This change makes new challenges for the conventional media designers to get engaged with new advanced digital designers. As Neves explains, “Printing is among the most important mass media, along with radio, Television and movies. Printing is the basis of many aspects of our education system and learning process.” (Neves 2016). Several deliberations, like tax receipts, postage stamps and finance certifications, commercial directives rely on printing. Likewise, advertising and branding greatly depends on printing. Graphic Design has firmly identified with paper and printing advancement. It is generally spread on account of the development of printing technologies. In the mid twentieth century, graphic design was to a great extent propelled by technological advancements in printing and furthermore in photography. In the last quarter of the same century, technology assumed a similar job, however this time it was the PC. Numerous PC applications have risen rapidly for PC graphics, which progressed toward becoming options in contrast to the conventional creation strategies in TV, filming and printing industries (Neves, 2016). In the nineties, graphic design developed in digital world far from print. The new digital media has changed the structure of individuals' worries and tastes, the devices used to acquire the learning and collaboration among one another and additionally the social environmental nature that suits them to advance and create thoughts, and mentalities. Time, new digital media has changed graphic design from the direct and two-dimensional form to adaptable and six-dimensional; customary XY coordinates notwithstanding the dimensions of motion, time, interactivity and sound (Moggridge, 2010). Compact technology has constrained graphic designers to present data to their audience in another non-linear method and to be a members of a group of data architects. It is much like the Internet; clients communicate with data what's more, control it as per their interests. New digital media have to a great degree influenced printing creation, which drove a few creators and specialist to anticipate the closure of the printing era by utilizing the digital choices. The same number of pictures, designs and words are transmitted electronically, and thus graphic design ought not to be constrained exclusively to physical items. Customary graphic designers are presently required to design online crusades, energized logo and digital fine arts that suit new digital media (Neves, 2016). These days, graphic design converges with numerous other disciplines, some of them are considered under graphic design and others offer open doors for graphic designers to team up with other more extensive design exercises. While customary graphic designer are prepared to design settle content, new digital media designer must create open-ended frameworks with dynamic and intelligent substance, which requires entirely different attitude and mindset (Tapscott, 2009). Over the recent decades, Digital Media has dramatically evolved, and has become an important part of the daily lives. Digital media refers to any media device that is readable by a machine. The difference between the traditional classical media is the fact that digital media is modified, distributed and crated through electronic devices. The impacts of digital media have brought about technological revolution, with personal computing and internet giving us the opportunity to deal with information at levels that were previously dreamt of during the age of traditional storage of information in books. Digital media has brought about a whole new experience in entertainment, publishing, commerce and education (Tapscott, 2009).
It may be almost impossible to believe that in just 3 decades ago, the media storage capacity has increased from 1% to over 95% percent, which explains the high speed at which digitalization is developing. One of the key fore fathers in the field of digital media is Charles Babbage who visualized chine readable codes in the 1800. In the early 19th century, he worked on a differential engine which was a machine that could perform calculations. The most famous invention he came up with was the ‘Analytical Engine’ which was the revolutionary device that gave birth to the onset of computers. The realist computers were known as analogue computers, but the 1940s saw the invention of computers which could perform calculations using digits, and they were known as digital (Tapscott, 2009).
In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, which involved a connection of computers across the globe. The internet has now become an integral part of the daily human life, and living without it would be a great struggle (Tapscott, 2009). The great and increasing success trends of the digital media is due to the popularity and accessibility of internet through computer and other portable devices. There has been a great number of emergent digital media platforms where people can share and access unlimited information.
The major difference between the early ages and the modern years is the fact that the early machines used analog readable media that used mechanical and physical parts. Digital media is argued to have appeared after the invention of digital computers which employ Boolean logic and binary code to store and process information. The fast widespread influence of social media and internet has brought about debate of print vs. digital media. Others even go ahead to question whether print media is dead. Although many businesses have greatly focused their attention on online advertisements as they capitalize on the ease accessibility and low cost of the internet, there is evidence suggesting that there exist exclusive benefits that are only accrued through print media, and thus should not be overlooked. According to a recently conducted research, print still holds an important part in the ad campaign (Tapscott, 2009). According to an IPSOS survey, more than 80% of individuals prefer reading on paper rather than on digital platforms. Even the digital natives, (those aged between 18 and 24 years) claimed that they preferred to read on paper as compared to through their smartphones, laptops or tablets. 79% of the individuals who claimed to prefer print media to digital media also explained that that print on paper is more pleasing to the touch. From these findings, it seems that the physicality of the medium is an important component of the reading experience. The research by IPSOS has determined the various reasons why individuals prefer physical copies over the digital media. First and foremost, holding and reading a printed copy has a sense of comfort for the reader. Nonetheless, the physical volumes can be used to beautify the living space. Secondly, familiarizing with the printed copy enables the user determine where to locate the crucial information. Digital media sites on the other hand are less intuitive, with articles leading to the next articles through numerous links, which creates a disoriented chain of articles. The navigation through this media is through the home page, which results in the hassle of going back to the search panel after going through an article (Bolter & Gromala, 2003). Also, with the new era in technology, professionals spend so much time with computer and gadget screens in the workplace, which results in a screen avoidance tendency after a hard day’s work.
The tangibility and physicality of print media inspires emotions of familiarity and comfort while also enhancing the communicative strength of delivering information to the audience. People generally appear to accept published information. The print media is increasingly engaging in comparison to digital media, which enhances a more vivid understanding of brand information in the mind of the reader.
Psychologically, tangible media evokes increased processing of memory and emotional stimuli. This proves that the physicality of a material appears to be real in an individual’s mind. Biometrics, according to research, how that print media is cognitive, which makes it increasingly easy to present complex topics and issues to the reader. Important brand information that may normally be forgotten sticks in the mind of the reader (Tapscott, 2009). This information may include phone numbers and product details. Also, print media record a higher brand impact percentage in comparison to other types of media. After print media captures the attention of the readers via vivid images, it is considered to have delivered a cognitive message, which captivates the reader both cognitively and visually. Online ads are mostly questioned for their credibility and are often feared to be viruses and spam. Also, most individuals are cautious about leaving behind internet footprints when they browse online for articles. The constant appearance of popups and ads worsens the reading experience over the internet. Print media has its own advantages and thus cannot be totally replaced by digital media. The previous definitions of graphic designing do not include the noting of the relationship and extend of time the printed media establishes with the audience. The common understanding doesn’t consider the consequent activities after the distribution of the objects, and neither does it consider the interactivity they possess. The domain in which the graphic designs operate is controlled by the influence of digital media technologies. Such technologies are considered inherently interactive, which places the interactivity experience closer to the users. The digital media gives room for a relationship with its users, extending the interaction time and making some features available, like the continuous modification of objects and efficient information exchange. If graphic designers can incorporate interactivity in printed media, then their work will change the nature of the objects and their effectiveness in passing information to the target audience (Bolter & Gromala, 2003). Therefore, as the interactivity in the digital platforms improves, graphic designers should work round the clock to update the printed media which are running the risk of being extinct or inexistent.
Consequently, the concern of the graphic designer should not be restrained to the nature of form and utility but rather, it should encompass the whole relationship process of media and the users. The path which objects make from their formulation until they reach the user does not halt at its production. The present demands on the design practice are very much different from those of the twentieth century. This suggests that the present interactivity paradigms in printed media need to be re-evaluated (Bolter & Gromala, 2003). The emergent trends constantly challenge the traditional notions of what users need to do and what they should know. The digital technology advancement seems to have the answers for the ability to develop interactivity in printed media which may allow the user to develop increased importance on the media.
The challenge that currently exists in the print industry is to reinvent itself through new innovations such as augmented reality and invest on such developments by making printed media increasingly interactive in a way that it speaks to the reader. Over the past few years, there has been a great development in digital technologies that work with print media through augmented reality (AR). The layer platform is an augmented reality browser that enables interactive print, which bridges the gap between digital and print worlds. After scanning images with layer logo, newspapers, magazines and movie posters bring out life enriched with web content, purchasing and websites. The design of instruction should be founded on a research-based theory of the method in which instruction works. Also, it should be a theory that considers the instructional methods which affect the learning process. This is referred to as the primary premise in the field of instruction. Effective instruction can be offered over the internet or even within the classroom setup. Using the verified instruction theory can enable one to determine the efficacy of the instructions, and the environment in which it is offered (Mason & Bruning, 2001). According to research, the use of multimedia in the classroom setting is more preferred by the learners compared to the traditional teacher-oriented approach. Graphic designers have had a great role to play in this field where they have replaced the traditional teacher with a web-based platform that is more interactive to use, more aesthetically pleasing and with a rich pool of information (Betrancourt, 2005). It is also true to say that from objective outcome testing and the student-self reports, use of multimedia for instruction has registered higher improvements compared to the traditional setting (Marzano, 2007). New graphic designs and web-based technologies have added more improvements to learning using multimedia. The prevalent trend is that students who learn in an environment with multimodal designs perform better than students who receive instructions through the traditional approach. Programs like the one illustrated above facilitate the retention of knowledge, with the average information acquisition being significantly higher than that of the traditional setting. Generally, the more interactive approaches, i.e., those that respond to instruction from word of mouth and those with animations have a higher preference among the users in comparison to those that only incorporate text and still images only (Mason & Bruning, 2001). The images with functional interactivity allow their users to alter or modify the view of an object by combining functions like rotating, moving and zooming the object. Those with information rich interactivity allow for functions like navigation around the object or image. One significant requirement of this information rich interactivity is its ability to display content in high resolution. Graphic designers are therefore tasked with the responsibility of designing more interactive approaches that will ensure a better content delivery and improvement of student performance in the classroom (Mason & Bruning, 2001).It is clearly evident that there exists an overlap between Interactive Design and other established media scopes. In one perspective, Interaction Design is a branch of visual media, and consequently, it shares processes and design methods worth graphic design. It also encompasses the concepts of page layout, visual design, topography, and composition with graphic design. Some of the concepts it shares include scriptwriting, film animation, and content design. A graphical designer who aims at incorporating interactivity in the designs is thus has a very special and different role to play in every single stage of development and design of any interactive design application (Lister et al, 2008). Resultantly, in this age of ICT, graphic designers are tasked to reorient in order to adapt to the modern-day advancements and challenges as well. In the early ages of graphic designing, designers were only limited to print media (Lister et al, 2008). Nonetheless, with the slow but sure arrival of social media platforms, animations and filmmaking, designers have opened their eyes to new horizons and possibilities, notwithstanding the fact that they have been forced to learn new technologies. With time, designers have continued extending their visual sensitivity and extensive knowledge to web applications, social media platforms, and animations to enrich their visual appearance and make them more appealing to the users (Marzano, 2007).
With the advent of the internet, graphic designers have continued to advance their role in the industry, leading to the emergence of the Graphical User Interface (GUI), which is a specialized field of design. The GUI is a very interactive form of graphical design that enables a harmonious and easy interaction between the computer or other technological devices and the user. The modern-day graphical designer, therefore, has a very important role in ensuring that interactivity is established in all aspects of the emerging technologies that require human interaction (Downes & McMillan, 2000). A simplified user interaction with technology opens up new possibilities of acquisition, storage, distribution and display of information. Even though information design was already available in the form of information graphics, interactivity has brought about novel strategies of chunking, organizing and classifying the information that is needed for e-commerce, instructional design, and web design. Consequently, the graphic designers deal with dynamic and static design, management, dissemination and development of information, and there are therefore integral parts of interactivity. A graphic designer has a very important role to play in interactive storytelling, game designing and creating GUIs that are aesthetically pleasing and visually appealing (Lister et al, 2008). When interactivity is analyzed on the perspective that it is a process related variable, the practical usage of users, as well as their personal interactions using a specific medium, could have different intensities of interactivity. For instance, on a platform like Facebook, its pages may have various sporadic messages in one way, which is a low interactivity level, while a cellular call may have a clear conversation between two individuals, which is a high interactivity level. It would, therefore, be inappropriate to claim that traditional media does not have interactivity (Downes & McMillan, 2000). Social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook are inherently interactive. It is also important to understand that although newspaper articles and TVs are seen as traditional media, the new media platforms enable interactivity other than being only being inherently interactive. Social media should not just be considered social due to their technological attributes but based on the graphic designer’s input in making them appear more interactive. In Facebook, for instance, graphic designers have enabled options like liking, commenting and sharing posts, which makes it become a social medium rather than a social enabling platform (Marzano, 2007). Information is a basic component of the communication process, although it’s the users who decide how much or whether to share information at all, and how to share it. One should understand that it is not the technological features of platforms that determine the level of interactivity, but rather, the usage and interaction of their users. Due to the human nature to be social in their communication, researchers have been working around the clock to come up with more programs that incorporate interactivity so that they can appeal to the interests and preferences of the user. This has resulted in the inclusion of interactivity in print and digital media as well as the learning environment. It is much easier and increasingly convenient for a user to acquire knowledge through an interactive media than through a non-interactive one. Digital and print media triumph in the sectors where the other is lacking. Print media boast of tangibility, superior brand recognition and increased engagement levels. It also contains more credibility in comparison to digital media. The advantages of digital media lie in the fact that it reaches a wide audience and is relatively cheaper and more accessible.