Graphic Design v/s Web Design: One discipline of art. One field of work. Two entirely distinct purposes.
Nowadays in our world of rapidly evolving technology, many companies and organizations mistook Graphic design as synonymous with web design. It is true that both are related to creativity, branding and aesthetics. However, their aims and objectives differ entirely. One aims to design beautiful and attractive visuals whereas the other is intended to create user-friendly and interactive websites. At CodeX Geeks, we believe that a website should not only look beautiful but be creative, usable, efficient and strategically well-designed. Hence, understanding the difference between graphic and web design is crucial in every modern organization. Hiring a best Web development Company , a Web design Company or developing your own digital brand, know-how of Graphic and Web Design helps to achieve it.
What is graphic design?
Graphic Design is about the way in which ideas are communicated in visual terms. The main aim of graphic design is to create visually stunning content that would draw the attention of masses, enhance brand identity, and stay in their minds long. A graphic designer will deal with many types of static graphic designs, like:
Logos Business cards Posters Social media creatives Packaging designs Flyers and brochures Brand identity material The main goal of graphic design is to express and convey ideas efficiently while adhering to and maintaining consistent branding. For example, it may attract users at the very first sight due to beautiful colors, nice typography and the best layout, but, static, still, non-interactive design will always remain.
What is web design?
Web design involves the creation of web sites. But a website involves more than only attractive layout and designs, as in the case of a graphically designed product. In web design, the focus is always on how to allow users to have good experience through the website. A Professional web designing Company must focus on: User experience (UX) Responsive design Navigation structure Mobile-friendly Website speed User journey Conversion optimization Unlike graphic designs, the best designed websites are smooth, compatible with various devices and easily navigable. A website must not only attract users by displaying a great visual, it should also engage the audience to pursue what you want them to do, i.e., make a purchase, ask for a query, order for services etc., and that’s how we do the job at CodeX Geeks. That is the real power of Web Design Services.
The key differences between graphic and web design
While both are creative, graphic and web design solve completely different issues.
Graphic Design:
Visual communication Branding consistency Creative layouts Marketing materials Print and digital graphics Web Design:
User interaction Website functionality Responsive layouts Online user experience Customer journey across websites A graphic designer creates designs for the communication on websites while a web designer enables website owners to communicate and guide customers properly through websites. This is the reason why it doesn’t work at all when a high quality graphic design is transferred as-is to a website with little modification without taking proper web design measures.
It’s beautiful on paper, why did it fail on the website?
Many companies have misconceptions about web design, thinking it is a simple conversion of a graphic design to a website. What seems perfect on a designing canvas may look inappropriate to a user on the internet. It’s not the same as that of a poster, website demands to be,
fast loading, across various devices responsive and mobile friendly accessible and user-friendly fast browsing speed Good search engine ranking Without considering these, some very good websites have been spoiled just due to ignorance towards these small factors and a visually stunning graphic design ended as a poor functioning website. As we’ve seen a good number of such projects at CodeX Geeks, we must mention that both graphic design and web design services are equally important. A Web Development Company must take both graphic and web design on an equal footing.
A few mistakes that people often make:
- Too much heavy images to increase speed of the website
A high definition image might look great but a huge image can have a bad impact on your website speed that also affects user experience and SEO. A modern Web design company will always optimize images without losing the quality of their appearance.
- Unreadable fonts to enhance brand appeal
Fonts may seem beautiful on the business cards, but small screens could make them hard to read and therefore a user experience will be ruined. Fine and decorative fonts are always problematic when trying to provide readability on small screens. It’s better to keep simple, clear and responsive typography in a website.
- Mobile-unfriendly website
Nowadays most users are browsing on mobile devices. Website design that only supports desktop or tab may not be compatible with smaller screens resulting in a jumbled messy website with overlapping links and text. Responsive designs are becoming a crucial factor to enhance website’s compatibility over various devices.
- Less accessibility & low contrast
The less the contrast ratio of color combinations is, the harder it becomes for the users to browse the web page, it is a fact and can make even a best designed website frustrating to use.Accessibility makes website reachable to everyone and it is one of the critical factor a Web designing Company must consider.
- Highly detailed graphic designs
Complex graphic details sometimes make the website too slow and difficult to be handled by the users. A professional Website design is more about clean design, efficiency and fast loading.
Why does web design matter in terms of business?
Many wrongly perceive web design as merely a decorative part of any business website. However, its relevance is higher than you think. A professional website design boosts:
Trustworthiness and Credibility Higher conversions Lead generation Search engine ranking Enhanced brand image Every feature and option in a website is the part of its overall design. Every visual and functional choice impacts the user’s engagement with the website and your business. Hence, businesses today are spending a lot on Web design Services and Website development solutions from professional developers. We, at CodeX Geeks, design not only beautiful websites but also productive websites with optimal functionality and design.
Web design vs SEO
Unlike graphic design, web design has the ability to directly enhance your website’s SEO. Mobile compatibility, fast loading speed, responsive website, user friendly navigations, cleaner coding structure and other responsive design elements can positively impact your website’s ranking in the search engines. The better the web design of a website, the higher it would appear in the search results. This is why it is important for a Web Development Company to cover all aspects of SEO.
Importance of collaboration
One individual can hardly make the entire process flawless. It is always beneficial to bring together all the experts, namely Graphic designer (for brand visual identity), web designer (for designing user interfaces), web developer (for making a website live and fully functional), SEO expert (for maximizing traffic), Content strategists (for crafting marketing and sales copy). CodeX Geeks aims at bringing out the best results for the project with complete cooperation and collaboration.
Why functionality over graphics?
Your website is the first physical impression people have of your brand on the web. People are busy and they don’t have time to wait for a slow website or browse a jumbled mess. A fast and responsive website can make your users stay longer, a website with great functionality will encourage them to make an inquiry and a great web design combined will win the game. A website must reflect both great function and fine form to earn your customers trust. It is precisely what a Web design company does.
Final Words:
Graphic and web design share some similarities when creativity is taken as the sole criterion of comparison, but their underlying principles and execution in the design process are miles apart, due to different functions each of the graphic and web design may have.
In this current digital age with increased online competition, your business does not only require good looks; instead, it also needs websites that are: User-friendly; SEO-optimized; Mobile-responsive; Fast loading; Conversion-centric. According to CodeX Geeks, great digital experience is what comes out from integrating imagination and strategic & functional requirements of a user. Since a good website isn’t something the users only admire, but also to interact with, and in fact, use.