O’Brien, Frederick. “What Newspapers Can Teach Us About Web Design.” Smashing Magazine, 8 Nov. 2019, https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2019/11/newspapers-teach-web-design/.
Frederick O’Brien’s article, “What Newspapers Can Teach Us About Web Designs,” focuses on taking a minute to look back on newspapers and learning from their designs to provide insight on how websites should look. Newspapers have been around for centuries and have been highly successful. Many of the web designs seen today have ties to newspaper designs. The big elements that carry over have to do with form and how readers process information.
The first big element that translates from newspaper to web design is the term “above the fold.” This term defines itself, as with newspapers, the first thing the reader sees is what is above the fold line. In reference to websites, it is what the user sees on the home page without scrolling. By having compelling “above the fold” content, users will know what the designer wants them to know and will be interested to find out more.
Another common element in newspapers is what is known as “The Guttenberg Principle,” which is the reading gravity of readers from the top left-hand corner to the right bottom corner and how important content should be laid out both in print and on the web. Grid systems and content blocks follow this same principle. It organizes the information and makes it easier for the users to follow and read. Nameplates are another element that web designers have taken from newspapers. This allows the name of the website to be seen from every page the user goes to without changing, just like the titles of newspapers do not change from day to day.
By taking a look back at newspapers, web designers are gaining insight into good design elements that have been so successful for centuries and continue to be successful today. These elements can be applied to The Greenspring Review, as the original format was print, but has now gone to the digital format.