An Interactive Gal Working in a Print Culture

My head hurts from the brick wall that I keep running into...

I often comment to my co-workers "it shouldn't be this difficult to get this project done..."

Don't get me wrong, my team is great. Great producer, great developers - all thinkers and doers. The difficult part is working with creative people who are trained for print work. Now to be fair, some of the creatives have stepped up and learned to create for the web, but others fail to see the value in handing us creative assets that we can work with but more importantly fail to learn the following easy tips to create creative for the web.

So here you go creative people, once more I lay these easy tips at your fingertips to make all of our lives more enjoyable, our projects go smoother and our clients happy:

Easy Yet Important Tips for Creating Creative for the Web

• Your audience is there for about 5 seconds, maybe less. The art is important but the message more so.


• Don't angst over color, it will look different for everyone because the majority of your audience will be looking at your masterpiece through a non-calibrated monitor


• Please deliver your masterpiece via a layered psd file


• Please follow the specs of the file size given to you by the development team. If the spec is 300x250 pixels don't send us a 350x 400 or a 1500x 950 or any other size that is not a 300x250


• We work in pixels. If you don't know what a pixel is, ask your supervisor. That will help us.


• Don't angst over font. We use a web-safe font. If yours isn't, we will find something close. Just please don't hold up delivery over this.


• Don't wait until your last possible minute to deliver your assets to us. The development team has to program what you send us. We don't like working weekends either. If your asset is due "the week of x", don't send it to us late on Friday of that week.


• Look at online ads that are out there on the web before you start designing something. Online ads usually require a call to action.


• Don't assume that your print piece will translate to an online experience. It might, but be creative, see what you can come up with.


• Most importantly - we are a team. If you are unsure of what to do, please ask us. We are here to help.