I am on the fence about the benefits of digital design versus print. In the past 4 years I have been at my job, we’ve had a surge in email production. The idea that we can get the same message out to our donors without spending thousands on a print job is alluring. Recently, however, we’ve realized there are drawbacks. With so many events and messages we are trying to get out, people are becoming over-saturated with emails. Open rates were down and we were blasting up to 5 emails a day. Of course, each donor wasn’t getting every single email, but there was enough overlap to cause concern. I feel like the overwhelming number of e-communications we receive on a daily basis are making good ‘ol print pieces, including hard copy books, more refreshing to read.
In terms of design, I agree that the possibilities for tablet design are intriguing. You can make the content interactive by placing links and videos, which will hopefully keep the reader engaged in what you are trying to sell. I absolutely love my Kindle because of its convenience and because it makes running on the treadmill more fun! But it isn’t winning any awards for fancy design-- I can see the photos in Tina Fey’s book just fine, but that’s about it for decoration. From what I understand, the ipad and other tablets have a more robust book display. I look forward to seeing how amazon and the other e-book distributors handle book design in the future.
