.: Screen Vs. Print Document Design :.

According to (Walsh 2006), a word that forms into a sentence is called print-based text. Images which appear on electronic devices that come with words are usually called multimodal text.

What is print-based text? Books, newspaper, magazine normally appear in traditional print-based text. Nevertheless, multimodal text are images combines with texts, hyperlinks, videos, logos, menu bars and etc which allows readers to read through Internet sites. 

Designing a page for print document and screen, it is very important on how you select a suitable font. According to (Rob 2008), it is a great thing to establish a brand and look which is recognizable to your customer using a simple font. Example: Arial and Times New Roman can be easily readable on the hard copy.

Through the screen, web fonts are easily understandable and yet easy to read.

Verdana or Georgia fonts normally chosen by the web designer to design the web cause of it smoothness appear in pixels and readable compare to others.

 

Print Document Fonts: Times New Roman

 

Screen Document Fonts: Verdana

According to (Hilligoss 2002), the layout of print document has three alignments. Left alignment represent the standard for the body text in document which appears to be objective. Right alignments normally are use for some expressive documents. Centre forms will forms a formal and conservative tone like event invitation.  

Balance : Symmetry

Weblog with Balance : Symmetry format

According to (Farkas, 2005), Print document is a form of hierarchical. From a wide topic shape into more detailed information. Links stands an important role for navigation in the screen document with sentences of words.

 

Screen document with Hyperlink

References: 

1. Farkas. 2005. Explicit Structure in Print and On-Screen Documents [online]. [Accessed 29 August 2011]. Available from: http://www.ablongman.com/mycomplab_content/pdf/long_hilligoss.pdf
2. Hilligoss, Susan. Howard, Tharon. 2002 . Visual Communication A writer's guide. Second Edition [online]. [Accessed 29 August 2011]. Available from: http://www.ablongman.com/mycomplab_content/pdf/long_hilligoss.pdf
3. Rob. 2008. Web vs Print : Fonts [online]. [Accessed 29 August 2011]. Available from: http://arrowquick.com/blog/2008/03/02/web-vs-print-fonts/
4. Walsh, M 2006, ‘The ‘textual shift’: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts’, Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol.29, no.1, pg.24-37.

.: New Forms Of Media Publishing :.

Today, we can easily get the latest news through new media (The Web) in just one click. The web is a place where new forms of media are being published. Example: blogs, social networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, online newspaper and etc ... The community or readers can just easily get information in a blink of an eye. According to (Naughton 2006), Internet and software tools are the latest combination of media nowadays.

Multimodal text has gained more readers attention compare to traditional print-based texts. Hence, it also entertains the readers with sound and animation (Walsh 2006). Besides, readers also can view documentary, video of interviews, entertainment, news in written text nowadays which makes their reading more interactive and interesting.

                            

"Follow Me (Twitter)"

In this century, twitterjournalism.com has opened a new form of media publishing where Twitter has definitely challenged the traditional journalism. Breaking news, interviews and assurance has been used in ReadWriteWeb. Besides, traditional journalism has also included Twitter in the discovery (Kirkpatrick 2008).

Reference :

1. Kirkpatrick. M 2008. How we use Twitter for journalism. ReadWriteWeb [online]. [Accessed 29 August 2011]. Available from: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/twitter_for_journalists.php
2. Naughton. J 2006. Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem [online]. [Accessed 29 August 2011]. Available from: http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/discussion/blogging.pdf
3. Walsh, M 2006, “ The ‘textual shift’: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts,” Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 24-37. 

.: Blogging Community :.

First of all, what is blogging community? Blogging community is a group of people who have the same interest which allows them to interact or share information with each other on the latest blog post.

To have an active blog, one blogger needs to have a blogging society so that it can gain wider coverage and gain more readers to read in one’s blog (Improbulus, 2005).

Besides, installing RSS (Really Simple Syndication) into your computer or sign-up for web-based services can take you to different websites which you are interest in. Hence, join other established blogging community and be active by commenting on their discussion. (Denise 2009).

Blogging society listed in three types as below (White.N 2006):

• ·                     The Single Blog / Blogger Centric Community - Blog which might have multiple creators or is owned by one person.

•   Topic Centric Community – Same interests drive the blogs and connect together within the society and create membership.

 

• ·                     Boundaried Community- A person can modify or compile their blog on their platform.

According to White’s (2006), Community and blogs is a foundation to blogger centric community and single blog. For Example: kennysia.com. He is the creator for the community and the blog. If the creator decides to shut down the blog, the community will be dissolve due to the social group has restricted source.

Reference :

1. Denise. 2009. How do you build community? [online]. [Accessed on 28 August 2011]. Available from: http://www.blogher.com/how-do-you-build-community 
2. Improbulus. 2005. ‘Technorati tags: an introduction,’ A Consuming Experience, 21 February [online]. [Accessed 28 August 2011]. Available from:http://www.consumingexperience.com/2005/02/technorati-tags-introduction.html
3. White. N 2006. Blogs and community-launching a new paradigm for online community, going communal, edition 11 [online]. [Accessed on 28 August 2011]. Available from:http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2006/edition-11-editorial/blogs-and-community-%E2%80%93-launching-a-new-paradigm-for-online-community

.: Classification Of Blogs & Opinion About The Most Appropriate Classification Approach :.

In general, there are many varieties of blogs on the World Wide Web nowadays. All these blogs are being classifies to be put in their own group depending on the topic is being discussed. Roger von Oech from creative think, there are four types of blogs categorized as below:

1.              Distraction blogs - a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies. Example : (Jack and Mandy blog jackandmandy.blogspot.com )

2.            Archive blogs - motivate by other’s people passion to pursue or achieve target together. People share same interest or benefits together. Example : (blog.archive.org/2011/05/12/physical-archive-launch)

3.            Conversation blogs - There are some question for readers or audiences to participate for people to comment and suggest their own ideas. Example : (www.ragan.com/SocialMedia/Article/10_easy_ways_to_kill_your_blog__43466.aspx)

4.            Democratic blog - Motivated by them in the social dynamics and their imagination future. Example: (http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/ )

According to Margeret Simmons who is a freelance journalist and an author, blogs are classified into nine different types of blogs in the following:

1.            Pamphleteering blog - group of individual or an individual put out a brief political issue or social movement discussing at their own point and then compare their point of view to create different type of readings.

2.            Digest blog- Usually from other blogs but sometime in mainstream media, tend to summarise, point or to collect material from a place just beneficial for readers in "finding things".

3.            Advocacy Blog - motivate a specific point of view on a particular case to others point of views.

4.            Popular Mechanics blog- source on how things work on stuff with mechanics.

5.            Exhibition blog- blog post from craftspeople, artists, writers, which bring their work to wider connections.

6.            Gatewatcher Blog – watch closely on the media. Media are the gatekeepers because they decide what story to be published.

7.             Diary blog – personal lives of people publish in blogs. This is done on the computer nowadays, it just like writing a "book" of diary.

8.             Advertisement blog - Commercial companies use blogs to promote the product to the public.

9.              News blog- breaking news usually maintained by bloggers who attend media conferences .They blog about the issues and provide a bit of their opinion without being obvious.

In my opinion, I think that Margaret Simmons classification is more complete and much easier to categorize in the classifications of blogs. These are the main blog contents most people write about and bring people together due to their interest group and to expand their social network.

Reference :

1. Oech. R.V 2007. A taxonomy of blogs [online]. [Accessed on 28 August 2011]. Available from: blog.creativethink.com/2007/03/a_taxonomy_of_b.html
2.  Simons. M 2008. Towards a taxonomy of blogs [online]. [Accessed on 28 August 2011]. Available from: www.apo.org.au/commentary/towards-taxonomy-blogs-0

.: Blogs As Current Phenomenon & Benefits To The Community :.

A blog is an online journal for a person to share or express their personal feelings, opinions, interests, moments and some uses blogs as a tool to earn a side income to promote their own businesses and etc... Nowadays, almost everyone life have a blog. It’s either one is a blogger or one refers to blogs. This has become a current phenomenon. Hence, technorati is known as a platform for its state of blogosphere reports, analysing the trends of blogs since year 2004.

In the picture below show the number of bloggers worldwide:

According to Technorati.com :

"The growth for mobile blogging has tremendously increased as a trend nowadays. Almost 25% of the blogger use mobile blogging with smart phone and most of the table count on to hit on a wider coverage. 40% of the report showed that blogger has adapted to a new type of blogging which is much abbreviate and more casual.”

Trends In Malaysia

The blogging trends in our country, Asia (Malaysia) tend to blog about food, politics, entertainment, technology and even personal blog. Malaysia is a country which is strictly controlled by government and information are bounded by rules. Nowadays, reader tend to turn on to blogs to look for information instead of just believe and observed everything in media reports.

For example, in Malaysia. Our most popular or influential bloggers is Kenny Sia. He blogs with passion and always fills up interesting pictures about his travels and his everyday life. Some people even pay him money to travel and blog about some specific places.

Another example of Malaysia famous political blogger named Jeff Ooi, which provides readers with information that media might has "Overlooked". Nevertheless, there are plenty of online food blogs and boutique blogs which are for business purposes use.

The Benefits

Nowadays, political blogs are very common and widespread in US and Iran meanwhile business blogs can be seen growing in Malaysia. In Iran, blogosphere provide reliable news source for them to protest for their own rights.

 In US, blog can be associate with online forum due to they shift into democratic society (Hughes. D 2009).In our county Malaysia, the rate of online shopping increase actively due to citizens goes to shopping just to pastime (Rajkumar.B 2010). To conclude, every blog has its benefits to the community. For example: Fifty most influential blogs in Malaysia, (Gaman, 2007).

Reference : 

1. Hughes, Dave. 2009. Blogging's global impact and the future of Blogging [online]. [Accessed on 28 August 2011]. Available from: http://technorati.com/blogging/article/day-5-twitter-global-impact-and/page-2/
2. Best blog asia. 2011. Most Influential Bloggers in Malaysia [online]. [Accessed on 28 August 2011]. Available from: http://www.bestblogs.asia/influential-bloggers-malaysia.php
3.  Rajkumar TR, Bharath. 2010. State of online shopping in Malaysia and Singapore [online]. [Accessed on 28 August 2011]. Available from: http://www.articlesbase.com/ecommerce-articles/state-of-online-shopping-in-malaysia-and-singapore-1857921.html
4. Sobel, John. 2010. Technorati Media. State of Blogosphere 2010 Intruduction [online].[Accessed 28 August 2011]. Available from: http://technorati.com/blogging/article/state-of-the-blogosphere-2010-introduction)
5. Gaman. 2007. 50 Most Influential Blogs in Malaysia [online]. [Accessed 15 November 2011]. Available from:http://www.sabahan.com/2007/02/06/50-most-influential-blogs-in-malaysia/

.: Purpose Of My Blog :.

The purpose of developing this blog is for me to discuss issues related to publication and design nowadays.

This blog can help to improve and communicate with other people who have interest about the current media publishing and design issues by applying relevant theories in it. My target audience are my fellow classmates as well as my IPD course lecturer to asses and comment on my discussion.