Are You Ready for a Retina Resolution REVOLUTION?
I pride myself on being on the frontlines of technological updates, standards, and breakthroughs so we can get out in front of new tools, programs, and approaches we’re going to need to keep pace with work, life, and everything in between. I like to prepare as best I can on all fronts.
That being said, one thing evaded my radar and I didn’t understand the true impact of my lack of attention until I found myself once again trying to stay ahead of the game, a little late in the game.
I purchased a brand-new February 2013–release model of the new MacBook Pro with Retina display and all of the other cool bells and whistles that go along with it.
The screen is OUTSTANDING. I may have terrible hearing (or so my wife tells me), but my vision is spectacular, and having the privilege of owning this new MacBook is truly a pleasure.
The only thing is, I was used to creating my graphics a certain way. Any graphics I produced started in Adobe Illustrator, then moved into Photoshop for finishing and web prep or whatever else was needed. If I needed a 900 x 250 pixel banner for a website, that was pretty normal, right? Well, not anymore.
As I was looking at some graphics I had created for the web in the past, even my own photography, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t been looking to the future AT ALL in respect to how graphics in web development and computers were evolving.
I couldn’t believe the quality difference in what I was seeing. Those brilliant individuals who stayed ahead of the game and created graphics for sites that were now optimized for Retina display BLEW MY MIND.
A quick test on my new MacBook showing our newly redesigned Cultivate website that’s in development vs. our existing GROW blog header clearly proved the point of NEEDING to stay on top of this trend in graphics resolution and learn as much as I could about how to streamline a process for implementing Retina-compliant graphics into new developments I create — both personally and professionally.
Check this out. . .
Look at the difference between the logo images as shown on the new MacBook Pro with Retina display (click to enlarge). I think you’d agree that the quality difference is insane.
Armed with this new insight, I’ve been circling back to transition the graphics for our new website so that the quality of our graphics will blow people’s minds just as those optimized graphics did for me the first time I saw them on my new screen with Retina display.
As this trend in high-resolution graphics evolves over time into the new standard, how are you going to approach the subject? Have you even thought about it yet? Are you thinking about it now?
How are you changing/will you change your processes in graphics development to keep pace with screens featuring Retina display?
I know there’s some discussion of SVG formats being the new web standards soon, and that would rock — but what about all those graphics (like photographs) that can’t really be vectorized? There’s still some uncertainty there, it seems. What’s the best approach to handle this Retina Resolution Revolution right now? And what do you think it will be 6–12 months from now?
Web developments and graphics remained fairly standard for a long time. Web technology, coding, and design evolved, for the most part, at a pretty typical pace in accordance with Moore’s Law.
But Retina display was a huge eye-opener for me — one that only came as I immersed myself in the technology. Sometimes we can’t stay ahead of the game until we see and feel what’s all out there for ourselves.
I want to hear your thoughts on this topic and start a great discussion because I’m sure there are many of you reading this who have already taken a huge leap into this new high-resolution frontier.
Please contact me, comment below, or share this article with your friends — I really want to hear everyone’s take on this latest trend and what you’re all doing to respond to this exciting new development. (And don’t forget to check back this fall to see our newly redesigned website featuring graphics optimized for Retina display!)
