Jeffrey Zeldman, publisher of A List Apart, has written a great article on the subject of Understanding Web Design.

Here is an excerpt:

Although a great site design is completely individual, it is also a great deal like other site designs that perform similar functions. The same is true of great magazine and newspaper layouts, which differ from banal magazine and newspaper layouts in a hundred subtle details. Few celebrate great magazine layouts, yet millions consciously or unconsciously appreciate them, and nobody laments that they are not posters.

For those who come from a print background this article is a must read. We frequently encounter designers who have a difficult time embracing the Web as a medium and seem determined to make the Web behave like print. Zeldman is pretty blunt in suggesting that this is a mistake but his point is dead-on from my experience.

Read the full article.

For further reading, see my previous blog post:

Print Designers: Welcome to the Web