First, the most important design decision: widescreen or standard?
For anyone who isn’t familiar with aspect ratios or video formats, here’s the simple Cliff Notes version. 4:3 aspect ratio, commonly called “four-by-three” derives from 35mm film used in silent era cinema, as well as 35mm still camera film. Simply put, it’s the length and the width of the screen in a ratio. We know it more as the “squareish” shape of the old console CRT television tubes. When television was birthed, the format was adapted from the movies at the time—a simple transition so that movies potentially viewed on TVs would all look the same as the theater. High definition TVs and current day movies are produced in what is known as 16:9 (sixteen-by-nine) aspect ratio, sometimes known as widescreen to movie junkies. Programs like Powerpoint and Keynote default to 4:3 aspect ratio, usually a 1024 pixels x 768 pixels framed canvas. These work great on your 10 year old CRT monitor but not so great on any new laptop or widescreen HD television. For visual reference, here’s the difference. Please let us know which you’d prefer when sending your assets.
