If you are not repurposing your print files as your digital version, then kudos to you for saving your resources. But it does mean that you need to design once for print, then design again for digital needs.
A common workflow is to design your print version first, then design your digital version. I understand that the print needs to lead in the schedule because of time demands, but there are times when your digital content should drive the design, for example when you use interactive online graphics.
For example, if you have particularly interactive and multi-format content for your digital version. The visual solution should be created to work best for the most complex need and once resolved it can be adapted to the simpler need, which is likely print. So, it should not always be print first, digital after.
I propose that the print and digital are done at the same time, with influence traveling from one to the other as needed. A skilled publication design team can adapt designs in either direction to yield a heightened reader experience for each platform.
Do you currently design your digital AFTER your print? Why? Does the idea of having some measure of differing content in digital vs. print make you want to scream?
