Basic Web Design
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Basic Web Design |
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Introduction Finding other books |
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Introduction |
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These are books I recommend about Basic Web Design; they are mostly aimed at a 'beginners' level. That is a vague concept, of course, but I had to make a split somewhere. So don't forget to loook at the Advanced Web Design page and the other pages in this section, too, to see if there's anything for you there. Web design is a difficult category anyway: where you come from is all-important in determining which book you'll get the most out of - and web designers come to the field from all sorts of disciplines. So for now, I'm listing a few books that are clearly aimed at people coming from different backgrounds to web design but still are beginners in this field; be prepared to unlearn a few things! |
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The Non-Designer's Design Book: Design and Typographic Principles for the Visual Novice
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Background
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This book is explicitly aimed at people who do not know anything about graphical or typographical
design. If that sounds like you, buying this book cannot be a great disaster: the customer comments at Amazon are
all very positive and it's inexpensive. It's not aimed at web design as such: just the general principles of
graphic design. While print design is clearly different from web design, these general principles will always apply.
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The Non-Designer's Web Book, 2nd Edition: An Easy Guide to Creating, Designing, and Posting Your Own Web Site
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Background
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Clearly a follow-up to the previous "Non-Designer's" book, this one is actually aimed at
web design. All the same layout principles like alignment, proximity, repetition and contrast are explained here as
well as web-specific topics like navigation. With 'before and after' examples explaining the principles. The book
actually goes beyond design and also has advice about what to do with your site once it's designed:
uploading and maintaining it, as well as registration. Even if you are no longer a beginner, you may still learn
something from this book unless you do have a background as a graphical designer.
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Taking Your Talent to the Web: Making the Transition from Graphic Design to Web Designby Jeffrey Zeldman
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Web Pages That Suck: Learn Good Design by Looking at Bad Design
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Background
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If you are no longer a beginner at web design, chances are you won't get much out of this book - unless you simply enjoy the writers' brand of humor. It's very clearly aimed at the beginning web designer, like the book mentioned above, but the approach is very different. There is an accompanying web site of the same name, which actually preceded the book and served as its model; now it contains also background material for the book, excerpts, and book updates (if you own the book).
David Hamblet commented:
Of the books I have purchased so far this book has been the most educational. The book is
light hearted and shows by example how to take a bad site and make it better; it is written with a tongue in cheek
attitude. No reading through long or cute coding here. The book focuses on the design elements.
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The Art & Science of Web Design
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Background
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With its bright colors, this is very much a 'Wired' book though not so wired as to have illegible
text. On the contrary, it's all quite readable, too (despite the spelling errors) and full of practical advice. Topics covered are Interface
consistency, Site structure, Interactivity and self-aware content, Performance, Web advertising, Database-driven content and more. A wealth
of graphics and screenshots (many in color) help bring the points the author makes home.
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Practical Information Architecture: A hands-on Approach to Structuring Successful Websites
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A Simple Guide to Writing for Your Website
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Finding other books |
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You can use these search forms to search Amazon.com's or Amazon.co.uk's catalog for books, software, and more. And
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Another book that helps graphic designers make the transition from the "paper world" to the
fluidity of the web. Build on your experience but learn a new skill - the web is very different from the paper world and web sites created
by graphic designers who haven't learned that are all too recognizable. You can stumble through your mistakes, or make a flying start with
the help of this book!
Curiuously, this book has the exact same subtitle as
An excellent, no-nonsense guide to how to write for the Internet. If you're like me and find that
writing less is more work than writing more, you'll find this book a great help. Getting your message across is what counts on a web site,
and you'll have less time and have to use fewer words to do so than with other media: you have only a few seconds in which to grab the user's
interest. The author is well-qualified, and is a trainer for the BBC. This small but clearly organized book is packed with practical advice.
let me know
