Web Design: A Beginner's Guide Second Edition

I taught a Web design course in which I used both of Wendy Willard's books (Web Design: A Beginner's Guide and HTML: A Beginner's Guide). There is overlap, of course, but the pair worked quite well as a tandem. In fact, the students gave me a lot of positive feedback on the books. We focused on the Web Design book and used the HTML book primarily as a reference.Web Design is a very straightforward presentation of design fundamentals. It was refreshing to find in the book so many bits of design advice that I have pedaled. Moreover, the writing is lively and concise.The publisher makes available a CD-ROM that contains PowerPoint lectures, a test bank, and an instructor's manual. I can't comment on the test bank -- I seldom use them -- but I found the lectures to be useful as starting points for my own in-class presentations. The book would be improved by more depth in topics such as navigation, information architecture, and usability. Navigation is mentioned but probably warrants its own chapter in a Web design book. In sum, this is a very good book for a first course in Web design.

I am a graphic designer with firm roots in print design--getting into design for the Web has been a daunting prospect. This book is incredibly easy to understand and perfect for an absolute beginner like myself. It provides an excellent jumping-off point into more advanced design and production strategies, even if you are using a WYSIWYG Web page editor. I have been told time and again that even while using a graphical editor like Adobe's GoLive, it is still important to know basic HTML coding--this book even makes HTML approachable! I would recommend it to anyone who is brand new to Web design.

Outstanding book! What a delight to read a book written as well as this book. Great job Wendy! Will be buying your book on HTML coding ASAP!!When will your intermediate Web Design book be out!! :-)