Web Design Studio Secrets [With CD ROM]

A lot of very useful info in a small book. I'm less than half the way through and I've already learned enough to make it worth the investment to me. The chapter on Using Tables was just what I needed. I would recommend this book to other beginners who are still trying to make sense of it all.

This book presents analysis and how-did-they-do-that descriptions of numerous aspects of Web page design and production. The first two chapters covering general design issues and navigation are exceptionally good and should be read by anyone who makes Web pages. These chapters stress the overall need for usability and speed and discuss why sites that don't take their audience into consideration are unsuccessful. The remaining chapters are each geared to specific aspects of Web design that may be of interest to graphic artists designing for the Web; they cover such topics as Web graphics, fonts, animation, multimedia, and 3D worlds. In fact, some of the chapters are so specific that they may not be comprehensible to readers who don't work with Adobe Photoshop every day. The book includes a CD that has interactive examples and demo software for some of the design products mentioned in the book.While the overall quality of the book is quite good, the technical chapters on HTML and JavaScript are rather weak- -new users of either of these languages won't find these sections very illuminating, and experienced users won't find many new tips either (the example figures showing HTML code are barely legible). The chapter on Web type starts off by considering usability issues, but soon turns to snazzy ways to make an artistic point, seemingly forgetting the needs of users (as well as search engines, which read only real text, not animated gifs or Shockwave). The book is definitely geared towards graphic artists, almost assuming that the readers are working on high-end Macintosh computers. Certainly, any graphic artist designing for the Web will find tremendous value in this book, as well as general readers interested in Web design.

The books explains some basic web design concepts clearly by examples: all are excellent, real-world example. I'm a CS student, not design. the book teach me a new way to think about web design and many useful techniques are included. The brillient examples shock my mind.

Web Design Studio Secrets is an excellent addition to the resource library of anyone interested in web site development. The book covers a broad range of material with interesting real life examples and features drawn from the experiences of web designers who are in the trenches. The description are detailed and useful, both in explaining specific techniques and opening the door to a better understanding of the tools and skills of the creative web developer. The book also serves as a good bridge between the creation of the graphic and media content of a web site and the programmer techniques necessary to bring the content to the web browser. With copious screen shots and code examples, the book demonstrates vividly many of the concepts that are explored in the philosophy of the well-made web site. The explanations, although detailed and technical, are easy to follow and understand. Any web software user will find doors opening to new ideas and improved understanding about fonts, layout, tables, javascript, animation, management and other elements of web site construction. The book also looks at some of the more esoteric aspects of the web with chapters on VRML, online imaging and web channels. Someone in the day-to-day production of commercial web sites can easily lose sight of the breath-taking levels of creativity and ingenuity that can be aspired to as they struggle with browser incompatibilities and network bandwidth bottlenecks. This book reminds its readers of the idea that the web is not just a way of communicating but also contains the possiblities of a new and unique artistic medium. In the preface, web design is compared to the game of chess. For players, the study of the recorded games of the Grandmasters is an infinite source of ideas and inspiration that can be built upon in play. The study of the web design pioneers in this book can yield the same fruitful leaps of expression and imagination.