Design books

Everything you need to know to create professional web sites is right here. Learning Web Design starts from the beginning -- defining how the Web and web pages work -- and builds from there. By the end of the book, you'll have the skills to create multi-column CSS layouts with optimized graphic files, and you'll know how to get your pages up on the Web.
This thoroughly revised edition teaches you how to build web sites according to modern design practices and professional standards. Learning Web Design explains:

• How to create a simple (X)HTML page, how to add links and images
• Everything you need to know about web standards -- (X)HTML, DTDs, and more
• Cascading Style Sheets -- formatting text, colors and backgrounds, using the box model, page layout, and more
• All about web graphics, and how to make them lean and mean through optimization
• The site development process, from start to finish
• Getting your pages on the Web -- hosting, domain names, and FTP

The book includes exercises to help you to learn various techniques, and short quizzes to make sure you're up to speed with key concepts. If you're interested in web design, Learning Web Design is the place to start.

Tired of making web sites that work absolutely perfectly but just don't look nice?

If so, then The Principles of Beautiful Web Design is for you. A simple, easy-to-follow guide, illustrated with plenty of full-color examples, this book will lead you through the process of creating great designs from start to finish. Good design principles are not rocket science, and using the information contained in this book will help you create stunning web sites.

Understand the design process, from discovery to implementation Understand what makes "good design" Developing pleasing layouts using grids, the rule of thirds, balance and symmetry Use color effectively, develop color schemes and create a palette Use textures, lines, points, shapes, volumes and depth Learn how good typography can make ordinary designs look great Effective imagery: choosing, editing and placing images And much more

Throughout the book, you'll follow an example design, from concept to completion, learning along the way.

Are you still designing web sites like it's 1999? If so, you're in for a surprise. Since the last edition of this book appeared five years ago, there has been a major climate change with regard to web standards. Designers are no longer using (X)HTML as a design tool, but as a means of defining the meaning and structure of content. Cascading Style Sheets are no longer just something interesting to tinker with, but rather a reliable method for handling all matters of presentation, from fonts and colors to the layout of the entire page. In fact, following the standards is now a mandate of professional web design.

Our popular reference, Web Design in a Nutshell, is one of the first books to capture this new web landscape with an edition that's been completely rewritten and expanded to reflect the state of the art. In addition to being an authoritative reference for (X)HTML and Cascading Style Sheets, this book also provides an overview of the unique requirements of designing for the Web and gets to the nitty-gritty of JavaScript and DOM Scripting, web graphics optimization, and multimedia production. It is an indispensable tool for web designers and developers of all levels.

The third edition covers these contemporary web design topics:

• Structural layer: HTML 4.01 and XHTML 1.0 (9 chapters), including an alphabetical reference of all elements, attributes and character entities
• Presentation layer: Ten all-new chapters on Cascading Style Sheets, Level 2.1, including an alphabetical reference of all properties and values.
• Behavior layer: JavaScript and scripting with the Document Object Model (DOM)
• Web environment: New web standards, browsers, display devices, accessibility, and internationalization
• Web graphics optimization: Producing lean and mean GIF, JPEG, PNG, and animated GIFs
• Multimedia: Web audio, video, Flash, and PDF

Organized so that readers can find answers quickly, Web Design in a Nutshell, Third Edition helps experienced designers come up to speed quickly on standards-based web design, and serves as a quick reference for those already familiar with the new standards and technology.

There are many books for web designers, but none that address such a wide variety of topics. Find out why nearly half a million buyers have made this the most popular web design book available.

“While you’re reading Neuro Web Design, you’ll probably find yourself thinking ‘I already knew that…’ a lot. But when you’re finished, you’ll discover that your ability to create effective web sites has mysteriously improved. A brilliant idea for a book, and very nicely done.”
— Steve Krug, author of Don’t Make Me Think!
A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
Why do people decide to buy a product online? Register at your Web site? Trust the information you provide? Neuro Web Design applies the research on motivation, decision making, and neuroscience to the design of Web sites. You will learn the unconscious reasons for people’s actions, how emotions affect decisions, and how to apply the principles of persuasion to design Web sites that encourage users to click.
Neuro Web Design employs “neuro-marketing” concepts, which are at the intersection of psychology and user experience. It’s scientific, yet you’ll find it accessible, easy to read, and easy to understand. By applying the concepts and examples in this book, you’ll be able to dramatically increase the effectiveness and conversion rates of your own Web site.

Web Design: Introductory Concepts and Techniques, Third Edition explains the connection between a detailed design plan that considers audience needs, site purpose, and various technical issues of a successful Web site.

Want to know how to make your pages look beautiful, communicate your message effectively, guide visitors through your website with ease, and get everything approved by the accessibility and usability police at the same time? Head First Web Design is your ticket to mastering all of these complex topics, and understanding what's really going on in the world of web design.
Whether you're building a personal blog or a corporate website, there's a lot more to web design than div's and CSS selectors, but what do you really need to know? With this book, you'll learn the secrets of designing effective, user-friendly sites, from customer requirements to hand-drawn storyboards all the way to finished HTML and CSS creations that offer an unforgettable online presence.
Your time is way too valuable to waste struggling with new concepts. Using the latest research in cognitive science and learning theory to craft a multi-sensory learning experience, Head First Web Design uses a visually rich format specifically designed to take advantage of the way your brain really works.

The ultimate guide to Web site design, Principles of Web Design, Fourth Edition leads you through the entire Web site creation process, from start to finish, while developing and enhancing your HTML, CSS, and visual design skills along the way. You'll begin by learning about the Web design environment and the principles of sound Web design, continue to planning site layout and navigation, and progress to Web typography, colors and images, working with CSS, and more. Updated to include the latest Web design technologies and trends, this Fourth Edition features all-new sections on Web accessibility, standards-based coding, and CSS positioning, as well as technical updates and new screen shots throughout. Armed with valuable knowledge and plenty of hands-on activities, you will gain a solid understanding of designing successful, standards-based Web sites that are portable across different operating systems, browsers, and connection speeds.

No matter how visually appealing or content-packed a Web site may be, if it's not adaptable to a variety of situations and reaching the widest possible audience, it isn't really succeeding. In Bulletproof Web Desing, author and Web designer extraordinaire, Dan Cederholm outlines standards-based strategies for building designs that provide flexibility, readability, and user control--key components of every sucessful site. Each chapter starts out with an example of an unbulletproof site one that employs a traditional HTML-based approach which Dan then deconstructs, pointing out its limitations. He then gives the site a make-over using XHTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), so you can see how to replace bloated code with lean markup and CSS for fast-loading sites that are accessible to all users. Finally, he covers several popular fluid and elastic-width layout techniques and pieces together all of the page components discussed in prior chapters into a single-page template.

Web designers must wear many hats. Among books on Web design, Web Design All-in-One For Dummies is the one that helps you successfully wear all those hats without losing your head.

Full-color illustrations and five self-contained minibooks show you how to be a graphic designer, creative organizer, visual communicator, markup language technologist, and cutting-edge trendsetter, all in one. This book helps you lay the groundwork, follow design rules, test your site, register a domain name, and much more.

• Getting Started covers planning, defining your target audience, choosing the right software, and more
• Designing For the Web acquaints you with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, plus how to choose a layout and optimize graphics
• Building Web Sites gets down to nuts and bolts: putting text, images, hyperlinks, and multimedia files together, organizing content, and building navigation systems
• Web Standards & Testing teaches you how to test and validate so everyone can enjoy your site
• Publishing & Site Maintenance helps you get your site online and keep it current

Web Design All-in-One For Dummies also helps you learn how to choose a Web editor and graphics program, how to make your site accessible to the widest possible audience, and when it’s time to call in a pro like author Sue Jenkins. It’s just what you need to start and manage a great site.

How many times have you visited a Web site and thought that you could do a better job if only you had the knowledge and skills?   Or perhaps you have a great idea for a Web site but don’t know how to get started? What was once exclusively a task for professionals, Web designing, has become more accessible to amateurs, thanks to loads of handy software. With Web Design For Dummies, you will be able to design your own Web site like a pro.

Web design requires many programs to make a Website attractive and fun, including:

• Using Web editors like Dreamweaver
• Image editing tools like Photoshop elements
• Drawing utensils like Illustrator
• Background markup and scripting languages like HTML and CSS

This fun guide covers all of the topics that every aspiring Web designer should know.   This book offers advice on:

• Designing for your audience
• Building a solid framework for easy navigation
• Creating appealing graphics that work with the site
• Choosing the proper type and colors
• Tweaking the HTML to make everything work correctly
• Applying next-step technologies including JavaScript
• Parlaying your skills into paid work

With expert guidance from Lisa Lopuck, a pioneer in interactive media design and the Senior Producer at Disney, you will be creating superb Web pages that will charm and impress all of your visitors!