[.ca] Web Design Complete Reference (ISBN 0072224428)

From Amazon.com:
With so many books out on particular development tools and languages, it's refreshing to see one that tackles the overarching topic of Web design and implementation techniques. Web Design: The Complete Reference is a rare combination of design theory and detailed information on implementation. Author Thomas A Powell, who also wrote HTML: The Complete Reference, has produced an impressive sequel in this hefty title. Powell addresses topics like navigation theory and user profiling, backing up high-level discussion with excellent, practical technique. He goes beyond your garden-variety explanation of what particular features are and how to code them by specifying the problems you might face and offering solutions. You get insight you can use: how to handle those pesky frames by understanding UI consequences, keep frames from opening within themselves, and offer your users the ability to print framed pages reliably. All the bases are covered, including adding GUI interactivity, solid page layout and formatting techniques, and a look at the various Web technologies and their effect on site design. The entire work exudes the confidence of a well-seasoned writer, and the discussions leave you feeling well informed. This book bridges the gap between knowing how to build Web sites and having a holistic knowledge of all of the intricacies and pitfalls of coding for the Web. --Stephen W. Plain Topics covered: Web-design methodologies Usability Types of Web sites Navigation theory and practice Linking text/buttons/icons/graphics Search facilities Text handling Colors and images Building interactivity Web technologies (XML, CSS, JavaScript) Cookies Server-side scripting Multimedia Site delivery and management The future of Web design Site evaluation procedures

Invaluable!:
This book is absolutely wonderful! Anyone truely interested in web design will benefit greatly! The author is very knowlegable in the web medium and gives extensive detail into some of the most important and least looked at areas of design... the design itself! That's right, this book won't serve as a complete HTML guide. The book does talk a lot about HTML, it's stucture and propoer use and functure as well as gives lots of code examples. Same for javascript. But this book is mostly geared towards design issues. Where do you but the navigation bar on a website? How big to make your buttons? How should you organize the site? What are the steps to creating a web project? What kind of site models could you use? How to best use the web technologies available to create usable content. The book emphasises a balance between form and function and talks a lot about usabillity, something that is of utmost importance in making interactive media. This book will guide you through the thinking behind interface desing concepts and aesthetic issues as well. Easy to read and superbly written, this book is great! Some other reviews have displayed a dislike for it's focus on design principles and concepts instead of code the underworkings. While the book will infact give you good examples of use of HTML and Javascript as well as tons of info about these technologies (and brief intros) it was not meant to be a code manual. The name is "web DESIGN: the complete refrence"... if you want a code primer or refrence or beginners guide to making simple web pages get a different book. This book however gets you thinking about the issues of desinging usable websites that you probably never considered and that up until now, many books have been completely ignoring.

Just designing theories!:
This book depends on designing theories more than real designing practice which is the most important way to be good designer. It is very dry and boring and if you are beginner don't bother your self much with this book.

Great Reference with lots of topics:
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, but frankly it's turned out to be one of the best purchases I've made lately. I've been the most happy looking at the huge number of topics it covers. It is true that at times it is much more theory based than how-to, but it covers just about everything a Web designer encounters from usability to technology to project planning issues. For a small designer like me it tied a lot of loose ends together. After having used it for a few months I'd say it tends to be the strongest in site design and usability and the weakest in how to make buttons in Fireworks or more mundane tasks that my boggle a beginner Webmaster. Yet I use it all the time because I can pretty much look up information on any topic a client hits me with like search engines, JavaScript pro-cons, usability, servers, etc. I won't get 100 pages on each subject but I get more than enough to help me answer my questions. I can't say that's why I bought it but its turned out to be probably my most dog eared book. If you are going to buy a Web Design book to have around once you know the ropes and you are beyond the how to stuff, I can't say there is any other choice on the market. In that sense I guess I really have to give it 5 stars. If there were other choices maybe 4 since I will say that I would have liked some color stuff actually in color and some more graphics stuff, but fortunately the Lynda Weinmmen books I had covered that very well.

Comprehensive but common sense:
This book does not lack in details or volume. It is highly recommended for someone that is a beginner to novice in the website world. Don't expect it to teach you HTML or JavaScript. It concerns itself more with information architecture and GUI / design principles. For an experienced webmaster, it is common sense stuff that you already live by.

A strong, broad overview:
Powell's Web Design is an extensive and thorough overview that provides a lot of breadth at enough depth to be worthwhile. The book will probably occur differently depending on the reader's prior knowledge. For myself, it helped put certain pieces in place and gave me a stronger sense of how various items are related. While NOT an advanced text for someone wishing to gain expertise, the book is by no means superficial. What I found very worthwhile was Appendix A: Core Web Design Principles. Reflecting on these rules and suggestions was very valuable. Understanding each of them puts you well on your way to a strong grasp of web design. I don't consider the book a "complete reference" so much as a comprehensive presentation of web design at a level deeper than an introduction but short of advanced. A very worthwhile read for those in the middle that will add to their maturity in the subject.