Customer Reviews

Integrated Web Design: Building the New Breed of Designer & Developer (Voices (New Riders))

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book brings artists and programmers up to speed with what's happening today in Web design. It wisely covers XHTML, CSS, XML, SVG, SMIL -- all growing in popularity and in importance in the world of Web design. It'll help the artistically-inclined integrate their skills with Web design. It'll help programmatically-inclined integrate their skills with the "design" side of color, shape, and typography. The book speaks to these two distinctive groups and how to merge themselves into the areas where they usually need a helping hand.

A reviewer indicated it's nothing new to merge the folks from the print world and the programming world into Web design. However, as technology advances and more people get interested in exploring Web careers, they need updated information.

This book is not focused on problem solving, but more on education. It provides a handful of tools for integrating technology. There's much more on this topic, but I believe this book is trying to educate the reader and prepare her for the next steps. The Internet waits for no one and Holzschlag brings the logical and artistic types up to speed by speaking their language and guiding them through unfamiliar territory, so they won't be left behind in the Internet's wake.

I am a hard core coder and I got this book by mistake. Out of curiosity I started reading it. Too my surprise I found it very enjoyable, informative and easy to read. Her philosophy of the Web and integration of Designer and Programmer is very insightful. I am recommending this book to the members of my user group.

INTEGRATED WEB DESIGN
Building the New Breed of Designer and Developer
AUTHOR: Molly E. Holzschlag
PUBLISHER: New Riders
REVIEWED BY: Barbara Rhoades

BOOK REVIEW: Remember 10 years ago when web designing was a one-man (or woman as the case may be) job? If so, this is the book to bring you up-to-date. The first three chapters give you an overview of where the web has been and where it is going in the future and how to get on the bandwagon to get there.

Color, space, shape and type each have a chapter on how each of these items should be handled in the web of the future. There is a chapter about XHTML-style and it is compared to the game of Jenga. And would a web design book be complete without a chapter on CSS? Of course not and this book has one which gives the reader information on how to do CSS layouts. The tips section can be found on the edge of the various chapter pages and contain some very good resources complete with the URL.

The final chapters talk about Flash, SVG and SMIL. If you don't know what these are, (and the author is not talking about the program FLASH!) then you better get this book and read up on it. In less than 200 pages, the author has packed a huge amount of information to help the reader get their web designs up-to-date. Be sure to get a copy for your use.

I found this book to be a disappointment. The main premise that a web developer must be as much an artist as a programmer is hardly new. Such ideas were heartily discussed and written about almost half a decade ago. Holzschlag laments about the distinction made between coders and designers, correctly arguing that it limits the quality of web sites. However, that distinction has largely vanished, as nearly all developers are part of a team that largely eliminates this artificial barrier. With the tremendous power of the packages that are now available, the development of sophisticated content is also well within the grasp of most programming novices.
The middle of the book, where details such as the role of color in different cultures and how to choose a font are examined is by far the best part. This information is useful and properly applied it can really improve the appearance of a site. The final third of the book is a primer on basic XHTML, one on cascading style sheets, the role of scripting and brief descriptions of new integration packages. None is very long or detailed and quite frankly, I don't see where developers need a description of the basic structure of an HTML file.
All developers must constantly work to upgrade their skills in all areas of web development. Unfortunately, this book is not one of the better sources to help you in that effort.