The Non-Designer's Web Book, 3rd Edition [Paperback]

Robin Williams (Author), John Tollett (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321303377 | ISBN-13: 978-0321303370 | Publication Date: September 26, 2005 | Edition: 3rd

If you think web design is beyond your reach, or if you want your existing web site to look more professional, this thoroughly updated classic is the place to turn! In these pages, best-selling authors Robin Williams and John Tollett share the creative ideas, useful techniques, and basic design principles that are essential to great Web design-all in the context of the most current technology, software, and standards. Throughout, the authors' aim is to inspire you and spark your creativity rather than sedate you with pages and pages of code. To that end, you'll find loads of real-world examples, interesting illustrations, and the simple instructions you need to implement the techniques and concepts described in these pages.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Non-Designer's Web Book is a pretty, full-color guide for aspiring Web designers. The authors first explain how to browse and search the Web and then discuss how to plan and post a Web site. Then they get you into the real work of designing Web sites, whether for business or personal purposes. The authors teach you basic design principles--covering such areas as alignment, proximity, repetition, and contrast--and then discuss design issues that are specific to the Web: You learn about creating pages with careful attention to color, graphics, typography, tables, and more. Finally, you learn how to test, fix, upload, update, and register your site. The book isn't an HTML primer, but you do get a few tips on tweaking your pages by editing HTML code. The authors discuss a variety of Macintosh and Windows programs for creating Web pages, such as Adobe PageMill, Claris Home Page, and Microsoft FrontPage, and they also discuss image editors, such as Adobe Photoshop. At the end of each chapter there's a quiz for reviewing what you've learned. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

Lynda Weinman (Coloring Web Graphics, Deconstructing Web Graphics, and Designing Web Graphics, all LJ 5/1/97) is the designer's designer, but most people on the web don't know much about color theory. This book is for them. It covers everything from what the web is and how to search it to uploading finished pages and registering a web site. Very clearly written and well illustrated, this will circulate in virtually any library. Markup Languages The Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) is considered too complicated for most people undertaking web-page construction, but the intricate structure provided by SGML is invaluable for large linked document sets. Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) uses SGML as its conceptual model but can be quickly mastered and is the now-familiar, relatively simple coding used for web-page design. To further complicate matters, Extensible Markup Language (XML) has been created as a sort of a half-way point between underperforming HTML and too-complex SGML. Here are some titles to help clear it all up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 3rd edition (September 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321303377
• ISBN-13: 978-0321303370
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,065 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Computers & Technology > Home Computing > Internet

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great book for beginners; good for advanced webheads., July 29, 1999

By 

Chris d'Aquin (Buena Vista, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Non-Designer's Web Book: An Easy Guide to Creating, Designing, and Posting Your Own Web Site (Paperback)

Just like the title says, if you have little or no design experience/training, this is a great book to have. But even if you have been designing web sites for a while like me (3 years), there are plenty of things you might find useful.

The book is full-color. Much of it assumes you know little about computers, HTML, and the Internet. It also assumes you are using one of the popular HTML editors and graphics programs like Frontpage and Photoshop. Even with these liabilities, there are wonderful principles, tips and techniques provided by the authors that should benefit even experienced designers.

For me, the meat of the book was the middle where it describes the basics of design, color, layout, and typography. The advanced tips and tricks chapter also offered some tidbits I hadn't thought of before. However, I breezed through the beginning and ending chapters (on the Internet, web pages, site organization, uploading your site, and testing it) because they had little to offer I didn't already know. But for a beginner this may be valuable information.

One reason I wanted this book was all of its beautiful and creative design examples. If I am stumped on how to design something, I will pick up this book and see if it may inspire me. The authors didn't provide "cutting edge" type graphics, but examples that are simple, colorful and effective.

143 of 159 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Very Good, February 3, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Non-Designer's Web Book, The (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Forget this book! There's a better solution. I bought this book based on my experience reading the author's Non-Designer's Design Book. I would strongly recommend buying that. The Web book though, is trying to give you overall information on a variety of software that really benefits no one particular user. A lot of the generic tips are good, but included is a lot of information on specific products, such as Photoshop, that are promoted as the ultimate for Web design. Photoshop is very expensive, and I already have Corel Draw and PhotoDraw. Most beginners would not run out and buy Photoshop anyway.

Aside from the scattered info about various software, there are also too many mistakes. As is pointed out in many other reviews here, Netscape is not preferred, and has not been the leading browser for a long time. Page 208 has a serious mistake recommending loading an entire page size graphic in order to get a horizontal block across a page. A color filled table is the correct approach. This was unfortunately typical of many errors that I found.

I have to admit that I was looking for a more design oriented book since I have some Web authoring experience. After reading the book I believe I can offer a better solution to someone looking for both design and Web building information. First, buy Ms. Williams Non-Designer's Design Book. Second, decide on which Web authoring software you might want to use. Third, buy or scavenge all the written information you can about that software. This way you will have the design information, and you'll have specific information about what YOU will actually be using. Many of these books give tips peculiar to Web design. For someone that's an absolute Internet novice, start with a book that tells you what that's all about first. They're plenty of them out there.

52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Web Design Concepts With a Lighter Touch, September 27, 2000

By 

Karen Hertzberg (Oconomowoc, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Non-Designer's Web Book, The (2nd Edition) (Paperback)

Too many web design books approach the subject with a jargon-laden, heavy-handed approach--not so with THE NON-DESIGNERS WEB BOOK. Williams and Tollett explain the Web, as well as design concepts, with a touch of dry humor and a unique, ultimately readable style. Reading this book is a joy due to its simple, accessible style and conversational language. It's probably one of the few web design books you'll ever read from cover-to-cover.

Who is this book for? It's mostly for the design novice. If you have any amount of experience working with the Web and creating websites, some of this stuff is going to be a little simplistic. Even so, read this book for the design concepts it presents. Too many so-called web designers know the technical aspects of creating a website, but fall far short when it comes to design skills. The basic principles put forward in this book will make you a better designer. They certainly worked for me!

If you're designing a website and you know nothing about design, invest in this book. It's a sure winner!