Customer Reviews

Speaking in Styles: Fundamentals of CSS for Web Designers

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

CSS is how the Web's visual world is described and designers need more than just technique savvy to build strong CSS sites. SPEAKING IN STYLES: FUNDAMENTALS OF CSS FOR WEB DESIGNERS provides a top pick on how to think in the colors, forms and compositions of the code and its styles. Designers and collections catering to them will learn how to 'pop' a Web page and how to learn the semantics of CSS without technical jargon in this top, recommended pick that goes beyond most CSS explanations.

Excellent book! My mind thinks both artistically and logically. I was reading Jason's previous book, "CSS, DHTML & AJAX - Fourth Edition" and found that I was having a bit of a hard time grasping the concepts in the technical format. In "Speaking in Styles" Jason addresses CSS from a designers viewpoint, including many examples as well as references to online resources for further self-education. Now I can go back to 'Fourth Edition' with a solid base knowledge of why rather than just how. Whether you intend to develop or simply collaborate with developers, a designer needs to at least understand the 'language' of styles in much the same way that a print designer understands how to prep for press. Highly recommended!

A beautifully illustrated book that teaches both CSS and web design best practices. In a truly unique fashion it shows CSS rules and how they affect a page, and talks in clear terms about designing and implementing sites. A truly different and unique book, and one of the few I'll be using in teaching my CSS/Design classes next semester.

This is the best book I've seen yet. I am a visual learner and was having trouble understanding, but with this book everything is explained and you are shown what, why and how to do the steps for each section. I like the fact that it shows HTML and then the appropriate CSS formats.

Unfortunately, all the CSS code in this book is depicted in a light green italic proportionally spaced font. This is hideous. Actual code, be it Java, C++, html, or CSS should be in a monospace font like Courier printed in black ink. The publisher chose this expediency to push out the book using a fewer number of pages. This italic font is so off-putting that I will downgrade my review to a 1. The content may be great, but nobody writes code in light green italic proportionally spaced fonts and certainly no software developer wants to read such code.

I sometimes struggle to read an entire book--especially if it is a technical book. This book, however, was not at all hard for me to get through. The information was very well-organized and presented in a manner that kept me interested. This book made CSS very clear to me. I have always been a little confused about what order CSS rules are applied to web pages. This book lays it out in a manner that is easy to understand and remember. If you build web pages at all, or if you need a good reference book for CSS, I highly recommend getting this book. It's well worth what little I paid for it.

More of a basic CSS book than an advanced one, it's nonetheless useful even for intermediate CSS users getting back into the swing of things. Full color, well laid out, and just the right amount of information, especially for those of us whose HTML dates back to HTML's infancy (long before CSS was invented) and hence are kind of out of date.

For any and everyone interested in Web design, or engaged in Web design as a career (freelancer, or employee) utilizing CSS as a presentation layer, this book is for you! In plain simple english, with plenty of illustrations accompanied by clear and concise explanations, Jason does a very good job helping his readers grasp the concept and use of Cascading Stylesheet development (the when, the where, the why, and the how)! It is a thin book packing quite a bit of information for the professional as well as the non-professional Web presentation designer.

When a book claims to take a "visual" approach to explaining a difficult concept, it would be helpful to have a "Look Inside" before purchasing it. Personally, I don't purchase any design-oriented books unless the "Look Inside" feature is available. Once burned, twice shy.