Customer Reviews

WWW.Layout: Effective Design and Layout for the World Wide Web

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

 

 

I haven't read the whole of this book yet but first impressions show that it carries the same impressive style of others in the series. However one amazing oversight makes me wonder just how much credibility to place in this title. This occurs when discussing web-authoring software. To quote: "The web-authoring software world is dominated by two major-league players: Microsoft and Adobe" He refers, of course, to FrontPage and GoLive. Nowhere is any mention made to Macromedia in general or Dreamweaver in particular. Even the most commited Adobe-phile cannot deny the current pre-eminence of DreamWeaver in this whole area. And so I think to myself - if Jerry Glenwright is so far off the mark with that then how can I trust any of the other content in this book? The three stars awarded is done on a purely arbitrary basis - it would be unfair to judge a book fully without reading it first. However, such a major mistake leaves me wondering if it is worth reading the whole book.

This book takes a total graphic artists approach to layout - after you get through the first half of the book dedicated to simple web terminology and technology like CSS and HTML with very simplistic explanations. Even then, it does nothing with the nuts and bolts, but rather tells you things like "CSS allows you to specify exact font size".

When you DO get to the layout section, they take only the most artistic sites to review - and then they're not even broken down to see how they're put together. It's just page after page of screenshots and little quips like "here's that white background again!"

It's little more than a coffee table book - one suitable only for graphiuc designers who fancy switching mediums. If you're looking for ideas and inspiration for practical web layouts, look ELSEWHERE!

I bought this book under the impression that it would have at least basic information about the process of creating a layout for a web page, and/or critiques/breakdowns of "good" and "bad" web page layouts.

I became increasingly disappointed as I read: not only did I find neither of these things, but to my chagrin, the book encourages dated HTML techniques, gives only cursory attention to CSS (which will soon be THE qualification for web designers), as well as patent disregard (ignorance?) for usability and accessibility issues.

The "Show Case" of screen shots at the back of the book is a great idea, and well done, as another reviewer pointed out. However, it would not only add value for the reader, but create a much more professional feel for the book, if some sort of design critique were given for each of the examples. Without this, it feels amateurish, however nice the paper, the layout and the graphic quality of the book.

I give it two stars for 1) the screenshot "Showcase", and 2) the layout of the book itself.

This book is filled with gorgeous images and beautiful screen captures (500 to be exact); however, its content seems to be lacking a bit. There is little mention of how to use tables, frames, templates, and other important tools for Web-site development. Also, the key mantras of many graphic designers (such as consistency, themes, relevancy, etc.) are not included. Though the pictures are perfect, you really have to read the captions to learn anything important about Web layout. For better information on Web layout, go to Robin Williams' and John Tollett's "The Non-Designer's Design Book" or "The Non-Designer's Web Book."

I thought this was an excellent book. It explains a wide variety of this with very little explanation but I felt the variety of the illustrations of the actual websites using this really said it all. They really did an awesome job with the screen shots, I have never seen any look so real. You felt you were right there at your computer this is how clear and vivid they do look. I think this book will come in handy to look back at sort of as a reference....or maybe just to view the illustrations again. :)