11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
learning how to look, October 3, 2002
Finally! Someone who knows what makes a website work, and is willing to tell the rest of us. This book is very aptly titled: "Layout", as opposed to "Linux". It teaches me what to look for in a web site design that is effective in both marketing and aesthetic. It gives me all the options I need to design well with plenty of compelling examples. This is not an advanced programming book. In fact, it starts with very basic things. Like using legible fonts. Like pale colored backgrounds (instead of black backgrounds with red lettering). As a professional artist, I know how I want my images to come across on my website. If my site is poor then I lose business. I don't want to spend thousands for a site that looks poor, nor to learn a new career in order to market my current career. The structuring of the lessons, the online resources listed, the tips and commentary in Layout are all excellent.
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
the problem is >>, February 19, 2003
This is the book for begginers , it gives you
basic rules about creating webpages , it gives
you scripts that you can find in web without any help.
It has true words and nice photoes but nothing more, if
you're searching something about : how to do nice-looked
webpages , how to organize work by using grid, make good color
combinations , work with typography to find attractive
solutions, you will not find it here.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
For the absolute beginner only, May 24, 2002
This review is from: Web Tricks and Techniques: Layout: Fast Solutions for Hands-On Design (Paperback)
If you read the editorial review, terms like "all experience levels", "latest technologies", and "latest effects" are used or implied throughout. The book, however, covers only what a beginner would have learned in the first month from his/her first HTML/Javascript book.
Only the most minimal explanation is given for anything. Instead, you're constantly told to "take the tutorial at ..."- Note to author: if you write a book, include some content. Readers don't want to pay [$] for a printed list of online tutorials.
In short, there are no 'top design experts' that had any input into this book in 2002 (the pub. date). Maybe frames and nested tables were 'cutting edge' in 1997, but they're old news in 2002, and are far from what design experts would be talking about today.
If you're a beginner looking to get up to speed on a few basic design tricks, there are better, more explanatory books that you can find with a basic search. If you have any experience at all in the field, there will be nothing in here you didn't master long ago.
I had to rate this at 1 star because even if the book was misrepresented against the author's wishes (maybe she didn't mean to have it portrayed as an advanced book), it doesn't even do a good job of explaining the basics (instead referring you online as mentioned above). Sorry to be so harsh, but this book is not worth the high quality stock it's printed on.
Now excuse me- I have to go return this and get something helpful...
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