Deconstructing Web Graphics (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this handsome, full-color book for Web designers, Web expert Lynda Weinman and artist Jon Warren Lentz team up to present you with case studies of successfully designed Web sites. The authors interview the artists and programmers who produced each site and dissect the problems and solutions behind each site. The companies whose sites are highlighted include Qaswa, a Web-design company; Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum; Bosch Power Tools, a manufacturer of powered hand tools; National Geographic Society; Akimbo, a Web-design company; and @tlas, a Web magazine. The case studies offer a wide variety of advice: you get tips on using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, Macromedia Flash, DreamWeaver, Shockwave, RealAudio, BBEdit, and GifBuilder; moving from CD-ROM to Web design; understanding tables, frames, Dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets, and JavaScript; and working with information architecture, navigation, and color. An appendix provides brief information on Web color, hexadecimal color, image compression, and Web file formats, and another offers contact information for the book's contributors. The glossary contains computer and design terms. --Kathleen Caster --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From Library Journal

Weinman is a one-woman graphics factory turning out essential web-design guides. Coloring Web Graphics is a simply beautiful description of browser/platform safe colors. Anyone who has carefully designed a web site only to view what looks like a bizarre parody on a friend's machine will welcome this work. The CD is full of color palettes and clip art. Deconstructing is a total case study approach to understanding web design. This hands-on, backwards look at existing web sites includes examinations of the site code in html, Java, JavaScript, ShockWave, and even PhotoShop that produced the sites. Designing Web Graphics is a total approach to building a successful web site, from advice on buying hardware to animation techniques. Especially clear discussions of graphics formats (e.g., jpegs vs. gifs) and navigational graphics are augmented in this second edition with updated information on frames, interactivity, and more. In early summer, look for Preparing Web Graphics (ISBN 1-56205-686-7. $39.99) and Creative HTML Design (ISBN
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 235 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Pub; illustrated edition edition (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562056417
• ISBN-13: 978-1562056414
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,867,632 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An invaluable resource for web designers at any level., September 29, 1998

By	Marc Mannheimer ([e-mail]) (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deconstructing Web Graphics (Paperback)

<deconstructing web graphics.2> is an invaluable resource for web designers at any level. The authors, Lynda Weinman & Jon Warren Lentz have provided us with an overview of six unique and creative web sites. Each site was chosen for its' specific approach and unusual or different use of design resources. The reader/designer is presented, through these deconstructions, with a & Background etc.

The first chapter's site is Qaswa. This is the space-age site of designer/web developer Ammon Haggerty. Weinman & Lentz's opening choice is relevant to the flow of their book. Qaswa is a beautiful site that uses software most of us designers already have on our desktops, Photoshop and Illustrator. Included here is a step-by-step deconstruction of converting Illustrator paths to Photoshop. This task description is an ideal example of how valuable this book can be.

As a Web designer and teacher of web design I have found this book to be a marvelous asset to myself and my students. The authors take the reader through the design stages of each site, from rough conception to completion. They deal with team design, client satisfaction, and the creative process. This last aspect is rather unique for a "techie book". Those of us who do this, or any kind of design (and 'try' to teach it), know that the creative process can be quite weird. For Weinman & Lentz understanding the creative process is a requisite of any good designer.

The six chapters go into a clearly written deconstruction of each site in most cases showing us the code used. Following these six chapters is a concise "Web Graphics Appendix" including small, fast graphics; lots of JPEG stuff etc. <deconstructing web graphics.2> is a needed bible for anyone currently designing for the web or interested in learning "how do they do that"?

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be on every serious Web designer's shelf, May 8, 2000

By	John Harris Stevenson "tranquileye" (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Deconstructing Web Graphics (Paperback)

There are a lot of books about HTML and Web design out there, but few really distinguish themselves as essential. Deconstructing Web Graphics.2 is an exception, and should sit on every serious Web designer's shelf.

Like all of Weinman's work, the book strikes an excellent balance between inspiration and practical techniques. This is a good book for designers who have some experience with Photoshop or Fireworks and want to take the next step. Weinman focuses on case studies of various Web design challenges, and looks at such areas as DHTML, Flash, and Photoshop layers.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cuts to the chase, provides very useful techniques and info, January 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Deconstructing Web Graphics (Paperback)

This is book, <dcwg.2> is pleasantly different from most of the other books that I've read in this subject area. My experience with those other books is twofold: not only am I left feeling burnt for having paid so much for so little, but also I also feel ripped off for having spent so much time trying understand and apply what the author failed to convey.

<dcwg.2> is easy to get into, and it rewards my efforts. It's well written from a Photoshop user's common sense point of view. My only complaint reading yours, which is really a high compliment, is that I want more time in my day to actually apply the neat things I'm reading/learning -- it's that inspiring!