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I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean by web design. So lets start there. a. The look: the graphic design of the page. b. The interaction: Usability and U

by csmeder 16y ago

I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean by web design. So lets start there. a. The look: the graphic design of the page. b. The interaction: Usability and UX c. Designing and coding with good software design principles. d. Some thing else? I can point you to some good books for b. or c., however a. is the holy grail. I have never found a good book on web design from a graphic design perspective. That said Ill share with you what I would consider the closest I have found. ---------------------------------------------------------- a. (Web site Graphic Design) * The non Designer's design book - http://www.amazon.com/Non-Designers-Design-Book-Robin-Williams/dp/0321534042/ http://www.amazon.com/Non-Designers-Design-Book-Robin-Willia... * Visual Language for Designers - http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Language-Designers-Principles-Understand/dp/1592535151/ http://www.amazon.com/Visual-Language-Designers-Principles-U... * Tuft's Envisioning Information - http://www.amazon.com/Envisioning-Information-Edward-R-Tufte/dp/0961392118/ http://www.amazon.com/Envisioning-Information-Edward-R-Tufte... * I have found some good online articles http://delicious.com/csmeder/ux http://delicious.com/csmeder/ux ---------------------------------------------------------- b. (Usability and UX) * Web Form Design: Filling in the Blanks - http://www.lukew.com/resources/web_form_design.asp http://www.lukew.com/resources/web_form_design.asp * The Design of Sites: Patterns for Creating Winning Web Sites - http://www.amazon.com/Design-Sites-Patterns-Creating-Winning/dp/0131345559 http://www.amazon.com/Design-Sites-Patterns-Creating-Winning... * And again Tuft's Envisioning Information - http://www.amazon.com/Envisioning-Information-Edward-R-Tufte/dp/0961392118/ http://www.amazon.com/Envisioning-Information-Edward-R-Tufte... * Information Design Workbook http://www.amazon.com/Information-Design-Workbook-approaches-inspiration/dp/1592536271/ http://www.amazon.com/Information-Design-Workbook-approaches... ---------------------------------------------------------- c. (software design and coding) * Bulletproof Web Design - http://www.amazon.com/Bulletproof-Web-Design-flexibility-protecting/dp/0321509021/ http://www.amazon.com/Bulletproof-Web-Design-flexibility-pro... * Handcrafted CSS - http://www.amazon.com/Handcrafted-CSS-More-Bulletproof-Design/dp/0321643380/ http://www.amazon.com/Handcrafted-CSS-More-Bulletproof-Desig... * jQuery in Action - http://www.amazon.com/jQuery-Action-Second-Bear-Bibeault/dp/1935182323/ http://www.amazon.com/jQuery-Action-Second-Bear-Bibeault/dp/...

caffeine 16y ago
Excellent! What a helpful list. This is one of my major stumbling blocks as a programmer trying to build usable apps.
daleharvey 16y ago
great list, thanks I wrote a blog post the went very briefly about design tips for programmers http://arandomurl.com/2010/07/07/design-tips-for-programmers.html http://arandomurl.com/2010/07/07/design-tips-for-programmers... there is also a few linked resources from there, the video and the book at the end are really good.
- csmeder 16y ago
  Ha, yes I liked it. In fact your actually part of the list above under: I have found some good online articles http://delicious.com/csmeder/ux http://delicious.com/csmeder/ux
ewoodh2o 16y ago
I found the SitePoint book "The Principles of Beautiful Web Design" (http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Beautiful-Web-Design/dp/0975841963 http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Beautiful-Web-Design/dp/097...) to be very informative as well. It's a great introduction to a lot of different aspects of design that programmers generally don't think about when trying to mimic more professionally-designed sites. I read it two years ago, and it was a bit easier to digest at the time because most of the designs presented still felt current. However, keep in mind that while the designs presented in many of these resources may look outdated, the principles behind them are solid. Tastes and trends may change, but running through a few Photoshop tutorials will get you up to speed on the execution of the latest styles. More importantly though, design basics such as readability, whitespace, proximity, alignment, proportion, color, texture, etc are timeless. If you can distill those important aspects from the materials you're reading, you'll be much better off in the long run than if you just try to copy techniques from whatever the most modern resource currently is.
barmstrong 16y ago
Added yours to this list (with some voting) in case anyone is interested: http://buyersvote.com/categories/the-best-books-to-learn-graphic-design http://buyersvote.com/categories/the-best-books-to-learn-gra...

by csmeder 16y ago

caffeine 16y ago

Excellent! What a helpful list. This is one of my major stumbling blocks as a programmer trying to build usable apps.

daleharvey 16y ago

great list, thanks I wrote a blog post the went very briefly about design tips for programmers http://arandomurl.com/2010/07/07/design-tips-for-programmers.html http://arandomurl.com/2010/07/07/design-tips-for-programmers... there is also a few linked resources from there, the video and the book at the end are really good.

csmeder 16y ago
Ha, yes I liked it. In fact your actually part of the list above under: I have found some good online articles http://delicious.com/csmeder/ux http://delicious.com/csmeder/ux

ewoodh2o 16y ago

I found the SitePoint book "The Principles of Beautiful Web Design" (http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Beautiful-Web-Design/dp/0975841963 http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Beautiful-Web-Design/dp/097...) to be very informative as well. It's a great introduction to a lot of different aspects of design that programmers generally don't think about when trying to mimic more professionally-designed sites. I read it two years ago, and it was a bit easier to digest at the time because most of the designs presented still felt current. However, keep in mind that while the designs presented in many of these resources may look outdated, the principles behind them are solid. Tastes and trends may change, but running through a few Photoshop tutorials will get you up to speed on the execution of the latest styles. More importantly though, design basics such as readability, whitespace, proximity, alignment, proportion, color, texture, etc are timeless. If you can distill those important aspects from the materials you're reading, you'll be much better off in the long run than if you just try to copy techniques from whatever the most modern resource currently is.

barmstrong 16y ago

Added yours to this list (with some voting) in case anyone is interested: http://buyersvote.com/categories/the-best-books-to-learn-graphic-design http://buyersvote.com/categories/the-best-books-to-learn-gra...