Web by Design: The Complete Guide

A company webmaster needs just the kinds of knowledge that Molly E. Holzschlag imparts in this book. She is a by training a designer who succeeds in transfering the best principles of graphic design to a Web format while the observing the peculiarities that differentiate Web design from print design.

Holzschlag teaches what she calls "holistic Web design," which takes into account the combined power of the various elements of website design: HTML, space, graphics, topography, and programming. She begins with basic lessons in HTML, but rapidly moves into the more complex techniques used for layout and design. She also explains how to optimize images in GIF and JPEG formats, and how to select the correct format for a particular image. But Web by Design isn't just technique; it explains the principles and then gives them a foundation in technique.

The book covers an understanding of color principles, the use of the Web safe palette, as well as principles of typography on the Web, far beyond on most website design books I've seen. But while the book is strong on design, it is weakest in the area of programming. The latter sections of the book have cursory chapters on interactivity, CGI programming, etc., but they aren't so much instruction as an introduction to the field.

This book shares a good bit of the same ground as Laura LeMay's excellent Web Publishing with HTML 4, but with a marked difference. LeMay comes at HTML as a computer technician, while Holzschlag approaches it as a designer. The book also covers some similar material as Lynda Weinman's well-done Designing Web Graphics 2, but with a much more comprehensive approach to design and less emphasis on the technical aspects of preparing Web images.

This is a book I'll keep on my shelf just for the helpful appendices. It includes a detailed HTML reference, a cross-browser reference that shows which HTML tags are supported by which browsers, a list of colors that can be referred to by name rather than RGB number, and a full set of HTML codes to produce accented characters, fractions, common symbols, and Greek letters. Color plates in the center of the book provide accurately printed color swatches for each of the 216 colors in the Web safe palette, with both hex and decimal RGB numbers for each. In addition, the book includes 24 color palette combinations that can be used together in a site to create a particular feel, providing a guide for those without a highly refined sense of color balance.

I believe this will become a standard website design book. If you're merely seeking to learn HTML, this book is overkill, but if your goal is to produce professional looking sites, Web by Design is just the thing. It's the kind of book I recommend giving to the person charged with maintaining and improving a company website. It'll be especially appreciated by graphic designers learning to design in a Web-friendly manner, and will make an excellent textbook for a college-level website design class.

You may purchase it at discount from Amazon.com using this URL:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0782122019/wilsoninternetseA/

Other excellent books mentioned in this article can also be purchased at a discount:

• Teach Yourself Web Publishing With HTML 4 in 14 Days (Second Professional Reference Edition) by Laura LeMay
• Designing Web Graphics 2 by Lynda Weinman

Read additional articles from Web Marketing Today, Issue 49, October 1, 1998