Modern Web Design: Design Principles, Web Standards, Practice by Manuela Hoffman Synopsis Manuela Hoffman’s Modern Web Design is comprehensive but precise, perfect for beginners and a dream work for professionals too. This second updated edition contains the general principles of HTML and XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, server-client servers, AJAX plus design principles and usability issues. Modern Web Design is a web design directory for web designers who not only design but build beautiful, applicable and appealing websites.
Review 1 Modern Web Design is a very good cross-over book as books that deal with design and programming in one volume are limited. The message of this book is that the two worlds of programming and design benefit from being drawn together. This book could almost be described as a panacea because it provides an excellent overview of the elements of web design, web standards, layout, typography, color, media and tools. The book is suitable for beginners as well as advanced web designers and programmers. (Posted by Père Ubu)
Review 2 Good to see a book that deals with programming and design in one volume, though I'm not convinced as to the success of the "cross-over". In parts the book leaps about with no apparent logic but generally I liked this book for its clarity and illustrative force. An ambitious book and at 1,000 pages not a quick read but one to be studied at leisure. (Posted by Web Design in Shrewsbury)
Review 3 In the second edition of Modern Web Design, Manuela Hoffman emphasizes again and again that she is able to be the “jack of all trades” as far as creation on the web is concerned. In three parts plus an appendix, it delivers everything a web designer needs to know to compete in the modern Internet. Creating a website is easy, but to program a really good site still needs sound scientific background. Not everyone who is able to provide something for the Internet gives some thought to whether it is truly useful for its target audience and whether it works. Many web designers do not ask how the site could contribute to the visitors. In this book, Hoffman very clearly points out the differences between print media and websites and analyzes the different approaches to design. The second part is concerned with the unloved-by-many technology. This book claims to present the 100% all-in-one reference, but deals only with the most important commands in HTML and CSS. This book shows how programming knowledge can be implemented, then how that creates a sensible website. The clean, high-quality programming is at the forefront but not exhaustive. However, there are plenty of other works, both in book form and on the Internet that cover the technical details. In the third part the book covers a practical example which is implemented step by step. The book Manuela Hoffmann has produced here is not a classic text book which could be used as a textbook in universities. It's more a cross between textbook and practice book. This is particularly evident by the clear academic approaches, but which are not really deepened. Instead, the reader gets quite a lot of graphics between the paragraphs presented. This style creates a clear work that is exciting and easy to digest. It uses a two-column layout that is full of relevant information and also increases the clarity of the text. It can be seen very well from the book design that Hoffman is a designer through and through. There is no page without graphics so the book can never be boring. This book is ideal for programmers who often see only their source code, but are otherwise not much concerned with aesthetics. Even experienced web designers can learn quite a bit here. For beginners, this book is also a perfect start, as the web projects are created here from the beginning. Good to learn and be inspired by this book! (Posted by Lulu)
Review 4 The book is a nice read for getting into the topic of web design. It offers a panoramic view of designing modern websites, accessibility, standards and addresses many basic rules of graphic design. (Posted by catwoman)