The Principles of Beautiful Web Design
Author of this post: Karen Morrill-McClure | About Blog Authors »
I am an engineer by training, a programmer by inclination and a web designer by chance. So, I love organizing information, I can spend hours working on a css or php problem, and I founder when it comes to the colors and the pictures. I’ve read several books about using CSS to make beautiful sites (Zen Garden, transcending css). Wonderful books, but they assume you know how to design the beautiful part of the beautiful sites. What I needed was a book for programmers that explained the basics of designing a good looking site. And, behold, perhaps a month after I thought that, The Principles of Beautiful Web Design by Jason Beaird was published. Talk about timing. Needless to say, I rushed out, bought it, and read it.
Leading You Through the Design Process
The book is organized around the design process of the author, so not only does he tell you how to choose a color scheme, but also where in the process you should be thinking about color. Since I consider myself graphically challenged, I had no idea where to even start when clients wanted a beautiful site design, now I have a process I can follow, that isn’t all that different from the process I follow during the Information Organization and Coding steps of each design.
Through lots of examples and a sample site that he works on throughout the book, Jason Beaird constantly brings the focus of the design back to the focus of the site: What kind of feelings are we trying to evoke, what kind of images? That feels right to me as a usability/information architecture junky.
Filling in the Gaps in My Graphics Knowledge
I found the chapter on texture particularly enlightening. I had a basic knowledge of color and layout, but hadn’t thought much about texture. I’m still not a texture expert, but at least I consider adding some depth to my web pages to keep them from looking like Microsoft Word templates.
While graphic designers probably won’t be enlightened by the explanation of the design process or of color wheels, they may find something in the detailed discussions of how these different design elements affect a web site.
A Meaningful Example
Lots of books have an example site that they use to demonstrate what they are talking about. Often these sites are rather generic e-commerce sites that bear little resemblance to the sites I’m asked to design. Not everyone is trying to sell something online to get rich quick, there are a lot of businesses out there than need a web site because a web site is expected in this day and age.
This example site caught my attention immediately because it started out with the business owner handing over a rather plain black and white business card and saying that was the only graphic design he had for the business. That happens to me a lot (actually, I’ve had clients that don’t even have a business card).
From the start, the example made sense to me and was a useful addition to the book instead of the section of each chapter that I skimmed over.
Bottom Line
This book was exactly what I was looking for. If you’re a web coder who’s stuck making similar looking nav on the left pages, pick up this book and add another dimension to your design skills.
September 26th, 2007 at 11:14 am
[...] Geoffrey James wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThat happens to me a lot (actually, I’ve had clients that don’t even have a business card). From the start, the example made sense to me and was a useful addition to the book instead of the section of each chapter that I skimmed over. … [...]
September 27th, 2007 at 2:08 am
Yeah tend to agree with you that it was a great read and it also helped me fill in various graphic design limitations
http://germworks.net/blog/2007/09/10/the-principles-of-beautiful-web-design-book-review/
September 28th, 2007 at 8:16 am
The Principles of Beautiful Web Design…
Interesting article.I will have to relook into these aspects as of now for my organization and then post about it later….
September 28th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Nice review of this book, the Author Jason Beaird is an amazing designer and I just had the opportunity to see him at the Webmaster Jam in Dallas where he had a wonderful session about web design basics.
Even for the experienced designer this book is a good refresher, lots of little humor parts in it.
January 31st, 2008 at 3:14 pm
This web design book is a must read for any web site designer.
March 20th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
I agree
“This web design book is a must read for any web site designer.”
http://www.ebooknetworking.com/books_detail-0975841963.html
March 27th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
This book seems to have some great reviews - i am tempted to buy it and review it myself. Great recommendation. Thank you.
April 13th, 2008 at 4:18 am
I look to these type of books for inspiration. I’ think I’ll look it over in the bookstore, then buy it if it’s as good as you say.
April 13th, 2008 at 8:43 am
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today on Comment on The Principles of Beautiful Web Design by NetizenHere’s a quick excerptI look to these type of books for inspiration. I’ think I’ll look it over in the bookstore, then buy it if it’s as good as you say. [...]
May 5th, 2008 at 3:15 am
I’m a programer, design is totally hard to me. But I really want to learn something about it.
May 12th, 2008 at 11:03 am
The Design Process
In a web programming book I read recently, the author introduced a fictional scenario to explain why readers needed to design a page layout and create a style sheet for the example application. He basically said that the company web designer was off getting inspiration from somewhere and wouldn’t be back until later in the year. It sounded as if he was implying that designers are prone to flake out and go on vision quests for months at a time, but I’m going to assume the author made that comment in an endearing way, and introduce the same scenario.
Here are the hypothetical details of this scenario: Jim Smith of Smith Services needs a web site. We have his business card and he’s eager to get started. Unfortunately, the designer is out of town … wait, that’s not a good excuse. Let’s say he was injured during a freak dairy cow stampede while attending the South by South West Interactive (SXSWi) festival in Austin, Texas. Yeah, that’s believable. Anyway, he’s out for a few months, and you’re on your own. So where do you start? The actual process of developing an entire site or web application includes a lot of steps, but the process of creating a design comp boils down to only two tasks: discovery and implementation.
May 12th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
[...] kailoon wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptHe basically said that the company web designer was off getting inspiration from somewhere and wouldn’t be back until later in the year. It sounded as if he was implying that designers are prone to flake out and go on vision quests for … [...]
May 13th, 2008 at 6:39 am
I already bought and read this book and I can only recommend it highly.
June 18th, 2008 at 7:11 am
Great article. I always love to read your articles. Keep them comming.