The Principles of Beautiful Web Design

Posted by admin | July 14, 2009 .

The Principles of Beautiful Web Design

Tired of making web sites that work absolutely perfectly but just don’t look nice?

If so, then The Principles of Beautiful Web Design is for you. A simple, easy-to-follow guide, illustrated with plenty of full-color examples, this book will lead you through the process of creating great designs from start to finish. Good design principles are not rocket science, and using the information contained in this book will help you create stunning web sites.

Understand the design process, from discovery to implementation

Understand what makes “good design”

Developing pleasing layouts using grids, the rule of thirds, balance and symmetry

Use color effectively, develop color schemes and create a palette

Use textures, lines, points, shapes, volumes and depth

Learn how good typography can make ordinary designs look great

Effective imagery: choosing, editing and placing images

And much moreThroughout the book, you’ll follow an example design, from concept to completion, learning along the way. The book’s full-color layout and large format (8″ x 10″) make The Principles Of Beautiful Wed Design a pleasure to read.

Editorial Reviews

“The Principles of Beautiful Web Design is a good book to kick start your graphic-design journey. The biggest benefit that I got from this book is the knowledge to learn from great designs as opposed to just admiring them in a state of awe.” – Slashdot.org

“Jason is a great writer, and the book is quite easy to read. It’s put together wonderfully, including many full color screenshots and other forms of imagery that make the book a pleasure to read. I’d definitely recommend the book to anyone in Web design.” – MondayByNoon

“Jason Beaird covers web design in a way that non-designers can understand. He walks you through all of the aspects of design development from initial meeting to finished product. If you are just getting into web development, this is a must read.” – Blogcritics.org

“This is a thoroughly practical guide to web design that is very well written: good technical depth in easy-to-understand language with excellent illustrations and graphics that support the text. For many users it will be the only web-design text they will need. For those who want to further advance their skills and knowledge it will provide a sound foundation.” – PC Update

“His “Don’t just tell, show!” style makes this book accessible to everyone… It strikes a carefully thought-out balance between describing principles and illustrating them. It is clear and well structured, with practical examples in every chapter.” – Mitch Wheat

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Great summary of design principles for the web
I enjoyed reading this concise and comprehensive summary of general design principles for the web. It stands out among the very few graphic design books available for web developers. It should be a must have for anyone in the field.

4 Stars Beautiful indeed
This is not a hands-on book; this is more of a “look at these pretty websites” book. But it’s one of the best of its breed. The examples are well-chosen and illustrate important principles in layout, color and typography that the author touches on lightly and enjoyably.

3 Stars A good overview
This book reads fine and is light reading. Good enough to get familiar with the subject and go through quickly. Suitable for those unfamiliar with the process one takes to web design. For those who have built sites, it maybe too basic and familiar, at least for me it was.

First the materials and printing. The materials used on the inside was printed on stock that resembles paper used for kids coloring books. With such a strong title as “PRINCIPLES” associated with art/design type of work, it should be printed on heavier paper, and glossy too. An example would be the same stock as what Adobe uses in its Classroom In A Book series.

Next, price. $39.95 retail for this quality of book is too high for what it delivered. I seen much more stronger books with greater detail, more content, and better quality printing. This 160 page book should fall in the $29.95 and under category. Compare this book with the O’Reilly books which offers more technical depth, even the Head Rush series as well and its not on the same level.

Finally, the material. The coverage was good but it just felt too light in material. The problem is, it didn’t feel authoratative, lacked depth, and looked to “Dummy” like to be titled THE PRINCIPLES OF WEB DESIGN.

“A Simple Guide To Web Design” would have been more appropriate. While I did get something out of it, it really wasn’t something that deserves a “Wow this is the best book on web design” award.

4 Stars Every web designer needs this book
I’ve always been a hand coder who’s better at making stream-lined, functional, easy-to-navigate… but not very pretty sites. This book breaks down the basics of graphic design for web designers. Concepts are easy to grasp, well explained and illustrated. If you’re a web designer and you aren’t so savvy on the design half of that, you need this book!

4 Stars Beautiful Web Design
This is a great book to learn about and review principles of design, especially web design. It is an easy read, well structured and, as I visual learner, I love the many pictures and figures throughout the book. This is a simple step-by-step guide to web design that I recommend. Enjoy!

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