Reviews

Five Simple Steps

First announced in 2006, but now available to buy as a thoughtfully designed book in PDF format, Mark Boulton’s Five Simple Steps - subtitled ‘A Practical Guide to Designing for the Web’ - is a comprehensive and considered introduction to the craft of graphic design as applied to the world of the web.

Bolton’s focus on craftsmanship, attention to detail and the fundamental principles of graphic design are what sets Five Simple Steps apart from the many other books that aim to introduce the design aspect of the web design equation.

Drawing on his experience as a designer working at some of the world’s most respected design agencies (not to mention a period at the BBC), coupled with his extensive knowledge of running his own practice, Five Simple Steps is an excellent primer on both the process of design (from brief to execution) and the principles of design (covering typography, colour and layout).

With both single and generously discounted site licenses available, Five Simple Steps should occupy pride of place on any aspiring web designer’s virtual book shelf.

1233855000 · Christopher Murphy · Follow Us on Twitter

CSS Artistry

CSS Artistry is a web design masterclass in a box. Combining Andy Clarke’s excellent book Transcending CSS with Inspired CSS, a 2 1/2-hour masterclass on DVD, the resulting boxed set is an indispensable resource that you can return to again and again, for inspiration and reference.

With a heavy focus on the creative design aspects of the web development process, Clarke – an internationally recognized speaker and designer who focuses on creative and accessible web design – brings his trademark charisma and unbridled enthusiasm to an excellent web design resource.

Given that the cost of a one-day masterclass with the aforementioned Mr. Clarke runs to more than ten times the cost of the combined book and DVD, CSS Artistry is, shall we say, a bargain.

Get it at Amazon.

1231191240 · Christopher Murphy · Follow Us on Twitter

The Periodical

The most recent entries in the Periodical and Reviews sections:

• Trent Walton is a designer, speaker and relentless typographic experimenter with a passion for car culture, specifically 60s car culture of the United States of America. He lives and works in Texas Hill Country. We asked Mr Walton a dozen questions…
• Tina Roth Eisenberg, perhaps better known by her swissmiss moniker, is a 'Swiss Designer Gone NYC', with an eye for beautifully designed products that she writes about at swissmiss. She lives and works in NYC. We asked Ms Roth Eisenberg a dozen questions…
• AIGA have long fought the good fight against crowdsourcing, clearly articulating the very real issues that plague the 'winner takes all' approach to sourcing design by subcontracting it to the masses…

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HTML and CSS Web Standards Solutions

Learn how to build hand-crafted web pages using well-structured XHTML and lean and efficient CSS. By embracing a web standards approach, HTML and CSS Web Standards Solutions enables you to create web sites that not only look great in all modern browsers, but are also accessible to a wide variety of audiences across a range of platforms - from those browsing on everyday computers, to those accessing the web on the latest, emerging mobile devices.

Get it at Amazon.

The Authors

In addition to their role as lecturers in interactive design at the University of Ulster at Belfast, where they have been active in promoting a web standards-based curriculum, Christopher Murphy and Nicklas Persson are practicing designers and digital artists. Their work has featured in a variety of design books and magazines alongside numerous internationally respected designers and they are regular speakers at design conferences and workshops worldwide.

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