Advanced Representation

Essential Text Books

The books in this section form a core of texts that cover all the topics addressed during the Advanced Representation course. All of them are available from the library but you should probably aim to own a copy of at least 2 or 3 of them, especially those of you who intend to take web design to the next level.

HTML and CSS Web Standards Solutions: A Web Standardistas' Approach by Christopher Murphy & Nicklas Persson

This book is specifically aimed at undergraduate students, learning web design from the ground up. The authors, Christopher Murphy and Nicklas Persson (the Web Standardistas), teach web design at the University of Ulster and this book was intended as a "how to" guide in one package for final year degree students and contains everything the web design beginner needs to know about getting a well-structured, standards-compliant website online.

One of the things I like about it most is that it covers the stuff left out of other books. Specifically, web hosting and domain names, in a chapter entitled Getting your site online. Where most books teach the basics of HTML and CSS, leaving it at that, the Standardistas know that what students really want is to see their stuff up there, online.

The book is also realistic. It doesn't try to pack too much in, it's well paced, focussing on the important stuff and making sure the reader is comfortable with this. The book is intended as a first step and encourages readers to continue their journey towards web design expertise by recommending follow-up reading and citing additional topic areas that should be explored in a final chapter entitled Where to from here?

Finally, the authors have not have not been content with simply writing a book. Naturally, there's an accompanying website at www.webstandardistas.com where you will find links to all the content referred to in the book and links to lots of useful stuff.

HTML and CSS Web Standards Solutions is available at Amazon.co.uk.

Avery Hill Library copies: 4 ~ view catalogue entry

HTML Dog: The Best-Practice Guide to XHTML & CSS by Patrick Griffiths

This book is a clear, modern and straightforward approach to current best-practice in web design and is an ideal primer for those who are new to the discipline. It covers all the basics and assumes no prior knowledge. The book is a good mixture of theory and practice with plenty of illustrations. It begins with a good introductory section that gives the reader a general overview of the basic principles, followed by a chapter on HTML and CSS syntax. Subsequent chapters include Text, Links, Images and Layout and the book finishes with a comprehensive appendix which forms a very good reference for XHTML and CSS. This is probably the best beginners' book for those who have never done any web coding before. Those with at least a little experience might consider Craig Grannell's "Essential Guide to CSS and HTML Web Design" as a more substantial introduction to modern web design.

Readers of this book should also visit the accompanying HTML Dog website (in truth, it's the book that accompanies the website) because it is full of excellent tutorials and additional information. In fact, you should use the website even if you don't own the book - it's that good.

The Best-Practice Guide to XHTML & CSS is available at Amazon.co.uk

Avery Hill Library copies: 4 (1 on study loan) ~ view catalogue entry

Web Style Guide (3rd Ed.) by Patrick J. Lynch and Sarah Horton

The Web Style Guide (3rd Ed.) by Patrick J. Lynch and Sarah Horton is a relatively slim volume but it packs a lot in. The book is concise and clear and covers all the basic considerations of site and page design. In fact, this is the book you should read first if you are considering building a web site. It covers topics such as site hierarchy, page layout, typography and web graphics to name but a few. The book contains lots of example sites and explanatory diagrams, illustrated in full colour. This is another very important text for the Webpage Design course and it perfectly compliments "Web Design in a Nutshell" by covering the non-technical areas of the course.

Despite the fact that this book is now a few years old, it is not out-of-date because the authors have been careful not to focus on the technologies used for building websites nor the browsers used for displaying them. Rather, they consider the generic design elements of webpage and website design. These basic design principles hold true, irrespective of the technological context and in this 3rd edition, they bring the book up-to-date by considering the disign of contemporary webpages.

This book is excellent and it's even available free on the web in a HTML version at www.webstyleguide.com. However, should you need a paper copy, you can buy it from Amazon.co.uk.

Avery Hill Library copies: 6 ~ view catalogue entry

The Principles of Beautiful Web Design by Jason Beaird

This book could be subtitled "Graphic Design for Websites" because that's exactly what it is. In 5 chapters, entitled "Layout and Composition", "Color", "Texture", "Typography" and "Imagery", Beaird discusses all the various graphic components and concepts relevant to building websites. This is not a code book but it is a valuable reference for the early stages of web design. Get these principles right and you'll make great looking websites.

Although this book is relatively slim at just 168 pages, it is chock full of useful information. In particular, almost every page has a footnote containing one or more links that take the reader to even more information on the topic in question. "What's the point of a link in a book?" I hear you asking. Well, this book (like all Sitepoint books) is available as a PDF and in the PDF book, all the links are live. Again, as with all Sitepoint books, there is a sample PDF containing a few chapters that you can download for free.

The Principles of Beautiful Web Design is available at Amazon.co.uk.

Avery Hill Library copies: 9 ~ view catalogue entry

Web Design Index by Content.02 compiled by Günter Beer

If you need a little inspiration for the design and layout of your website, this is a great place to start. The book is organised by website type, so there are sections such as "Architecture & Interior Design", "Design & Illustration", "Food & Drink", "Internet", "Photography" etc. The variety of sites is good, ranging from graphic-strong to text based and in all cases, the design is exemplary. Such indexes are often stuffed with Flash-based site designs because they are often the most graphically rich. To its credit, this book also features a high proportion of XHTML/CSS sites and clearly demonstrate how such techniques can be used to create beautiful, sites.

Web Design Index by Content.02 is available from Amazon.co.uk.

Avery Hill Library copies: 2 (1 on study loan) ~ view catalogue entry
Also available; Web Design Index by Content.03: 1 ~ view catalogue entry

Design Basics Index by Jim Krause

This book is the perfect graphic design primer for those who have never previously had to think about where and how objects should be placed on a page. The book is designed as a quick reference but can easily be read through from start to finish (recommended). It covers all of the basic components of graphic design such as colour, image, typography, and the grid but it also takes a detailed look at various concepts such as hierarchy, flow, grouping and proportion.

This is a comprehensive but compact and accessible book. It is written in a clear and informal style and along the way there are numerous exercises for the reader that help to create a better understanding of the topics being discussed. Needless to say, the book itself is beautifully designed. Everyone should read this book.

Design Basics Index is available at Amazon.co.uk.

Avery Hill Library copies: 4 ~ view catalogue entry

Design Elements: A Graphic Style Manual by Timothy Samara

Timothy Samara's book is a primer that illustrates and discusses all the basic principles of graphic design in a direct and easily digestible format. The book consists of 5 chapters; "Form and Space", "Color Fundamentals", "Choosing and Using Type", "The World of Image" and "Putting it All Together". Each one is lavishly illustrated with excellent examples that clearly illustrate the topic under consideration.

In addition to the 5 chapters, the reader will learn the author's "Twenty Rules for Making Good Design", a very good checklist of what to do and what to avoid. Although a book of this nature cannot contain everything that may be relevant, this book comes close and is the best one-volume introduction to graphic design I have seen.

Design Elements - A Graphic Style Manual is available at Amazon.co.uk.

Avery Hill Library copies: 4 ~ view catalogue entry

Letterhead & Logo Design 8 by Top Design Studio

There are dozens of design source books out there but this one is better than most. This, the 8th volume in the series, showcases a wide range of letterheads, business cards and logos in a variety of styles, all selected by Los Angeles based Top Design Studio. Naturally, there's a North American bias to the selected designs but there's just enough European design to give the book some edge.

The book is a great resource and contains lots of useful and interesting ideas for composition, colour choice and typography. Whether you're looking for something classic, modern, playful or just cool, there's an example in this book.

Letterhead & Logo Design 8 is available at Amazon.co.uk.

Avery Hill Library copies: 2 ~ view catalogue entry

The Best of Business Card Design: No.7 by Loewy:London

This is an excellent book, full of interesting and innovative takes on the business card. Since the examples are chosen by a London based design firm, the designs have a more European flavour than other volumes in this series. There are a wide variety of business card types illustrated here, using a range of different techniques and styles. There are great examples of die cutting, typography, graphic illustration, photography, mimicry, humour and great use of colour to get you inspired.

The Best of Business Card Design: No.7 is available at Amazon.co.uk.

Avery Hill Library copies: 2 ~ view catalogue entry

Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler

Universal Principles of Design, subtitled "100 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design" is essentially a directory of all those design terms and "buzz phrases" that you know you ought to know the meaning of. The authors have chosen 100 design ideas and concepts and devote a double-page spread to each. Concepts such as Ockhams Razor, Fibonacci Sequence, Iteration and Legibility (the basics that all designers must understand) are beautifully described and illustrated with excellent examples to illustrate each point.

This is a general design reference although website examples are used where appropriate. All students of design should read this book and all designers should at least consider it a check list for their own knowledge and understanding.

Universal Principles of Design is available at Amazon.co.uk.

Avery Hill Library copies: 5 ~ view catalogue entry

Further reading

The books below all fill in gaps, overlap and expand upon the "Essential Text Books" listed above. You do not need to own them but they may be used as good alternatives or simply to explore a bit more of the subject.

Web Standards Solutions by Dan Cederholm

OK, so you learned about XHTML and you learned about CSS and you even learned about how they can work together. But what about technique and method? What is the best practice for creating navigation bars? Never fear, Dan Cederholm is here to show you how.

In truth, many of the methods described in this book are now standard practice for the seasoned web designer but for the beginner who has just got to grips with XHTML and CSS, this book is invaluable. The book focuses on best practice coding for the most common page elements such as headings, navigation, forms, page layout, styling text and, of course, image replacement. The book is well written and although it deals with some complicated issues, it does so in an easy and engaging way.

Web Standards Solutions is available from Amazon.co.uk.

Avery Hill Library copies: 1 ~ view catalogue entry

CSS Mastery - Advanced Web Standards Solutions (2nd Ed.) by Andy Budd

As its title suggests, this book picks up where Dan Cederholm's book (Web Standards Solutions) leaves off. Essentially, Andy Budd gives us more of the same. More methods, more power, and being a more recent publication, more "now". The book covers many of the same topics as Designing with Web Standards but just takes them to the next level. The two books, though, are not interchangeable. Beginners are strongly advised to work with Dan Cederholm's book first and then move on to this one. There is lots of really nice stuff in this book but if I were pressed to pick one section over the others, it would be the two chapters on Styling Links and Creating Nav Bars. They contain some lovely methods with beautiful results.

CSS Mastery (Advanced Web Standards Solutions) is available from Amazon.co.uk.

Avery Hill Library copies: 2 ~ view catalogue entry

Handcrafted CSS - More Bulletproof Web Design by Dan Cederholm

This is an inspirational book. It's full of useful techniques that produce excellent and beautiful results. Most importantly, it demonstrates how CSS3 can be implemented now by adopting what Dan Cederholm describes as "progressive enrichment", a philosophy that says it's OK that websites can look different in different browsers - in fact, that they should look different because some browsers are more capable than others and we should allow those browsers to provide a better user experience.

This is a full-colour book so that you can easily see the graphic results of the accompanying code - a really good way to learn. Read this book, cover-to-cover (it's not that long) and start working with CSS3 now. Also, if you can afford a little extra, the DVD edition is excellent too.

Handcrafted CSS is available at Amazon.co.uk.

Avery Hill Library copies: electronic ~ view catalogue entry

The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher

A wonderful book. Every designer should own a copy. This book is a golden treasury of design ideas, anecdotes, interesting facts and fantastic images. This is a book to reach for when you're short on inspiration. A few minutes (or hours - it's difficult to put down) later, you will feel refreshed and ready for any design challenge.

The book is best described by its author: "This book attempts to open windows to glimpse views rather than dissect the pictures on the wall. To look at things from unlikely angles. References to sources are occasionally provided to keep you going. The book has no thesis, is neither a whodunnit nor a how-to-do-it, has no beginning, middle or end. It's a journey without a destination."

Buy it and cherish it, The Art of Looking Sideways is available at Amazon.co.uk and is an absolute bargain.

Avery Hill Library copies: 9 ~ view catalogue entry