Anne Kowalski

This is one of my favorites.

I'd been searching for a while for a design book that gives simple explanations of why they do something, not just how. I've read a few books and have taken a few art and design classes, but it seems that most of the time they can't explain how they get from a blank canvas or screen to the final masterpiece. Likewise, books about the technical side of web design ignore the visual aspect, saying "it is the job of the designer".

So what are you supposed to do if you're in the middle of the web design road - not a hard-core coder, yet not an artist?

The Principles of Beautiful Web Design fills the niche of not-quite-artist web design enthusiasts. This book lays out the very basic fundamentals of design in a way that anyone can understand, regardless of their background. There's an in-depth chapter with layout fundamentals such as the the golden ratio and rule of thirds, as well as chapters about typography, color, and texture.

Instead of being being very broad and open like most design books, this one one is a little bit more specific about exactly what looks good. (For example, using a diagonal instead of horizontal line texture in your background can give the page more energy.)

A little bit of CSS as well as Photoshop how-tos are included, but the primary focus is on the visual aspect of the website. This I would say about half the book is timeless design concepts (such as picking an attractive color palette), while the other half is about current trends (such as the glossy Web 2.0 look).

The book mentions some helpful tips such as creating a postage stamp style image border, and using pure CSS drop-shadows, but in most cases lists specific websites that have more information about how to accomplish certain features. This is actually a better way of going about it - by the time the book is printed and on the shelf, very few techniques inside are obsolete.

I am very happy with this book. I got all sorts of ideas on improving current sites and creating new ones. It is written in a fun yet professional tone, and it wasn't difficult at all to follow the author's train of thought. Still, there is a surprisingly large amount of information packed inside the 163 pages. Reading it chapter-by-chapter is the best way of making sure you don't get too overwhelmed at once.