Super Simplistic: really a teaser for other "In Easy Steps" Books
I read the positive reviews on this book and decided to buy it, since it was only $10 and I needed some help with web design. I was severely disappointed, and so were the other two people I loaned it to. First, this book is almost insultingly simple. If you really know absolutely nothing (and I mean NADA!) about what a web site is and how it works, it will be a good starting point for you. If you have even passing knowledge of the web and how it works, you will waste your time. Second, the book contains no actual specific, hands-on information or tutorials. It is an idea book. It offers lots of common sense, often repetitive, general principles of web design, but this is mostly common sense, and all of it could be picked up from online web tutorials for free. The book also features a strange dichotomy: it assumes the reader knows zero about even the most basic web functions, yet it also assumes for the most part that the reader is art of a corporate team building a business website. The book would do far better to assume one or the other, but if it assumes the latter, then the book is madly mismatched to its audience. Finally, while this book only cost me $10 (for information I already knew or could find out for nothing), it is sprinkled with little advertorials for half a dozen other "In Easy Steps" books: HTML, Dreamweaver, Java, XML, etc. In other words, this book will NOT get you to a functioning web site. To do that, plan on dropping another $50 or so on other titles from this company. Why not just buy a solid, honest how-to book in the first place? What the book does get you is endless, repetitive admonishments to "not be different just for its own sake" (basically--follow the normal rules unless you have a good reason not to) and lots of general and incomplete discussions of design concepts. This books is far too general and far too incomplete for anyone but a complete web illiterate.
More than I expected
This book was not what I was expecting when I bought it, it was more than I expected. It was easy to read and understand and very informative. I suggest this book for anyone who is at the beginning stages of designing your website.
A concise but rewarding introduction to web design for the beginner.
This is the best introductory computer book that I have read. Whenever I need to learn a new computer system, language or technology, I like to begin with a less complex book that isn't too overwhelming. This is the practice that I have followed over the past 25 years. Over that period of time I have read several introductory and advanced computer texts. In just under a couple hundred pages, the book is concise but not a word is wasted. The book is full of valuable information, suggestions and references to additional information outside of the text.
The author doesn't just focus on the basic principles of creating a web page or site. He touches upon topics concerning the planning, design, marketing and composition of a web site that I found most rewarding and valuable in reading the book.
Good Overview for Newbies
I just read this book and was impressed. I've been in the business for about 11 years and this book, while more for beginners will help me with how to explain some basic web things to my clients. It covers a lot of the basics and it is more comprehensive than other books that focus on either the tech side of things, the marketing side of thing, or the graphic/aesthetic sides of things. In this book, you'll get the basics of design, usability, info architecture, marketing, SEO, and more in an easy to read and scan book. Plus, there are a lot of handy resources included.
If you;re thinking about getting into web design or if you are starting to work with a web designer or a design firm, this would be a great book to help fill in blanks in the technospeak.
Always useful
I'm no web design expert and although little was new to from this book I've still found it invaluable and am constantly referring to it. It's easy to use and attractive. Mostly it will help make sure you don't forget anything and for beginners it will set you on the right path.
I think that this book does much more for inspiring beginners to do something more than an ugly squared web page too.
