Website Graphics Now - Softcover

Douglas, Noel; Strengholt, Geert J.; Velthoven, Willem

Softcover

ISBN 10: 050028119X ISBN 13: 9780500281192

Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1999

Synopsis

From educational sites to corporate communications, social services to electronic publishing, this is an inside look at the present and future of digital communication. A sequel to "Website Graphics", it complements the latter by providing more in-depth information on the creation of websites. Thirty of today's most successful and innovative sites are showcased, accompanied by articles on the future of Web design. The chosen sites include examples of "older" techniques as well as "state of the art" experiments. The principle of "Viewsource", the ability to look at the programming of a website to see how it has been put together, and one of the main learning tools of the Web designer, is explored in both textual and visual form. Technical attention focuses on interaction and navigation, WWW layout tables, frames, stylesheets, typography, imagery and animations, shockwave and flash, dynamic HTML and cascading stylesheets. Three introductory articles discuss topics such as the future of Web design programmes and techniques used in visualizing the process of site design and development, the time-based dimension of multi-media Web design and the demise of the Viewsource principle.

About this title

Review

Chock-full of electronic eye candy, Website Graphics Now surveys a number of cutting-edge Web sites created by companies and individuals from around the world. The editors of the book, from the Netherlands' Mediamatic Magazine, sift through and examine the great elements incorporated into the Web sites featured in an adequate attempt to outline the requirements for great Web design.

Editor Erik Spiekermann makes a smart decision during the preface with the acknowledgement that "whatever I might want to say about any cool new stuff-- Flash, Shockwave, you name it--may be well out of date by the time you're reading this". The statement lends a great deal of credibility to the need for the book, allowing readers to concentrate more on the design elements used on these Web sites rather than the technologies used to implement them. Without this consideration and a general focus beyond technologies the book would be no more than a time capsule holding numerous beautifully produced full- colour screenshots of once exciting Web destinations.

The large format of the book lends itself well to explorations of navigation on sites like "The Secret Garden of Mutabor" (http://www.yenz.com/menue/garden). In the section dedicated to this narrative- and animation-rich site, multiple slides illustrate pathways through what functions much like an elegant and story-centered game. Other Web sites featured in the book include the fully mapped out Mercedes-Benz A-Class promotional site, the Colors Magazine site and a number of other big corporate names along with lesser-known but innovatively designed sites.

It's strange to think that the editors could have more easily posted their commentaries of these Web sites and linked to them from their own site. However, the most valuable attribute of this type of book may very well be that it directs the eyes to URLs that could have been missed or never discovered at all. -- Ryan Kuykendall

Edition details

• Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 050028119X
• ISBN 13: 9780500281192
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160
• Editor: Douglas Noel