Please Recommend Good Beginner Web Design Book (non-programming)

[h0kie99]

Thank you all for all the help you've provided so far. :D

I am going to the beach this weekend and I would love to get a good (INTERESTING) book on the business side of web design so I can get my brain flowing. I'm not looking for a book on HTML or any other languages, just good reading to get me started.

I'm looking for something that talks about the overall aspects of starting out as a web designer: planning & organizing the project, creating the best sites, what not to do, design concepts, search engine optimization, etc..

Any thoughts? If I went to B&N on my own I'd just pick the book with the nicest cover... so I'd love some assistance. :p

[panphage]

OK, I don't know a whole lot of books that concentrate on the business angle, I think the small-business/entrepreneur section of most bookstores is already packed and I don't know of any that focus on web design except How to Start a Home-Based Web Design Business (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0762727896/102-2323119-7207308) and it's not terribly informative. At least the first edition wasn't.

A great book for an aspiring webhead is Zeldman's book, this is one that mostly people rave about but his standards-based philosophy (while absolutely correct, well reasoned, well explained and just plain the right thing to do on so many levels) doesn't float everyone's boat. Here's a link: Designing with Web Standards (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0735712018/qid=1091503431/sr=ka-1/ref=pd_ka_1/102-2323119-7207308) At any rate the book is a surprisingly good read for a tech book and there's a lot of meat there for anyone, whether you want to get involved in Standards Zealotry like me or not.

[micvog]

One of the books previously recommended was HTML for the World Wide Web with XHTML and CSS: Visual QuickStart Guide, Fifth Edition by Elizabeth Castro. I am just starting to learn HTML and so far it has been very good.