Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Looking for web design book suggestions.

definitive

definitive

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 4, 2008
2,089
1,021
I am interested in adding web design to my skill set (graphic design), and in need of a good book. Back when I was in uni, I took an intro to web design class where I learned basics of HTML and CSS (how to build simple multi-page information pages), but it's obviously not enough to build large web pages.

I'm looking for something recent which would relate to the latest web standards and trends. I've been eyeing O'Reilly's Web Design in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference, but it's from 2006 according to Amazon, so I don't know how recent that would be. Can anyone suggest anything?
 
definitive said:
I am interested in adding web design to my skill set (graphic design), and in need of a good book. Back when I was in uni, I took an intro to web design class where I learned basics of HTML and CSS (how to build simple multi-page information pages), but it's obviously not enough to build large web pages.

I'm looking for something recent which would relate to the latest web standards and trends. I've been eyeing O'Reilly's Web Design in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference, but it's from 2006 according to Amazon, so I don't know how recent that would be. Can anyone suggest anything?
Click to expand...

html, is not necessary i guess, you've a lot of information available on the web.

to CSS i chose: CSS: the definitive guide.
to javascript: Learning JavaScript By Shelley Powers
to php: PHP and MySQL Bible and Web Database Application with PHP and MySQL, and get used to check www.php.net manuals.
 
i know that i can find lots of stuff on the web. i even got some css pdf book that another site was giving away for free. it's just that i don't have the patience to sit in front of my screen and read this stuff. it's much easier for me to get a book and read it wherever i can since i don't have a laptop atm.

any other suggestions? i'm also interested in a html book.
 
Another resource you might like to consider is video tutorials. Lynda.com has some great stuff for basic html/css right through to development.
 
Look no further, this is what you want:

http://www.sitepoint.com/books/html2/ (updated recently)

I have several books from Sitepoint, and they are always a pleasure to read and study. It's very hands-on, real world, and best practices driven. All their books are very accessible to the various disciplines, such as graphic designers, programmers, database designers, etc. They also have a great online community. I know you'll be pleased with that purchase. They have some nice PHP/MySQL and Javascript books as well, for when you're ready to take it to that level.

By the way, kudos to you for wanting to expand your skillset and enrich your opportunities. Continuing (self) education is, in my opinion, a great way to keep life interesting. It's certainly the best way to enhance your earning potential. Good luck!

Oh yeah: I can vouch for the Lynda video training, too. Great stuff, check 'em out! (yes, it's worth the money)
 
I'm the same; need a book to read. I went crazy and bought a load of books from apress. 'Beginning CSS Web Development from Novice to Professional' was the only poor one so far.
I can recommend the PHP, Actionscript, Pro CSS.:)
 
Frizzle Fry said:
Look no further, this is what you want:

http://www.sitepoint.com/books/html2/ (updated recently)

I have several books from Sitepoint, and they are always a pleasure to read and study. It's very hands-on, real world, and best practices driven. All their books are very accessible to the various disciplines, such as graphic designers, programmers, database designers, etc. They also have a great online community. I know you'll be pleased with that purchase. They have some nice PHP/MySQL and Javascript books as well, for when you're ready to take it to that level.

By the way, kudos to you for wanting to expand your skillset and enrich your opportunities. Continuing (self) education is, in my opinion, a great way to keep life interesting. It's certainly the best way to enhance your earning potential. Good luck!

Oh yeah: I can vouch for the Lynda video training, too. Great stuff, check 'em out! (yes, it's worth the money)
Click to expand...

thanks for the link. i already have a css pdf from site point from a while back when they were giving it away for free, though i never got around to looking at it because i prefer a hard copy to electronic. i'll have to give it a try.

as for expanding my skill set - it's required by a lot of companies now. reason i never really got into it was because it's somewhat intimidating to me, and at times requires a long time to code (which i don't enjoy as much as i do graphic design). at the end though it will help me being qualified for more jobs.

which is better to know, xhtml or html? i've read that xhtml is stricter, and looking at my past stuff that i've coded, it resembles closer to xhtml than it does to regular html. i'd just like to know which is more common in web development.
 
definitive said:
which is better to know, xhtml or html? i've read that xhtml is stricter, and looking at my past stuff that i've coded, it resembles closer to xhtml than it does to regular html. i'd just like to know which is more common in web development.
Click to expand...

It doesn't really matter whether you're using HTML or XHTML, but aim for being able to do them in a strict DOCTYPE. Also know that HTML5 is on the move. HTML5 intrinsically is HTML and XHTML as it can be parsed as XML if desired. I'd probably suggest XHTML 1.0 Strict for while you're learning and you'll be able to transition to HTML5 in a snap, but if you want to go HTML 4.01 Strict that's fine too. Just be sure to aim for being able to validate at the strict level so you learn things the right way early on.
 
Ian's book Build Your Own Web Site The Right Way Using HTML & CSS, 2nd Edition is pretty good. Easy read. There are few things mentioned that get overlooked in designing sites.
 
Ok, I got a copy of the Site Point's HTML & CSS book, and reading it now. So far it seems easy to follow, and will probably cover everything I already know, but in a proper way. In the past, the web design basics that I learned left out many of the things covered in this book so it should be of use to me.

I'm also wondering which would be a good book to continue learning CSS. Is the O'Reilly CSS: The Definitive Guide good, or is there something else that might be easier or better for beginners?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back