Head First Web Design: A Learner's Companion to Accessible, Usable, Engaging Websites

Although I don't design web sites for a living, I do manage my own for my business. Also, I have been asked by a local company or two to refresh their sites. Although my background is in architecture, that does not automatically make one an 'expert' in web design, so when I saw that this was available, I bought it. It helps if you are familiar with HTML and CSS but you can learn some of that along the way. I haven't been all the way through it yet, but the advice is sound and the examples are interesting. One client example is the Foo Bar Steakhouse and Saloon. (FUBAR?) Anyone that's been in the military will appreciate that 'in' reference. :-)

I gave this book 5 stars because of the many aspects for web design it offers. It gives you some ideas on the actual design process and how to organize and clarify the site. Well written and enjoyable to read, it goes beyond a boring how to book. I checked it out of the library twice before I purchased it. If you want to learn to get past a standard form web deign this book is for you. I found it fun and motivating as well. Enjoy. Jnetti

I did enjoy this book though it did contain lots of repetition which I think is a waste of time. I do think it was worth it. It does learn you the things you'd expect from it

They're not misleading, and I did read the entire book, but it just didn't fit well with me. It's meant more for web designers, visual artists. I did learn about design, but that's not what I was looking for.

Guess this is good for somethings, but this is not the new html5 standard. This book is for all intent and purpose is obsolete now

This is a very good book on web design. I like that it takes you through the thought process of creating a site. Working with HTML and CSS is fairly easy but the planning and designing of a site where the real work is at. The book does a good job of covering design with fictional companies. If you are looking for how to work with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc. you will need to get a different book.

I have a feeling that the other reviews of this book were posted by employees of O'Reilly. The chapters are disorganized, the writing confusing, and the code buggy. The authors are often confused on the meaning of design terms. For example, chapter 2 introduces the concept of a visual metaphor, but the authors explain it as the use of color and design elements. They don't seem to be aware of the fact that a metaphor is a comparison between two things to help comprehension, like using a tab shape for navigation links. Tab navigation is another concept that they got wrong. They assign the term "tabbed-naviagtion" to any sort of horizontal navigation. They don't seem to understand that for that metaphor to work, it actually has to look like a tab. The download files for the tutorials are already complete, making it harder to follow along in the book. Many of the pen and paper exercises are not thought out, like on page 209 when they ask you to draw navigation on a black masthead. The answers to the exercises are often frustrating, like when they ask you to rename categories and then the answer on the next page says the category names were good like they were. I could go on for days about how poorly put together this book is, but I'll leave it at that.

I love love love this book. It has a wonderful way of explaining web design in way that is easy to get. The multiple examples and real life situations are really helpful in learning code. I recommend this book as well as the Head First HTML book. Both are really good books. Book arrived in perfect conditions and quickly.

Llegó antes de lo esperado. A pesar de que tiene algunas anotaciones (lo pedí de segunda mano, era consciente de ello y no me molestan), la conservación del libro está perfecta y con embalaje bien protegido. Es un libro que te explica esos pequeños detalles que pueden no verse a primera vista pero hacen que de forma inconsciente al usuario le atraiga más nuestra web. Está en inglés y lo explica de una forma muy amena.

The Head first collection is well written and easy to understand... I didn't read this one but read others... It was shipped very promptly!

I am not a web designer but I hope to get some knowledge on the topic.

Head First brought us another a masterpiece in the usual brain-friendly way. After studying this book you'll 'master' pre-production, information architecture, navigation, color, and even accessibility. WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR? If you can answer 'YES' to all of these; 1) you're comfortable with XHTML & CSS but don't have experience with web design. 2) do you consider yourself a web developer (PHP, Ruby on Rails, .NET) and want to become a better web designer? 3) do you need to understand web design for a course or your line of work? TABLE OF CONTENTS (in brakets are my comments) 1 Building Beautiful Web Pages (know your audience, design for your users) 2 Pre-Production (start with paper, pencil, and a big fat pink eraser) 3 Organize Your Site 4 Layout and Design (some golden rules incl the Golden Ratio) 5 Desinging With Color (the color wheel & more ... excellent!) 6 Smart Navigation 7 Writing For The Web (...is different!) 8 Accesibility 9 Listen to Your Users 10 Evolutionary Design (keeping your site fresh/design updated) 11 The Business of Web Design (great basic stuff for those turning 'pro')

Do yourself a favour and don't make the same mistake I did with buying the paperback hard copy... it isn't printed in colour and as a 'design' book, it was much harder to get a grasp on contrasts and layout because it's all greyscale. Got hold of the ebook now which is all in colour and it's WAY better. As for the content, it's great to have a web design book that isn't all about code or the UI of a creative program for mockups. It's thorough, goes into a lot of basic concepts without being condescending, and I've found it a valuable learning tool, as I have with other Head First books.