Bulletproof Web Design Review
After reading, and loving, Web Standards Solutions I was quite excited when I learned that Dan Cederholm was writing a new book. I had Bulletproof Web Design on order pretty much since it was announced, and I received it a couple of days ago. I started reading straight away, hoping that it would live up to the build up I had given it, I wasn't disappointed.
First off Bulletproof Web Design is really well written, did you expect anything else from Dan Cederholm?. Cederholm has a knack of making complicated subject matter simple enough for beginners to understand, whilst still maintaining enough detail for advanced readers to get their teeth into. Reading this book will teach everyone something.
My one criticism, well not really a criticism so much as a disappointment, of Web Standards Solutions was that it was all printed in black and white. There were references to colour in the text but this was not accurately portrayed in the example screenshots / figures. Bulletproof Web Design makes up for this and then some.
The examples / figures are beautifully crafted, and in a apartness from other web design books, useful. Dan acknowledges Jon Hicks' 3D Box Model illustration as the inspiration for the examples and I must say that Dan has taken the concept and put it to good use. The visuals in the book are of an excellent quality and actually add to the book rather than being a token afterthought. This book is really visually pleasing, right down to the side notes with the unmistakably SimpleBits icons. These little touches give Bulletproof Web Design an extra finesse, much like the attention to detail give SimpleBits that extra edge website wise.
The format of the book is excellent and the examples will be familiar to readers who are faced with updating sites that don't currently use web standards. Each chapter starts with a "non-bulletproof" example and instead of just shunning it as being "wrong", tells the reader why it is not optimal and what can be done to improve the structure and "bulletproof" the design. The design is then restructured using XHTML and then we are taken step-by-step through the CSS. Each step is described well and
where necessary is accompanied by one of the affore mentioned excellent illustrations.
The book's level is stated as being intermediate / advanced but as I mentioned earlier, everyone reading this book will learn something. I think that this book is well written enough and uses such a good format that beginners would benefit from this book too as it's neither patronising of the reader, or too aloof to be relevant to "real world" beginners.
Overall, This is a great book that covers a wide range of real world issues that will apply to something that you are doing or have done. If you have already done it, this book will show you a better way. If you haven't done it yet, read this before you start.
If you are waiting for the reviews of this book before you decide whether or not to buy it, don't waste time; Just go get it now, you won't be disappointed.
First off Bulletproof Web Design is really well written, did you expect anything else from Dan Cederholm?. Cederholm has a knack of making complicated subject matter simple enough for beginners to understand, whilst still maintaining enough detail for advanced readers to get their teeth into. Reading this book will teach everyone something.
My one criticism, well not really a criticism so much as a disappointment, of Web Standards Solutions was that it was all printed in black and white. There were references to colour in the text but this was not accurately portrayed in the example screenshots / figures. Bulletproof Web Design makes up for this and then some.
The examples / figures are beautifully crafted, and in a apartness from other web design books, useful. Dan acknowledges Jon Hicks' 3D Box Model illustration as the inspiration for the examples and I must say that Dan has taken the concept and put it to good use. The visuals in the book are of an excellent quality and actually add to the book rather than being a token afterthought. This book is really visually pleasing, right down to the side notes with the unmistakably SimpleBits icons. These little touches give Bulletproof Web Design an extra finesse, much like the attention to detail give SimpleBits that extra edge website wise.
The format of the book is excellent and the examples will be familiar to readers who are faced with updating sites that don't currently use web standards. Each chapter starts with a "non-bulletproof" example and instead of just shunning it as being "wrong", tells the reader why it is not optimal and what can be done to improve the structure and "bulletproof" the design. The design is then restructured using XHTML and then we are taken step-by-step through the CSS. Each step is described well and
where necessary is accompanied by one of the affore mentioned excellent illustrations.
The book's level is stated as being intermediate / advanced but as I mentioned earlier, everyone reading this book will learn something. I think that this book is well written enough and uses such a good format that beginners would benefit from this book too as it's neither patronising of the reader, or too aloof to be relevant to "real world" beginners.
Overall, This is a great book that covers a wide range of real world issues that will apply to something that you are doing or have done. If you have already done it, this book will show you a better way. If you haven't done it yet, read this before you start.
If you are waiting for the reviews of this book before you decide whether or not to buy it, don't waste time; Just go get it now, you won't be disappointed.
