Showing posts with label visual design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label visual design. Show all posts

Distinctive Design: A Practical Guide to a Useful, Beautiful Web Review

Distinctive Design: A Practical Guide to a Useful, Beautiful Web
Average Reviews:

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Having had my own website for a few years I am always looking for ways to improve it by making it more user friendly and beautiful to visit at the same time. I was hoping to gain some insight into "distinctive design" by reading this book. Unfortunately, I did not find anything useful for my needs.
Much of the book read as a textbook based on theory, rather than application. After reading the table of contents I couldn't wait to read each chapter...expecting to read the book and come away with all sorts of practical ways to improve my site. Instead I found that most theories discussed were common sense, or not explored to the depth I would have liked. I also found that the examples and even the graphics contained within the book were rudimentary.
I would only recommend this book for someone who is starting to design websites and has more technical experience rather than design experience. This will not teach you how to create good design, just what is considered to be good design in theory.
Distinctive Design was not at all what I was expecting and frankly I came away with absolutely nothing that I felt would improve my own site. It may be great for a classroom discussion, but not for real world application in my opinion.


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Learn to produce a web site that stands out from the crowd
One of the web designer's greatest challenges is to create a site distinctive enough to get noticed among the millions of sites already on the web. This book examines the bond between code, content and visuals to guide you through the factors that increase your design's visibility, usability and beauty. Using this practical advice, even web designers who lack strong artistic skills can develop super sites that strengthen the message and stand out from the crowd.
Most books focus primarily on graphic design principles; this one shows you how to maximize and prioritize every design decision to help your site achieve its primary purpose: showcasing your content and services
Explores the bond between code, content and visuals to guide you through the factors that increase your design's visibility, usability and beauty
Enables even artistically challenged web designers to create elegant, functional layouts that attract visitors and are user-friendly

Every web designer can benefit from this practical advice on creating an informative, attractive, easy-to-use site that gets noticed.

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Design for Hackers: Reverse Engineering Beauty Review

Design for Hackers: Reverse Engineering Beauty
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This book is a wonderful and thorough introduction into *why* the things we see are "beautiful" or "well designed". This book goes through the history of considered design (as far back as the ancient Romans), pulling examples from unexpected places up until the current day. David shows us how the human brain is hard-wired to appreciate certain things and how creators can take advantage of these physiological factors to create our own beautiful and user-friendly designs.

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Discover the techniques behind beautiful design?by deconstructing designs to understand them
The term 'hacker' has been redefined to consist of anyone who has an insatiable curiosity as to how things work—and how they can try to make them better. This book is aimed at hackers of all skill levels and explains the classical principles and techniques behind beautiful designs by deconstructing those designs in order to understand what makes them so remarkable. Author and designer David Kadavy provides you with the framework for understanding good design and places a special emphasis on interactive mediums. You'll explore color theory, the role of proportion and geometry in design, and the relationship between medium and form. Packed with unique reverse engineering design examples, this book inspires and encourages you to discover and create new beauty in a variety of formats.
Breaks down and studies the classical principles and techniques behind the creation of beautiful design
Illustrates cultural and contextual considerations in communicating to a specific audience
Discusses why design is important, the purpose of design, the various constraints of design, and how today's fonts are designed with the screen in mind
Dissects the elements of color, size, scale, proportion, medium, and form
Features a unique range of examples, including the graffiti in the ancient city of Pompeii, the lack of the color black in Monet's art, the style and sleekness of the iPhone, and more

By the end of this book, you'll be able to apply the featured design principles to your own web designs, mobile apps, or other digital work.

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