Reading saves your world.
by Craig Grannell
Published by friends of ED, December 2004
ISBN: 1590594304
Paperback, 389 pages, $ 34.99
Reviewed by Michael Pastore
The human brain was not designed to clog itself with oceans of factoids such as XHTML attributes, which CSS tags are inherited, and the entity number for the em dash (it's 8212). Here was my problem: seven days ago I noticed huge gaps in the "Web Design" sections on my bookshelves. I have been lending web books to everybody: my wife for her new job; an 84-year-old friend named Harry (who is publishing his novel online); and the 14-year-old kid next door who wants to be a millionaire before he reaches the ripe age of 15. Bereft of books, tired of Googling, and feeling guilty about pestering the local library's reference staff — I needed to grab essential tidbits of information quickly, so as not to slow down my work. My old reference books were out on loan but fortunately (for my overworked cerebral cortex) my new books stayed at home. For the past week I have been opening and closing the four supplementary chapters of Web Designer's Reference more than I opened and closed my refrigerator door. It took me a whole week to realize that this book offers much more than a handy reference: this weekend I read the book from page first to last. And I was thrilled to discover that Grannell's book is among the clearest, completest, and most insightful book about web design that I've studied in the past six years.
If you're interested in making websites, visit your local library or bookstore and browse through the pages of this book. There are three reasons why it's worth the trip.
1 The book advocates making websites according to "web standards": sites that use XHTML and CSS, and comply with the W3C guidelines for using them correctly. Sites made with web standards are faster to load, easier to manage and update, and will work efficiently on the largest variety of web browsers and devices. The author writes: "One of the main thrusts of this book is to present modern work methods that will enable you to create cutting-edge websites." Designing according to web standards is the essence of this cutting edge.
2 The book will be interesting to a wide range of readers, from beginner to more experienced webmasters. Beginners will find that it opens up the world of web-making, while experienced webmasters will learn loads of techniques about the ever-evolving XHTML- and CSS-based methods for designing and developing sites.
3 The book reveals the mind and methods of an experienced and skilled web designer. No other book has given me a better sense of how to think about, organize, plan and actually put together all the pieces of a CSS-based site.
Reader, I last left you sauntering through the library or sipping coffee at your favorite bookstore. Now open Web Designer's Reference to page 86. Here, and through the following pages, Grannell outlines a seven-step procedure for "styling semantic markup." That is geekspeak meaning: building a good-looking web site and doing it right. Later in the book (Chapter 8), as the author teaches us to make an advanced layout with CSS, he provides another step-by-step tutorial. Once again we are fortunate to glimpse inside the web designer's logical and creative mind.
There's no waste in the book: it's packed with informative features about theory you'll need to remember and practical techniques you'll want to use:
The book's website offers a sample chapter (about navigation), fixes for the book's errata, and files you can download — a smarter alternative, in my opinion, than increasing the price of the book by adding a CD. Although many people don't bother to play around with this resource, I always take a look at the CSS files and get new ideas for styles.
Some web books are written by good technicians, and focus on the architectural facets of web building. Other books are written by keen-eyed artistic designers and focus on the looks. More than a reference book, Web Designer's Reference provides a perfect balance between style and substance, form and function, the stylish paint job on the outside and the essentials under the hood.
—Michael Pastore
About the Reviewer
Michael Pastore is the Editorial Director of BookLovers Review and Zorba Press. Currently he is writing his fourth novel, and working to establish the Youthtopia Institute and Youthtopia website, devoted to children, creativity and the arts, humanized technology, and a sustainable world.
BookLovers Review is Copyright © 2005 by Michael Pastore. Copyrights to the reviews are owned by the individual reviewers.
