The Principles of Beautiful Web Design

Tired of making web sites that work absolutely perfectly but just don't look nice?

If so, then The Principles of Beautiful Web Design is for you. A simple, easy-to-follow guide, illustrated with plenty of full-color examples, this book will lead you through the process of creating great designs from start to finish. Good design principles are not rocket science, and using the information contained in this book will help you create stunning web sites.

Understand the design process, from discovery to implementation

Understand what makes "good design"

Developing pleasing layouts using grids, the rule of thirds, balance and symmetry

Use color effectively, develop color schemes and create a palette

Use textures, lines, points, shapes, volumes and depth

Learn how good typography can make ordinary designs look great

Effective imagery: choosing, editing and placing images

And much more

Throughout the book, you'll follow an example design, from concept to completion, learning along the way. The book's full-color layout and large format (8" x 10") make The Principles Of Beautiful Wed Design a pleasure to read.

Editorial Reviews

"The Principles of Beautiful Web Design is a good book to kick start your graphic-design journey. The biggest benefit that I got from this book is the knowledge to learn from great designs as opposed to just admiring them in a state of awe." - Slashdot.org

"Jason is a great writer, and the book is quite easy to read. It's put together wonderfully, including many full color screenshots and other forms of imagery that make the book a pleasure to read. I'd definitely recommend the book to anyone in Web design." - MondayByNoon

"Jason Beaird covers web design in a way that non-designers can understand. He walks you through all of the aspects of design development from initial meeting to finished product. If you are just getting into web development, this is a must read." - Blogcritics.org

"This is a thoroughly practical guide to web design that is very well written: good technical depth in easy-to-understand language with excellent illustrations and graphics that support the text. For many users it will be the only web-design text they will need. For those who want to further advance their skills and knowledge it will provide a sound foundation." - PC Update

"His "Don't just tell, show!" style makes this book accessible to everyone... It strikes a carefully thought-out balance between describing principles and illustrating them. It is clear and well structured, with practical examples in every chapter." - Mitch Wheat more

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1-10 out of 66

From: Amazon
Posted: Sep-04-2009

Useful for Beginners to Intermediate Level Designers

I enjoyed this book. It is easy to read and is well structured. The author walks you through the concepts used to design web sites, and takes you from the drawing board to the actual implementation of a site he made. This book is ultimately about creating beautiful web sites from sound graphic...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Jul-21-2009

VERY HELPFUL, GREAT LAYOUT, & WELL WRITTEN

Beaird's book is very well written and a great help in understanding what make a beautiful website. Given how many truly bad websites are out there more designers need to read this book. Before setting up the website for Snappy Sayings: wit & wisdom from the world's greatest minds I read Beaird's...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Apr-12-2009

A good overview

This book reads fine and is light reading. Good enough to get familiar with the subject and go through quickly. Suitable for those unfamiliar with the process one takes to web design. For those who have built sites, it maybe too basic and familiar, at least for me it was.First the materials and...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Apr-01-2009

Beautiful Web Design

This is a great book to learn about and review principles of design, especially web design. It is an easy read, well structured and, as I visual learner, I love the many pictures and figures throughout the book. This is a simple step-by-step guide to web design that I recommend. Enjoy!

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From: Amazon
Posted: Mar-20-2009

Great summary of design principles for the web

I enjoyed reading this concise and comprehensive summary of general design principles for the web. It stands out among the very few graphic design books available for web developers. It should be a must have for anyone in the field.

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From: Amazon
Posted: Mar-10-2009

Beautiful indeed

This is not a hands-on book; this is more of a "look at these pretty websites" book. But it's one of the best of its breed. The examples are well-chosen and illustrate important principles in layout, color and typography that the author touches on lightly and enjoyably.

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From: Amazon
Posted: Jan-13-2009

Terrific Web References

I've become a big fan of "sitepoint" books for web development and this book is a good example of their thorough and knowledgeable treatment of web design. As the title indicates, this book is a fantastic resource through its list of web links for good tools and examples to use in designing a...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Jan-06-2009

Good supplament - not stand alone.

Jason Beaird does a masterful job pulling this book together. In short, Beaird sets up his book as a no frills, high altitude look at the world of web design. This book is intended for beginners in the field of graphic design, as it does not go into great detail on most of the topics. However,...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Dec-29-2008

Excellent book

This was my first book from Sitepoint and I enjoyed it so much that I ended up with three more from the same publisher. It's a good blend of how and why. If you're a professional designer, it might be simplistic, but for those autodidacts among us that know FrontPage but want to understand design...

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From: Amazon
Posted: Dec-26-2008

Great book

This book is well worth the money. It is primarily geared toward coders who have little or no design experience. If you need a good primer on practical design principles for the web, this book is excellent and concise. I would say my designs have improved 200% since reading this.

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