Dave Shea, Molly E. Holzschlag - The Zen of CSS Design: Visual Enlightenment for the Web
Publisher: Peachpit Press | ISBN: 0321303474 | edition February 27, 2005 | CHM | 304 pages | 26,3 Mb
Publisher: Peachpit Press | ISBN: 0321303474 | edition February 27, 2005 | CHM | 304 pages | 26,3 Mb
Proving once and for all that standards-compliant design does not equal dull design, this inspiring tome uses examples from the landmark CSS Zen Garden site as the foundation for discussions on how to create beautiful, progressive CSS-based Web sites. By using the Zen Garden sites as examples of how CSS design techniques and approaches can be applied to specific Web challenges, authors Dave Shea and Molly Holzschlag provide an eye-opening look at the range of design methods made possible by CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). By the time you've finished perusing the volume, you'll have a new understanding of the graphically rich, fully accessible sites that CSS design facilitates. In sections on design, layout, imagery, typography, effects, and themes, Dave and Molly take you through every phase of the design process--from striking a sensible balance between text and graphics to creating eye-popping special effects (no scripting required).
Dave Shea is the creator and cultivator of the highly influential CSS Zen Garden Web site (www.csszengarden.com). As well as being a member of the Web Standards Project, Dave is the owner and director of Bright Creative, and he writes about all things Web for his daily weblog, mezzoblue.com. With over 6 years of experience working on the Web, Dave is a leader of the new generation of Web designers that believe in responsible Web design.
An author, instructor, and Web designer, Molly E. Holzschlag has written over 27 books related to Web design and development. She's been coined "one of the greatest digerati" and deemed one of the Top 25 Most Influential Women on the Web. There is little doubt that in the world of Web design and development, Molly is one of the most fun and vibrant Web characters around. As a steering committee member for the Web Standards Project (WaSP), Molly works along with a group of other dedicated Web developers and designers to promote W3C recommendations. For more about Molly, check out www.molly.com.
Contents
Chapter 1. View Source
An overview of how the CSS Zen Garden came to be and how CSS has evolved over time; discussions of proper markup structure and design.
Chapter 2. Design
Basic design elements and how to apply them on the Web. Color theory, proportions and positioning, relationships between type and photography, and using Adobe Photoshop and CSS harmoniously.
Chapter 3. Layout
The nuts and bolts of building complicated CSS layouts. Columns, floats, and positioning schemes.
Chapter 4, Imagery
Using images to enhance your layouts, and how to generate them. Image replacement, graphic file formats, and how to find imagery source material.
Chapter 5. Typography
All things type; font limitations on the Web and how to work around them. Including font sizing, font-face selection, and image-based type.
Chapter 6. Special Effects
Where to go once you've mastered the basics. Advanced CSS effects to filter style for different browsers, create new and flexible layout techniques, and work around technical limitations with clever code.
Chapter 7. Reconstruction
A peek over the shoulders of six designers to find out how they do it. Selected designs are rebuilt within this chapter, detailing steps along the way. Watch as the principles from the other five chapters of the book come together for the full effect.
