Clint Eccher has designed professional Web sites for seven years and now makes some of his designs available as templates through his own site (A5design.com) and with his new book, Professional Web Design. You get 50 templates (each of which features home and second-level pages) and careful instructions on how to adapt them for your own use. Along the way, Eccher offers sound advice on good Web design practices; a little bit about HTML, cascading style sheets, and JavaScript; a look at JPEGs and GIFs; and some insight into "comping" (sketching) a site design for the client's approval.

For the most part, however, this book addresses just those aspects of Web design that readers will need to know in order to successfully utilize the templates. These are designed as "mortised" sites; that is, they are built with nested tables and sliced GIF/JPEG combinations, the kind of design made easy with the advent of Adobe's ImageReady and Macromedia's Fireworks. Although this is not a how-to about using those applications or about creating such sites from scratch, Eccher does help readers learn how to debug and otherwise adjust the source code in order to successfully implement the designs. In addition to trial versions of the major applications, the CD-ROM also contains the JavaScript Cookbook and HTML/CSS Developer's Resource Guide, which provide lots of cut-and-paste source code for all kinds of features (games, sounds, pop-up messages) that can be added to a Web page.

One caveat: despite the templates, this book is too detailed for beginners. For those with some experience, and especially for developers who lack design skills and like the A5design style, this book amounts to an intensive Clint Eccher brain-picking seminar. He offers a few tricks that can be applied to any design (like his tips on how to drastically reduce file sizes) and some good general advice (for example, "Do not get attached to the work" because a client may just decide against it). --Angelynn Grant

From Book News, Inc.
This book/CD-ROM package presents 50 ready-to-use, license-free Web design templates; the source files are on the CD-ROM along with two free software packages and demo versions of third party software. Coverage includes the entire design process and the technical issues. Numerous projects and case studies help readers--beginners to intermediate level--develop and enhance their skills. Eccher is an experienced Web designer.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Book Description
This book/CD-ROM package features 50 professional quality, license-free Web design templates that can be quickly and easily customized. Each ready-to-use design includes a homepage, one second-level page, and the framework to build subsequent pages. Detailed tutorials teach all of the specific techniques required for building these and other highly usable sites, including the basics of HTML, Photoshop, and CSS. Whether you are an intermediate Web designer looking to take your sites to the next level or a more experienced designer looking to improve your professional skills, you will find the tools to meet your needs in Professional Web Design: Techniques and Templates. The companion CD-ROM includes all source files for each of the designs covered in the book, complete HTML and JavaScript customization packages, and demo versions of third party software. KEY FEATURES: * Includes 50 professional quality, ready-to-use, license-free Web designs that can be quickly and easily customized * Teaches how to use nested tables and compressed images to develop an attractive, effective, and fully functional Web site * Provides detailed tutorials and case studies that explain how to create designs for low, medium, or high content sites and teach the strengths and weaknesses of each * Shows how to upload your site to a server and test for compatibility with Internet Explorer and Netscape * Explains technical and aesthetic graphics issues, from when to use GIF or JPG images to which design will best suit your content * CD includes all source files for each of the Web designs in the book, complemented by complete versions of the JavaScript CD Cookbook, 3rd Edition and The HTML/CSS Developer’s Resource Guide. It also provides demo versions of Photoshop 6.0, Macromedia Flash 5, and other valuable third party software

Book Info
Through hands-on projects, examples, and case studies, this guide teaches both basic and sophisticated design concepts for creating professional Web sites. Covers the entire design process. Softcover. CD-ROM included.

About the Author
Clint Eccher is an award-winning Web designer with over seven years of experience. He is the owner of A5design, a Web design company commissioned by Fortune 500 companies, national non-profit organizations, and small businesses. He resides in Windsor, CO.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Whether you are an intermediate Web designer looking to take your sites to the next level or a more experienced designer looking to improve your professional skills, you will find the tools to meet your needs in Professional Web Design: Techniques and Templates, Second Edition. This completely updated version of the best-selling book features the 50 professional-quality, license-free Web design templates from the original, as well as 15 new templates, all of which can be easily customized and extended. Each ready-to-use design includes a homepage, and one second-level page, and the framework to build subsequent pages. All of the specific techniques that are required for building these and other highly usable sites have been updated to cover the latest technologies, including HTML, XHTML, JavaScript, CSS, Photoshop CS, and PHP. Also included are five new HTML e-mail templates, an increasingly important marketing tool. Detailed tutorials and hands-on projects teach both basic and sophisticated design concepts, including how to create designs for low, medium, or high content sites and the strengths and weaknesses of each. The new edition also includes four new chapters on Cascading Style Sheets, using client-side scripting, creating dynamic sites, and an overview of the new Web designs. It covers important topics such as client- and server-side scripting, security, and using databases to update a site's content. KEY FEATURES* Covers the entire design process, from gathering requirements and creating a comp, to enhancing usability, designing for scalability, developing architecture, and simplifying navigation* Explains technical and aesthetic graphics issues, from when to use GIF or JPEG images to which design will best suit your content* Teaches you how to upload your site to a server and test for compatibility with Web browsers On The CD-ROM* EXAMPLES - Includes all of the samples from the book* SOFTWARE - Includes an Open Source Web server package (containing Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Perl), trial versions of Adobe Photoshop CS and Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004, and JavaScript CD Cookbook 3rd Edition and The HTML/CSS Developer's Resource Guide software* WEB SITE TEMPLATES - Provides the 50 license-free, ready-to-use templates from the original edition, 15 new templates, and 5 HTML e-mail templates SYSTEM REQUIREMENTSPC: 600 MHz Intel Pentium III processor or equivalent; Windows 98 SE (4.10.2222 A), Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003; 192MB RAM (256 MB recommended); 280MB available disk space; Color monitor with 16-bit color or greater video card; 1024x768 or greater monitor resolution; CD-ROM drive; MAC: Mac OS X 10.2.6 and later, 10.3; 500 MHz Power PC G3 processor; 192MB computer RAM (256MB recommended); 320MB available disk space; Color monitor with 16-bit color or greater video card; 1024x768 or greater monitor resolution; CD-ROM drive

FROM THE CRITICS

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