web design for newbs

[writing irish]

Strangely, even though I know nothing about web design, I've been delegated a web-design task. Anyone have any favorite books or websites for those who are new at this sort of thing?

 

[shotglass]

"Idiot's Guide to HTML" was pretty good for me when I built one.

But really, you can learn all you need to know about HTML by Googling it. You learn something, then it's copy-and-paste. You do something you like, remember it and do it again and again.

 

[JR]

There's the technical aspect and the design aspect.

The former can be taught fairly quickly, the latter not so much.

 

[writing irish]

Ideally, I want the pages in question to be very vertical in orientation, with lots of javascript and other **** that makes it take a long time to download. In fact, I'll even include a fancy, memory-munching javascript graphic that shows exactly what percentage of the un****ingbelievably complicated page has yet to download onto our lowly readers' ****ty, consumer-quality computers.

 

[shotglass]

This guy may be able to help you.

Then again, maybe not.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

useit.com

You might also look for "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug. It's a quick read and a good overview of generalities in Web design.

 

[writing irish]

This guy may be able to help you.

Then again, maybe not.

Well, he certainly has the aesthetic aspect of it nailed. That's a hell of an attractive page.

 

[Hiro]

I found this book VERY helpful ... it's got everything you need without treating you like an idiot. Of course, a good dose of Google helps answer your questions. (And be prepared to learn to despise IE6. IE6 is the stupidest browser in history for CSS bugs.)

Anyway ... link!

http://www.amazon.com/XHTML-Sixth-Visual-Quickstart-Guide/dp/0321430840/ref=sr_1_11/105-0259843-2219655?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187995039&sr=8-11

 

[Chi City 81]

I think this guy knows a thing or two about Web sites and their design.

 

[writing irish]

I think this guy knows a thing or two about Web sites and their design.

Thanks, Doc! ;D

Too bad for that dickbag that the 1980s ended...he embodies the spirit of that gilded decade with a poisonous accuracy.

 

[audreyld]

useit.com

You might also look for "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug. It's a quick read and a good overview of generalities in Web design.

I clicked on this link just to recommend this book. It was required reading my web publishing course and it's outstanding, I think.

 

[Van Lingle Mungo]

This guy may be able to help you.

Then again, maybe not.

Well, he certainly has the aesthetic aspect of it nailed. That's a hell of an attractive page.

I think it's great that, for a site that slams design for compromising content, the commentary page is virtually unreadable in Firefox, thanks to a stylesheet that's way too f'in complicated.

It does serve as a reminder that when you get to the design stage, WI, avoid Microsoft FrontPage at all costs.