Sexy Web Design: Creating Interfaces that Work

This book promises a lot, but offers very little. The title and description made me assume I would be learning about design theory and when and why to use certain design elements for one project and not another. But instead, the book gives a generalized overview of every step in the design process from initially talking to the client to research and so on. Each section gives you a brief outline of what you should do during that phase of the design process. For more details about a certain topic the author points to another book or blog posting you could read to sharpen your skills. I found this to be very irritating because as soon as the author started to interest me in some depth of insight he would stop and tell me to read something else.This book is good for what it is, an overview of the web design process. But as far as sexy web design is concerned, this book is nothing but. This book would be great for someone just starting out in the web design field and doesn't know how to go from meeting with the client to completing the site the client had in mind. If you're looking for a book about sexy web design then I'd suggest looking somewhere else.

Design is usually not a natural talent for those of use that are technically inclined, and I am no exception. Typically design is the hardest part in my opinion, so I appreciate anything that helps make that process easier. I enjoyed Sexy Web Design although it was a very quick read, which is why I kept it at 4 stars. This book does a great job of providing a 1000 foot view of website creation from the eye of a designer from div arrangement, layout, color scheme, and font choice.What this book is not is a technical reference regarding to code. This book does not explain how to use CSS or the HTML tags to create the design effect (for the most part). However, if you purchase this book to get an overall picture of creating an online mood or user experience then this is a great buy.

I really enjoyed seeing the process that Elliot goes through to come up with a Web design. It was like I was sitting with him having me explain his process while coming up with a design. As a veteran designer, there were a lot of little tips that will help me add to my arsenal.I think the value of this book is being able to have someone mentor you. Elliot has proven "sexy web designs" so he is one you would want to have mentor you. I believe I will become a better designer after sitting under his tutelage.My only disappointment is the price of the book. Sitepoint seems to price all their books at $39.95 regardless of amount of content. This book was a quick read and I think it would have been better priced at $24.99 or less.

I'm a coder by profession. Sometimes I adventure myself into the webdesign area. Although I know HTML, CSS and Photoshop pretty well, laying out information and making a good design for a website isn't something I consider myself a professional.This book has helped me a lot with regards to planning a nice website and how to architect its information.I certainly recommend this book to beginners and to those who are eager to get better at webdesigning. But not to advanced webdesigner, since I think this book doesn't go way deep in each skill.I just wish the book had more content. Perhaps in a new edition.Very good indeed!

I also used this in my designing web graphics class. Great material in here.

Needed for class.

Interesting book overall, but I was disappointed by the lack of depth on the subject. I am not a graphic designer, I just like design in general, unfortunately I didn't really learn anything in that book that made me say "wooow that is awesome, I would not have been able to find that out by myself". However there are a lot of references to other books, websites etc. that you can use to go more in depth. In sum, I think the content of that book is not worth the original price.

Great book! Lots of solid information here.

I'm a professional web designer and have been in the new media industry for over 15 years. I rarely buy technical books these days since so much knowledge is available for free on the web, but I was excited to get hold of this tome by Elliot Jay Stocks since he's an excellent designer and I hoped to tap into what it is that sets him apart from the rest of us.Unfortunately, this book doesn't do that. There isn't enough here to inspire you to create truly original, breathtaking designs. You'll have to look elsewhere for that kind of inspiration, such as on-line CSS galleries, and for that reason I think the title of the book is slightly misleading.'Sexy Web Design' will be much more valuable to beginner web designers. Elliot takes you through a typical web design process up to the point of delivery of design comps. He looks at everything from initial research, to site structure, layout, colour, typography, style, visual flair and technical considerations. There are many ideas and concepts addressed, including colour theory, grid systems for layout, web safe fonts, etc. As a book outlining a sound web design process and a checklist of all the compromises and considerations that go into that process, it delivers pretty well.It will also be very insightful for the more experienced designer who never plans their work and simply jumps straight into PhotoShop without thinking about what their website needs to achieve.If you've been in the industry for a few years and worked to an established design process (Research, Requirements Gathering, Information Architecture, Layout/Design/Style) then this book won't teach you much. But if any of those stages are alien to you and you don't understand the full process, then this book is probably worthwhile.Even though I think this book is useful for inexperienced designers, I do have some reservations. The main issue is a lack of detail. The book skips through at a brisk pace and you'll get through it in well under two hours. I would have liked to see a more detailed break down of some stages, for example: How to work with clients, how to brain storm and come up with concepts and refine them through collaboration and iteration. Kudos for linking out to useful websites where appropriate, but a little more text would have been welcome.'Sexy Web Design' does seem overpriced. You're paying over £30 for about 140 pages of actual content (many of these being large screen-shots) and I don't think you get enough for your money. To be fair the price is because the printing is in full colour (and it's a beautifully designed book, no question), but for this price I'd expect something more detailed and definitive; as it stands it's a little lightweight.As an overview of good web design practices, 'Sexy Web Design' offers lots of useful advice for inexperienced web designers. More experienced designers are likely to be a bit disappointed.

This book is good at helping with the design and continuity of web pages.Combine this with the principles of 'Don't make me think' and the best practice of 'Forms that work' and you have a powerful trio.