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Summary: Great ideas for creating "killer web interfaces"
Review: If you, like I did, are expecting to read about how to combine techniques, tools and technologies uniquely to build "killer web sites" and applications, you will be fairly disappointed. This book is not about creating web sites - it is about creating "killer web interfaces". In this regard, its approach is refreshing, insightful and stimulating: the pictures alone do a great job of jolting your thoughts about web design possibilities out of the box. Some sections such as 'Preparing images' and 'Rendering type' are steeped in graphic design lingua and assume familiarity with Adobe PhotoShop or similar graphic design software. Skimming over these reminded me that the graphic design input is as important as anything else and that I'll need to work with a knowledgeable and innovative graphic design artist in my future projects. In fact, I am ordering a separate copy for the graphic design artist that I usually work with. This is a book that is to be read by both developers and designers, who should then sit together to discuss the myriad possibilities unleashed by David Siegel.
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Summary: David Siegel rentability
Review: I think this book is only a regroupment of all a lot of famous, and knowing informations about the WebSite. I'm french, and I don't think more about this book.
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Summary: A rather annoying and limiting book
Review: Its pretty amazing how highly this book scores. Personally I found it to be both annoying and less than helpful. The authors main message seem to be: 'Be creative and imaginative when making web-pages, but only within the boundaries I'm setting up for you.' Also it seems very clear that any other way of making a web-page than the one(s) approved by the author are bad or even a 'deadly sin'. After reading through as much of this book as I could bear, I went through some of the web-pages I visit frequently and found that most of them have designs which are bad according to this book. I guess there must be something horribly wrong with me then because I like them, and counting their number of hits, I'm not the only one. There is stuff in here which might inspire you and give you good hints, but my advice is to be very weary of anyone who claims to have all the answers as to how to design a web-page.
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Summary: Good book to help with page layout and site structure
Review: This book is good because it only discusses one thing, appearance. Too many other books try to cover both the technical and aesthetic aspects of the internet, and they end up being impossible to use. I am an engineer, and fully understand all the coding aspects of the Internet. I just needed a little help with page layout, and this book provided the stimulus needed to spur my creativity. Technically, this book is a little out of date, but like I said, this specifically covers layout and typography, rather than HTML/Java/etc...
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Summary: Not as good as the hype
Review: This book and this author have received a lot of praise. I don't think that it is justified. I found the book interesting from a purely graphic design point of view, but I can't imagine that sites built using Mr. Siegel's methods would warrant more than one visit.
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Summary: Woefully Wrong Headed
Review: There is really only one criterion for judging a successful Web site: do visitors ever come back? Having taken one look at killersites.com, I found absolute zero interesting content and will never grace Mr. Siegel's server logs again. What more is there to see? You get your fancy graphics on your way down the "entry-tunnel", you think to yourself, "My, what a pretty picture, but I came here to learn about Web site design...where's the content?"Problem is, Mr. Siegel prefers style over substance and before you find anything useful, you've become so frustrated waiting for the stupid flashing gifs and JavaScript to download and render that you bail out without even _THINKING_ about exiting through the "exit tunnel." Obviously, David Siegel has no idea what the Web is all about. Allow me to quote from someone who DOES know what the Web can accomplish: "Start by putting yourself in your users' shoes. Why are they coming to your site? If you look at some Web sites, you'd presume that the answer is "User is extremely bored and wishes to stare at a blank screen for several minutes while a flashing icon loads, then stare at the flashing icon for a few more minutes." Academic computer scientists refer to this process of fitting software systems to people as "user modeling." -- Philip Greenspun, Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing. I have nothing against "pretty" or "fancy" sites, but think for a moment the sites that keep you coming back. amazon.com is a perfect example: slim on graphics, low-tech front-end, no "entry" or "exit" tunnels leading YOU around the nose as if you couldn't think without the help of the ever-so-knowledgeable graphic designer. Instead, it's filled with tons of dynamic content, a community of users sharing their thoughts and ideas. THIS is what the Web is all about, not animated gifs and framesets. For anyone building REAL Web sites rather than "killer" Web sites, do yourself a favor and visit http://photo.net/wtr/ to learn what it takes (and trust me, it's much more than pretty pictures).
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Summary: This book really started a lot...
Review: I have a lot of books now about web design (as opposed to the coding/programming side of things) but really the first edition of Creating Killer Web Sites was probably the first book which helped to open people's eyes to the possibilities of good - or at least, not-indifferent - design on the web. I have both editions, and still refer to the 2nd edition and visit the web site whenever I feel the need for little inspiration. No I do not necessarily think that all of David Siegel's designs - or the designs he likes - are "good" per se, or to my taste, but at least, they get you thinking in different directions. Nowadays of course there are plenty of other books in this genre - most notable among them perhaps is HTML Artistry - with more up-to-date technical information, but Creating Killer Web Sites is still a very worthwhile addition to any serious web or online-based designer's bookshelf. And I do hope there's a new edition in the works :)
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Summary: A must !
Review: This book written from the point of view of a typography expert, is not for those of you who are at the stage of learning HTML or the use graphic software. But if you want to learn who to turn your site into a something taken out of chromo journal, this is the right book for you. David Siegel provides guidelines for a slick layout and right use of text and images. David uses the term "Third-Generation Site" to describe the current evolutionary stage of sites that are not a random collage of text and graphics but have consistent look, which enables the site owner to deliver information vividly or to sell a product on the web. The book also contains a lot of technical tips that make the finish of dazzling site. No matter what sort of software you use, this book will raise your site one league farther
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Summary: Good design principles, but technical parts are dated
Review: I really liked the chapters where David Siegel showed case studies of various sites he had designed and the thought processes that went into them. I also enjoyed learning the basic layout and typographic principles he espouses (although he's slightly obssessed with blank lines--or lack thereof--between paragraphs!). However, the beginning of the book, with all the technical tips, is somewhat dated and I would advise a beginning web designer not to get too into them. For instance, with programs like ImageReady and Fireworks, we don't need PhotoShop plug-ins anymore to optimize GIFs and JPEGs. Also, there's a brief plug for NetObjects Fusion at the end of the book, but I think GoLive and Dreamweaver are both much better WYSIWYG programs. Still, overall, I definitely learned a lot of useful stuff from this book.
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Summary: If you are a web site designer then it isn't usefull at all
Review: I just want to help your choice. Especially if you're a customer from Asia. Don't waste your money & time on this stuff. If you still wonder about it. The other one star reviews will help you out.
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