Rating: 
Summary: A good book from an arrogant author.
Review: This book is great for anyone who has an intermediate level of skill in creating web pages, but advanced web designers will find little in these pages that they don't already know. Still, an excellent reference that any decent web designer should have on his or her bookshelf, if only to make sure there aren't any gaping holes in his/her knowledge of web design.As for the author... he _really_ needs to get over himself. "Siegel Brand Single-pixel GIFs"...!? What an ego!
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Summary: The bible of Webdesign
Review: The bible for webdesigners: that's how I see this book. It has essential information for those who are starting in webdesign. For the ones who have some notion it still a good reference. Some information here is already out of date, but that's why David S. Siegel recently released a new book about this subject.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, would recommend it to anyone.
Review: Just as good as I hoped it would be, lots of clever ideas and has highlighted some of the mistakes I have been making. Excellent!
Rating:
Summary: Very good design principles; needs more meat!
Review: The book was great for me, a first time designer. It has lots of great ideas to get you out of "first generation" site design. I immediately re-did my entire website after reading the book. Why only 4 stars? Well after the first half or more of great ideas it's not too useful unless you're interested in doing a page by hand. I use a WYSIWYG editor to build my pages so looking at examples of code is not thrilling. Also, the cascading style sheet chapter should have been saved for a later edition, at which time they may be implemented properly. So GET THIS BOOK if you're still doing cheesey websites. It's pricey but you can sell later it as the design principles will persist for a long time. Thanks. Oh, and yes the ego is there, but who cares? He's good.
Rating: 
Summary: Humility is not one of David Siegel's character traits.
Review: This book is over-rated and over-hyped. You get a feeling that this author is trying to insult you throughout this book. He accomplished this. The content is nothing new, the techniques unimaginative.
Rating: 
Summary: killer book, but will it survive obsoloescence?
Review: Creating Killer Web Sites - The Art of Third-Generation Site Design was written in 1997, following close on the heels of an almost eponymous predecessor. Hailed as the first and only book to be a formal ready reckoner for the rudiments of effective site design, the original shot the author to instant fame. The graffiti on the alleyways in cyberspace said, "David Siegel is God." Website design came out of the closet to become a profession, from a college-goer's pastime. While the intent is not to take away from a book that has shed valuable light on a vocation needlessly tangled in technology when it should be driven by design - "the Fourth Generation will come... design, not technology, will make the difference", scarcely a year after release, the new edition of this Amazon.com No. 8 bestseller is beginning to appear too basic, too rudimentary, to be anything more than a bagful of web publishing tricks, most of them passe. What makes Creating Ki! ! ller...dated? Is it the emergence of new and better books? No, because when it comes to web design, Siegel wrote the book, for crying out loud! Is it the change in direction of the Web? No, because that's exactly what Siegel wants in his book - a change in the design-technology balance. "I am waiting and watching for a shift in the wind, where designers and content producers collaborate to build sites that are truly well-designed, not just whiz-bang techno marvels". It is the pace of the Web that makes Siegel's book another rib on the designer's shelf, the sheer break-neck velocity of the virtual world. "Any CD-ROM included with this book would be hopelessly out of date before pressing". That said, what remains to be reviewed is the presentation of content in the book. Being as he is a designer by default, and given to well-packed, non-linear interfaces, Siegel scatters his book with lively little callouts, carrying within a single pertinent idea or pressi! ! ng question. "Keep It Simple - ...get rid of complex bac! kgrounds", "The View Info Command - Netscape's browser has a little used feature that gives you information about the pages you see", "The Zen of Drop Shadows", "What happened to load order?" and "What about Fourth Generation sites". It is in these that Siegel presents invaluable "design lessons and a sense of visual balance" - the only things in the book that will survive obsolescence. Though about design, Siegel's book is powered by hypertext markup discussions. Simply because Siegel's definition of a designer, contrary to conventional wisdom, or the lack of it, is one who can speak a language called HTML, in addition to Photoshoptalk. His designer creates graphics, decides layout, and goes about achieving it through HTML, CSS, or the single-pixel gif trick - a ruse introduced by Siegel and is incidentally rote today. Siegel believes that design drives the Web experience, not the complexity of the technology used. H! ! e justifies the twisting of HTML tags to suit design purposes, and rightly so, since the Web has come a long way from being only a structuralist's tool. He quotes Ted Nelson to powerful effect, "Multimedia must be controlled by dictatorial artists with full say on the final cut", and establishes a inseparable bond with those hankering for web design to take more heed of traditional design principles. In that sense, Siegel's entire book seems like a reinvention of the wheel. Why else would he have reiterate basics like indenting paragraphs and using readable font faces! But then, I guess that is the price to be paid for bringing web design out of the cottage industry and into the hands of real professionals. Creating Killer... reads well, in spite of Siegel confessing to having no leaning toward writing. "I think the person most surprised by the success of Creating...was my father. (I mean, his son may be a designer and a computer geek, but a writer?" It will! ! be a ready reference for web designers in the years to com! e, and will be remembered for the pro-design vision it aspires for, not so much for the tricks it shares.
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Summary: More Than Design
Review: Some people have questioned the lack of detail. I question the openness of their minds. This book is not only designed to provide a wealth of information on how to use HTML tricks, design, and graphics formats (which it does do exceptionally well), but it is also an eye-opener. It helps you to think outside of the restrictions of HTML and focus on the goal rather than the task at hand. Each of his 'opinions' are thoroughly explained, and though there is some I disagree with, the overwhelming majority of his ideas are "profoundly simple". Things that make you say, "Why didn't I think of that?" Very good. If you don't have it, get it.
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Summary: Excellent graphic reference book for web design.
Review: As a graphic designer faced with my first web site design assignment, and with no background in HTML, I went to a large local bookstore to browse through their entire collection of web design related material. I left with an arm-aching stack of books that I planned to use as "how to" reference. I had to quickly figure out how to visually communicate in "HTML" when I think in "Quark XPress". I have not read this book from cover to cover but it was the most helpful reference of all the books I bought when I needed to know how to translate print design thinking to the less stable arena of the web. For what it's worth, I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Take Seigel's advice with a grain of salt.
Review: Seigel is a designer. He's talented and creative and I found much of his book useful. However, usability doesn't enter in to his design equation. Take his ideas and make them better. Oh, and stay away from that god-awful tunnel architecture. It's too easy to use it to build a really, really bad site. Your mileage may vary.
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Summary: This book is so good it will change your view of the world.
Review: When I started reading this book I was a meer boy, but when I finished I was a man (in web site design terms). This is the best book on web site DESIGN, by the best web site DESIGNER in the world. A person can not just read this book, and then move on to something else. It causes a profound change to occur that can best be described as spiritual. If you read this book and do not become a better person, much less a designer, there is something wrong with you and you should seek immediate medical attention. David Siegel is the Web meisiah that web designers have been waiting for, and this book is his scripture! NO ONE has lived untill they have read this book. The ABSOLUTE BEST!!!!!
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