Design Concepts with Code: An Approach for Developers

Rating:
Summary: Good coverage of web design, too much printed SVG.
Review: An introduction to web design for those coming from the technical side of things, this book covers many aspects of graphics and UI design, but sometimes falls short in its allocation of page space and in the technical details.
Strength: Design fundamentals as applied to websites.
Great discussion of Line, Type, Shape, Texture, Space, Size, Value and Layout etc. Although I have been designing web sites and simple printed material for years, I found the exercises and explanations in this book refreshing and useful. Also liked the emphasis on clear communication with the client and common pitfalls. The discussion of color in chapter 8 was particularly well done with clear examples printed in full-color.
Weaknesses: Reliance on SVG.
Although I am an avid supporter of SVG, I found that this book's reliance on the technology and excessive printing of code to be distracting. I counted 75 pages of verbose SVG code and 25 pages of general XML/XSLT/ASP/HTML code printed in a 350 page book. Also, although well suited for bridging the technical-aesthetic gap, SVG still lacks widespread browser support, and no web developer worth his salt would actually build a professional website in SVG today, a point which the authors should have acknowledged more clearly. However, the XML/XSLT/XHTML/ASP examples used later in the book effectively illustrate how these emerging technologies can be combined into a single project.
Summary:
As someone with experience in web technology and design, I found several minor flaws in the technical assertions made in the book (browser compatibility), but enjoyed the non-technical design / interface portions which, to be fair, was the focus of this book.

Rating:
Summary: many words with little meaning
Review: I don't know who the authors thought the target audience for this book is, it's defenetively not me. Why I have to read about 'dealing with clients' in a book supposedly about design concept, I don't know. And what I gain by reading broad statements like 'clients like to talk about their company' is a mystery to me, too. There are several areas in the book where the authors are simply wrong.
It's true what they say: If you're not good at something, teach it.

Rating:
Summary: Good for a particular niche readership...
Review: One of the books I recently finished reading for review was Design Concepts With Code: An Approach For Developers by Kelly Carey and Stanko Blatnik (Apress). While this book might appeal to some niche of website design and development, I don't think I'm part of that group.

The chapter breakdown: Introducing Interface Design; Introducing Design Principles; Project 1: Building an Open Source Portal; Implementing Design Elements: Line, Type, and Shape; Implementing Design Elements: Texture, Space, Size, Value, and Layout; Project 2: Building an Online Resource Center; Working with Content and Typography; Using Color; Project 3: Building a Webzine; Exploring Site Issues and Accessibility; Index

This is a different book that is hard for me to describe. There are a number of abstract sketches in boxes that are about 1" x 1". The reader is asked how they would interpret the lines and they are given three choices. They are then told which answer is correct as far as the attitude and mood that is suggested by the design. Each sketch is followed by Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) code to show how that sketch is coded. After a number of these exercises, the concepts are used to show a design of a web page or site that incorporates that type of design to create the proper sense and feeling.

If you're a graphic designer of web sites, you would probably get something from this book. A developer (or at least *this* developer) would have a much harder time getting past the "here's a picture and here's the right answer as to what it should mean to you" style. Outside of that, the incessant use of showing each sketch's SVG code seems to be nothing more than a space filler. I would have much rather seen something like this be downloadable from a website and to skip the endless code listings. I guess I misread the title Design Concepts With Code. I was thinking the book would cover how your code can show design concepts, not to show design concepts with code printed for each picture.

I won't say it's a bad book... It's just got a few flaws I would have done differently, and it definitely isn't a book that will appeal to everyone.