Any good web designing ebooks?

[digitman]

I'm loooking to buy a book at web designing.I'd prefer it to be in electronic format because its easier to check the links,etc,and I'd also save the shipping costs
I dont want it to teach HTML,just web designing.And preferably some stuff about Web usability and/or web marketing.I know some moderate HTML and CSS,and Javascript,however I need to learn how to create professional looking websites.
Any recommendations?please post here.I'll accept affiliate links(though I cant gaurantee to buy as soon as i view the page) as long as the book is of good quality.
I'll be waiting to hear from you!

[digitman]

i was expecting loads of replies for this 1,especially with the affiliate program offer

[Fusion]

Sorry I learn from paper, not pixels. Never read an ebook in my life. Some cd's are good where you can see the making of...

[Fusion]

If your talking purely about layout, it's hard to teach. Maybe find a good school that teaches interface design. or look on lynda.

[younghistorians]

Originally Posted by Fusion

Sorry I learn from paper, not pixels. Never read an ebook in my life. Some cd's are good where you can see the making of...

(Only ebook ive ever read was Aaron's)

I'd really suggest a paper book....it's going to be hard to find a perfect one because web design is a huge topic. Are you looking for the basics, or site elements, or what not to do, etc?

[Rivux]

You can't buy a book that teaches you how to make 'professional looking websites'. That takes knowledge that is built up through experience in both site designs and the market you are creating it for along with imagination.

But to start making quality websites, knowledge of Photoshop (or similar program) is pretty much a necessity. Once you can work in Photoshop competently the rest is style and imagination, two things that can't be taught from a book.

It would be like someone asking "I want a book that will teach me how to paint beautiful pictures". Well you can be taught the basics of paints, brushes, lighting etc from an Art School, but to create beautiful paintings you need imagination and style, which they can't teach you.

[Fusion]

Web design is to generic now. Flash design is one area alone.

[Blue Tiger]

Yeah im the same with fusion... i use legal books

[DaveyBoy]

you cant teach 'design' - as in what is best placed where, what looks good where, that comes from having a good eye and some fkin good taste

[Fusion]

Its pretty true. You can learn all the principles though. It's like if your in a teams, you need to know how to storyboard, etc.

[SN3]

Originally Posted by DaveyBoy

you cant teach 'design' - as in what is best placed where, what looks good where, that comes from having a good eye and some fkin good taste

Yep - It's natural.

[Dark_Matter]

You can teach design, though obviously some people are going to have a natural aptitude just like any other skill or art. Learning the basics and the "rules" is just the way to show people how different techniques can solve different problems. In college I saw guys who couldn't center text on a page go on to work at some pretty cool design studios. Like anything else, you just have to keep working at it.

as far as books go, I would recommend you get two books: one about graphic design basics and one about web design.

When I started designing websites, my first book was Creating Killer Websites by Dave Siegal. It has since become an icon in the web design industry, though it's definitely considered a dinosaur at this point. This remains one of the best books on the subject (IMHO) to date, despite the fact that the technical aspects are outdated. The book taught me how to think about creating a website, and gave me a few do's and dont's that I wouldve had to learn the hard way. I recommend checking out the second edition of Creating Killer Websites.

[jwalsh]

Learn buy doing.... that's the fastest way to learn. The guy who taught me, who is widely respected in this field, told me to "make 100 designs, your absolute best quality, then throw them all away"

After every one you make, take a look, and make it flawless, then take a look and think about what you would have done differently, and redo it.

You'll gain good evaluation skills, and gain speed, all well developing your own style.

Josh