Many top Web designers have discovered that theres an art to creating sites that are both vastly informative and simply organized. Their trade secrets are revealed here. This book explores the thinking and methodology behind the creation of 24 simple yet content-rich sites. Here, youll find insights into how each designer began creating a structure, progressing to wire-frames that illustrate each sites internal organization, and on to screen captures that showcase the final products simple and accessible design.

With tips from successful professionals, as well as inspiring visual examples, this is a book that no Web designer today can afford to be without.

The twenty-four example sites discussed are corporate but certainly not staid - even those required to be quite serious. The clients range from retail mountaineering equipment to winery to interactive education and even to ad agency; the types of issues, the complexity of information, and necessary ?feel? of the site are therefore quite different. But author Mumaw is taking you back to the *process* with which the sites? designers had to match design and structure to content and mission.

Note that this is NOT a book about *how to* make a design function (i.e., no HTML, DHTML, Flash, etc.), but on how to conceptionalize *what* functions / designs one needs: taking a complex business or organizational message or process and putting an attractive and effective face on it. As a designer, you?ll probably admire some of the results more than others, but I think *almost anyone?s* design savy could benefit by seeing how the experienced artists here tackled some interesting design challenges.


the secrets of visually compelling sites   June 10, 2002
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

This book is a great source and provides some of the most valuable information on how to achieve a clear information architecture that incorporates good usability and is visually compelling. A real must have.


Concepts behind cool minimalist designs   June 8, 2002
 24 out of 24 found this review helpful

This book is a collection of case studies, like Jakob Nielsen's Homepage Usability. The explanations from one chapter to another tends to be repetitive, and not all of the 24 websites are really-really cool, BUT unlike Jakob's book that just attempted to make long distance intepretations, this glossy hard cover book takes us into the design processes complete with each designers' thinkings, from the early paper sketches, the sitemaps, and the final screenshots. And those insights are good enough for me buy this book.