Book review of "Web Design On A Shoestring" (free)
Carrie Bickner's book "Web Design On A Shoestring" is being much talked-about as a good blueprint for techniques, technologies and processes to get maximum-quality web sites on a minimal budget. DMXzone staffer Bruce Lawson reviews the book, and as a bonus, you can read chapter two of the book "The Pound Wise Project Plan".
Chapter Two - The Pound Wise Project Plan
You don't need my summary of this! You can read this chapter starting on page 4!
Chapter Three - Usability on the Cheap
If you're on a budget, you won't be able to hire Jakob Nielsen, that's for sure. And the danger in getting designers and clients to do usability testing is like asking engineers to write manuals - impossible to do well because they're too close to the project. Any web designer who neglects the needs of the site's audience at their peril, but unfortunately, it's often missed out of shoestring projects as it's perceived to be really expensive. This chapter shows some strategies for on-the-cheap usability testing.
Chapter Four - Why Good Copy Counts
This chapter writes Bickner "is for web professionals who are responsible for many aspects of web production". Basically, no matter how great a site looks, no matter how intuitive its navigation, if the reader can't understand the content, it's wasted time and effort - and loads of typos never inspires confidence, either. She discusses how to write for the web (be careful of just using the text from printed company literature; what's readable on the page might not be readable on the web) and HTML ways to enhance copy: a customised 404 page, the pages' title tags, the links and title attribute of the links can all enhance the copy on your site.
Chapter Five - The Design: Looking Good for Less
This was an eye-opener for me, as my design skills are of a similar standard to my lion-taming abilities. Image editors and typefaces are dangerous weapons in the hands of geeks like me - and that's what happened in the early days of the web; half a dozen different typefaces on each web page, in different colours, animated gifs (because you can!) all make for an amateurish, cluttered feel. To return to Bickner's mantra, dare to do less. She explains how to match up typefaces, which types (serif/ sans-serif etc) are good for text and headers, and how to use text-in-images for cross-browser integrity of "branding" fonts.
The Art and Photography section was well thought-out. Once I'd read it, everything seemed to be common-sense, but before I'd read it, I'd never thought of some of the points she made - which is the kind of feeling I get when I know I'm learning some good lessons. Points like, if you're using free clipart/ photography, choose pictures which harmonise well together, as well as just being individually appropriate. If the pictures you want seem to clash, try running them through your favourite image editor and filtering or tinting them similarly - and crop them to the same size and give each an identical border. It'll make the whole site appear much more professional. There's also an excellent list of resources on the web of cheap, good quality art-work. Each of those is now bookmarked in my favourites.
One aspect of this I disagreed with; Bickner writes that you shouldn't stint on the tools you use, and recommends Adobe Photoshop which costs $649 from Adobe. Photoshop has snob value, sure, and is the only tool of choice if you are making 10 by 5 meter advertising hoarding pictures, high-resolution print magazine pictures, or serious image manipulation (cleaning up seriously damaged images, for example) but for cropping, converting, tinting and saving for 72 dpi web graphics, Fireworks is fine. Otherwise, PaintShop Pro from Jasc costs just $79, a fraction of the price of Photoshop, and can accomplish the common web image tasks just as well as Photoshop for a fraction of the price. If you're really hard-up, the GIMP is free. (Early in the new year, we'll be running a DMXzone tutorial series on how to make use of free or low-cost software in your web development; the GIMP is one of the programs we'll be looking at).
Ian Blackham
Following a degree in Chemistry and a doctorate in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, Ian spent several years wrestling with acronyms in industrial R&D (SEM with a side order of EDS, AFM and TEM augmented with a topping of XPS and SIMS and yet more SEM and TEM).
Feeling that he needed a career with more terminology but less high voltages, Ian became a technical/commissioning editor with Wrox Press working on books as diverse as Beg VB Application Development and Professional Java Security. After Wrox's dissolution and a few short term assignments Ian became content manager at DMXzone.
Ian is a refugee from the industrial Black Country having slipped across the border to live in Birmingham. In his spare time he helps out with the website of a local history society, tries to makes sure he does what his wife Kate says, and worries that the little 'un Noah is already more grown up than he is.
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