Nov
15
2007
Bulletproof Web Design by Dan Cederholm (Book Review)
Posted by Steve Farwell at 4:03 PM
0 comments - Categories:
Book Reviews
Bulletproof Web Design by Dan Cederholm (Book Review)
This book took me back to school again! It basically instructs you how to "Bulletproof" your site designs with only CSS (cascading style sheets..). Mind you, its not a "CSS-for-beginners" read, but more-or-less how to accent or improve existing html with CSS.
Its basic structure is to take an existing "familiar" website from the World Wide Web and use it - at its example to show how/why its not bulletproof. The term "bulletproof" means being prepared for whatever is thrown at your design. (i.e. Different browsers/versions, resolution/sizing, download time/speed, etc.etc...). At this point I found the book to be a tad condescending as many of the sites fore-mentioned as examples - I've personally never had a problem with. But when put to the test, I could see how these sites in question could improve or overall better their chances to cover all bases to become bulletproof.
As a designer, I must admit, I had a hard time reverting to a "CSS" mode, as most of my projects are more Flash/Flex related, I hardly use CSS anymore, however, after reading chapter 1, I've acquired a new found respect for Cascading Style Sheets; I found myself rethinking makeovers and facelifts on existing and completed projects! There were quite a few tips and tricks using .CSS I didn't even know existed. So I'm now banging the drum in the .CSS parade!
The book contains only 9 chapters, and each chapter gives a "hands on" lesson/project that's easy to follow and complete. (see completed project!) Once again, its not a how-to create .CSS layouts, but more or less, how to improve or design sites that will work on any platform, speed, resolution or anything else the Internet will throw at it - and not break!
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve or accent new or existing sites, diversify or modify layout designs, or if you want to learn a few tips and tricks in CSS - this books' for you!
Thank you,
Andre' Harden