Fresher Styles for Web Designers: More Eye Candy from the Underground

Fresher Styles for Web Designers: More Eye Candy from the Underground

by Curt Cloninger
Released December 2008
Publisher(s): New Riders
ISBN: 9780321602657

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Book description

Fresher Styles for Web Designers surveys eight innovative, contemporary visual design styles that break the mold and offer creative solutions to a variety of interactive design challenges.  Readers will learn practical ways to incorporate these design approaches into their commercial work, using specific online examples as illustration.  

In 2001, Cloninger wrote Fresh Styles for Web Designers, arguing that beauty actually enhances usability.  Since then, styles and technologies have evolved, but clients still expect sites that both function well and visually entice. This book will inspire web designers and developers to deliver sites that do both.  There are plenty of web design books that teach code.  There are several books about contemporary print design that discuss visual aesthetics.  This book stands out because it synthesizes experimental web design innovations with commercial marketing goals (without ignoring usability concerns).

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
    1. Dedication
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. 01. Fresher Styles for a Changing Web
    1. Why Stir Things Up Again?
    2. Permanence vs. Evolution
    3. A Different Approach to Teaching Design
      1. The Myth of Pure Originality
      2. Why Taxonomies?
      3. The Myth of Function-Driven Design
      4. About The Styles
      5. Avoiding Parochialism and Inbreeding
    4. Influences, Characteristics, and Uses
  4. 02. No Style
    1. Influences
      1. Conceptual Art
      2. John Cage’s 4′33″
    2. Examples
      1. Indexhibit: A Tool for Transparency
      2. We Make Money Not Art: The (un)Logo
    3. Uses
  5. 03. Late(st) Modern Style
    1. Influences
      1. Modernism
      2. Wolfgang Weingart
    2. Characteristics
      1. Visible Hints of the Invisible Grid
        1. Closely Cropped Square and Rectangular Photographs
        2. Floating Products
        3. Abstract Residual Grid Marks
      2. Geotectonic Typography
        1. Text As Texture
        2. Text As Structure
      3. Minimal Palettes
    3. Uses
  6. 04. Psychedelic Minimalist Style
    1. Influences
      1. 1960s Psychedelic Color Schemes
      2. The “Less Is More” Minimalist Mantra
    2. Characteristics
      1. Bright “Screen” Colors for Navigation Elements
      2. Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black
      3. Neon Patterns as Ornamental Architecture
    3. Uses
  7. 05. Dot Matrix Style
    1. Influences
    2. Characteristics
      1. Monospaced Type
      2. Dashes and Dots for Borders and Visual Texture
      3. Compressed Layout
      4. Animated, Dotted Logotype
    3. Uses
  8. 06. 1996 Dirt Style
    1. Influences
      1. 1996 Personal Homepages
      2. Custom Cars
      3. Bling Fashion
    2. Characteristics
      1. Increased Hobbyist Control
        1. Prioritizing Hobbyist Control Over Visual Design (Overdesign)
        2. Prioritizing Hobbyist Control Over Media Content
      2. Modularization and Syndication
      3. Glittery GIF Animations, Outer Space, Tron
    3. Uses
  9. 07. Corkboard Sprawl Style
    1. Influences
      1. Analog Corkboards
      2. Origami
    2. Characteristics
      1. Unbounded Layout
      2. User-Modifiable Layout
      3. Unfolding Layout (Spatial Flash)
    3. Uses
  10. 08. Fullscreen Fashion Style
    1. Influences
      1. Glossy Glamour Magazines
      2. Surrealism
    2. Characteristics
      1. Fullscreen Photography
      2. White or Black Negative Space
      3. Unobtrusive Text
      4. Shallow Site Depth
      5. Surrealistic Landscapes
    3. Uses
  11. 09. Hand-Drawn Analog Style
    1. Influences
      1. Expressive Line Illustrations
      2. Hand-Drawn Vernacular Lettering
      3. Sketching and Doodling
    2. Characteristics
      1. Illustrations and Embellishments
      2. Letters
      3. Wayfinding Markers
      4. Analog Textures
      5. Animated Drawing
    3. Uses
  12. 10. Style Matters
    1. The Web Still Awaits Invention
      1. Web Designers Matter
      2. Usability Experts Don’t Always Matter
      3. Style Makes Life
    2. The Craft of Web Design
  13. Endnotes
    1. Chapter 2
    2. Chapter 3
    3. Chapter 6
    4. Chapter 7
    5. Chapter 9
    6. Chapter 10
  14. Figure Credits
  15. Sites Featured in This Book

Product information

  • Title: Fresher Styles for Web Designers: More Eye Candy from the Underground
  • Author(s): Curt Cloninger
  • Release date: December 2008
  • Publisher(s): New Riders
  • ISBN: 9780321602657