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The Zen of CSS Design: Visual Enlightenment for the Web Paperback – 17 Feb. 2005

by Dave Shea (Author), Molly E. Holzschlag (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 82 ratings
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Proving once and for all that standards-compliant design does not equal dull design, this inspiring tome uses examples from the landmark CSS Zen Garden site as the foundation for discussions on how to create beautiful, progressive CSS-based Web sites. By using the Zen Garden sites as examples of how CSS design techniques and approaches can be applied to specific Web challenges, authors Dave Shea and Molly Holzschlag provide an eye-opening look at the range of design methods made possible by CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). By the time you've finished perusing the volume, you'll have a new understanding of the graphically rich, fully accessible sites that CSS design facilitates. In sections on design, layout, imagery, typography, effects, and themes, Dave and Molly take you through every phase of the design process--from striking a sensible balance between text and graphics to creating eye-popping special effects (no scripting required).

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  1. ISBN-10
    0321303474
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0321303479
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Peachpit Press
  5. Publication date
    17 Feb. 2005
  6. Part of series
    Voices That Matter
  7. Language
    English
  8. Dimensions
    20.96 x 1.91 x 22.86 cm
  9. Print length
    304 pages
  10. See all details
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From the brand

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  2. Pearson

    Trusted books and eBooks written by graphics professionals for the creative at heart. Peachpit has always been committed to developing new ways to share information and make lifelong learning as accessible and engaging as possible.

  3. What is Peachpit?

    Peachpit Press has been training and inspiring creative people since 1986

    Who are Peachpit books for?

    Our books offer unique strengths and style of instruction for graphics professionals and students alike

    What can I expect from Peachpit?

    Step-by-step explanations, timesaving techniques, savvy insider tips, and expert advice

  4. Non-Designer's Design Book, The
    Sketchnote Handbook, The: the illustrated guide to visual note taking
    Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic Book, The (Voices That Matter)
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  6. Pearson

    Visual QuickStart Guide Series

    An easy, visual approach to learning the latest technology, complete with Web Edition and videos (new editions only).

    Typically beginner through intermediate levels.

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Product description

From the Back Cover

Proving once and for all that standards-compliant design does not equal dull design, this inspiring tome uses examples from the landmark CSS Zen Garden site as the foundation for discussions on how to create beautiful, progressive CSS-based Web sites. By using the Zen Garden sites as examples of how CSS design techniques and approaches can be applied to specific Web challenges, authors Dave Shea and Molly Holzschlag provide an eye-opening look at the range of design methods made possible by CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). By the time you've finished perusing the volume, you'll have a new understanding of the graphically rich, fully accessible sites that CSS design facilitates. In sections on design, layout, imagery, typography, effects, and themes, Dave and Molly take you through every phase of the design process--from striking a sensible balance between text and graphics to creating eye-popping special effects (no scripting required).

About the Author

Dave Shea is the creator and cultivator of the highly influential CSS Zen Garden Web site (www.csszengarden.com). As well as being a member of the Web Standards Project, Dave is the owner and director of Bright Creative, and he writes about all things Web for his daily weblog, mezzoblue.com. With over 6 years of experience working on the Web, Dave is a leader of the new generation of Web designers that believe in responsible Web design.

An author, instructor, and Web designer, Molly E. Holzschlag has written over 27 books related to Web design and development. She's been coined "one of the greatest digerati" and deemed one of the Top 25 Most Influential Women on the Web. There is little doubt that in the world of Web design and development, Molly is one of the most fun and vibrant Web characters around. As a steering committee member for the Web Standards Project (WaSP), Molly works along with a group of other dedicated Web developers and designers to promote W3C recommendations. For more about Molly, check out www.molly.com.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0321303474
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Peachpit Press; 1st edition (17 Feb. 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780321303479
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0321303479
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 20.96 x 1.91 x 22.86 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 82 ratings

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  1. Molly E. Holzschlag

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
82 global ratings

Top reviews from United Kingdom

Andrew Battye
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 March 2007
Verified Purchase
If you thought standard-compliant CSS web pages had to be boxy and bland, this book will show you how wrong you were. The book simply shows many designs for the same web page and then talks you through the logic behind the CSS techniques used in the design. It is a great source of inspiration. What the book is not is a CSS reference book - try the O'Reilly series for one of these. What this book is, however, is a demonstration of what can be acheived with a modicum of CSS skills and a lot of artistic talent.
One person found this helpful
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Kaz 52
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 January 2018
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Bought as a Xmas gift
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B. Eaton
4.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile reading for web developers and non-web designers
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 April 2005
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This book is not a CSS tutorial, rather a sales pitch and guide for 'correct' use of the technology. It uses the csszengarden.com website as a case study for explaining how to make innovative use of CSS by explaining the structure, then the thinking behind the various designs submitted to the site. So it's actually more of a guide to design - but one that I would recommend that web developers read.
I say this as a (sometime) ASP/ASP.NET/PHP developer, who up until this point, "doesn't do design". I saw it as an inconvenience in the creation of otherwise technically brilliant (modesty eh!) web applications. Yet the whole css zen garden concept could actually make the life of web developers a lot easier.
Developers could eschew design altogether while creating web pages/forms that offer true flexibility for real designers. But the beauty of this book is that it actually gives hints, tips, and pointers, that in the absence of a designer in teams of programmers, could help make web developers into half decent designers.
This is more of an interest book that will hopefully change the attitude of the new breed of unwilling web designers that the .NET framework has created. It may also help designers that aren't currently working with new media to bring their talents to the web in a way that doesn't involve using Macromedia Flash.
It's not perfect but it will open your eyes.
22 people found this helpful
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bmcream
5.0 out of 5 stars Great at the date of purchase...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 October 2014
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New ideas when ordered... A very Interesting learning curve.
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R. Davies
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 September 2015
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was ok for its time, totally outdated now.
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Mr. D. J. Brammer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 June 2010
I came across the css zen gardens a couple of years ago and it has inspired me to learn more about CSS ever since.
The book is not a beginners guide and assumes that the reader has previous knowledge of CSS to start with and I would recommend understanding the basics first. It does a fantastic job of cutting through all of the nonsense associated with learning CSS getting straight to the point on all aspects of web design, providing examples from a large selection of CSS designs submitted by web designers onto the site. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in improving their web design skills.
One person found this helpful
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Nicholas Bambury
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read, makes you think
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 March 2010
As a software engineer writing desktop applications by day and a general geek by night, with an suppressed designer inside, web design has always interested me. I brought the book after being pointed at the Zen Garden web site and decided it was time to know more.
Don't buy this book thinking it will tell you how to technically do everything with CSS, it's not about that, there are tips and snippets of code but its more about the design element and the book really makes you think about web design, breaking it down to expose the details, and how clever design elements can be achieved thought the use of CSS.
This book is an excellent read and whilst it will help you to think about how to use CSS to achieve great web design, it will also inspire you.
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G. Hill
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent stuff!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 September 2005
Having bought this book about 2 weeks ago, I felt I had to come and review it. I very rarely actually do this!
I only tend to create websites in my spare time at the moment, but am looking to do a bit of freelance work in my spare time. Unfortunately, until now, my creative skills have been a bit limited! I wasn't bothered about things such as accessibility, and most of my websites were built with tables as they were more convenient and consistent across browsers.
But recently, I've been getting into the whole "web standards" thing, so I needed some inspiration. I found the CSS Zen Garden website and from that, decided to try out the book.
First thing to point out (as many have already done) is that this book won't teach you CSS in any detail. It already assumes you know the basics. This book is focussed on the actual design process - coming up with creative new ways to style web pages, and some of the many "tricks of the trade" that web designers have used in creating style sheets for the Zen Garden website.
The designs selected for the book are all outstanding, and for each one, a different topic is covered - layouts, transparent imagery, Fahrner Image Replacement (FIR), the Box Model hack for browser consistency, etc... It contains a huge amount of technical information on designing excellent looking websites using CSS.
In the margins of the book, it also gives handy notes and URLs for websites to look for further information.
For website creators like me who have been focussed on the more technical aspects (such as writing PHP/ASP scripts) rather than making good-looking, easy to use, accessible sites that conform to web standards, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
39 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Aaron
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book!
Reviewed in Canada on 21 July 2015
Verified Purchase
Awesome book. HTML and CSS are pretty easy to figure out. The challenge is design. That's what this book really helps you with.
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Gordon
5.0 out of 5 stars Well laid out book...a REAL design / CSS Resource
Reviewed in the United States on 18 March 2005
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I have always admired Dave Shea's CSS work and the Zen Garden site but this book truly delivers. Beyond the incredible examples of CSS work by so many talented people, Dave and Molly have assembled a resource book for a wide audience. The layout of the book in terms of chapters, examples etc is outstanding. The examples of CSS code are short and to the point with easy to understand explanations. Prior to buying the book, I thought it might focus solely on the technical side of CSS. This isn't the case as one gets to read about why some of these designs/layouts work. This is one of those books that you read for 2 hrs, come back the next day and read again and again. It's not a 2 hr read and then sits on a shelf for the next year. My copy will get well used. Lastly, after designing commercial websites for over 15 years, and 2 years of accessible, web standards design, I can honestly say this book is in my top 3 books that I own and USE. Nice job Dave and Molly, I HIGHLY recommend this book to designers, css junkies. A MUST READ!
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Giovanni C
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in Canada on 17 January 2015
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Not really a technical book for a person who wants to learn CSS
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Mary Shaw
5.0 out of 5 stars A worthwhile read
Reviewed in the United States on 7 April 2005
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This is much more than an ordinary book. I hate reading programming or web books, yet I loved this book.

I am a web developer with a programming background, more interested in usability than looks. I had traditionally used CSS for fonts and that's all. Recently I started exploring the true power of CSS and becoming more interested in color and imagery.

Then I stumbled on the CSS Zen Garden book and web site. Together, they opened my eyes to web design as an art. It taught me principles of light, color, fonts, and layout with CSS. It helped me realize that I can have awesome web sites! I have gone on to learn Photoshop and explore my own eye for good design. Armed with new knowledge, I look forward to working on my own design for the Zen Garden.
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Craig Cecil
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book that could have been great
Reviewed in the United States on 4 October 2005
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Since I'm a frequent visitor to the excellent CSS Zen Garden web site, I purchased this book hoping that it would enlighten me regarding the technical implementation of some of the more advanced CSS designs. Unfortunately, I think the book just misses the mark. What you get is a brief six page explanation of a particular design concept for each of the 36 included designs. This is all good, but I was hoping to see at least a few of the very advanced designs completely dissected in explanation, from beginning of the source to the end. Intermediate CSS coders will undoubtedly pick up a useful technique or two. Still, it's a good book that could have been great.
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