GearPop Blog

White Space is Not Your Enemy: A Beginner’s Guide to Communicating Visually through Graphic, Web and Multimedia Design

Designing a brochure or web site without an art background? Step away from the computer and read this breezy introduction to visual communications first. Written for non-designers, White Space is Not Your Enemy is a practical graphic design and layout text introducing the concepts and practices necessary for producing effective visual communications across a variety of formats, from print to Web.

This beautifully illustrated, full-color book covers the basics to help you develop your eye and produce attractive work. Topics include:
* The basics of effective design that communicates its intended message
* Pre-design planning
* 13 Layout Sins to avoid
* Basic typography
* Working with color
* Storyboarding for video, Web, and presentions
* Information graphics
* Mini Art School–all the basics in one chapter
* Outputting your work

* Finally–the basics of layout, design, and visual communication for print and web in one easy-to-digest book!
* “Try This” sections in each chapter include fun, hands-on activities to develop skills.
* The companion web site includes text and photo support material; video clips that put the principles in practice; interactive multimedia components; and links.

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Learning Web Design: A Beginner’s Guide to (X)HTML, StyleSheets, and Web Graphics

Everything you need to know to create professional web sites is right here. Learning Web Design starts from the beginning — defining how the Web and web pages work — and builds from there. By the end of the book, you’ll have the skills to create multi-column CSS layouts with optimized graphic files, and you’ll know how to get your pages up on the Web.

This thoroughly revised edition teaches you how to build web sites according to modern design practices and professional standards. Learning Web Design explains:

  • How to create a simple (X)HTML page, how to add links and images
  • Everything you need to know about web standards — (X)HTML, DTDs, and more
  • Cascading Style Sheets — formatting text, colors and backgrounds, using the box model, page layout, and more
  • All about web graphics, and how to make them lean and mean through optimization
  • The site development process, from start to finish
  • Getting your pages on the Web — hosting, domain names, and FTP

The book includes exercises to help you to learn various techniques, and short quizzes to make sure you’re up to speed with key concepts. If you’re interested in web design, Learning Web Design is the place to start.

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