Professional Web Design: The Best of Smashing Magazine

Preface......Page 2
You Need A Separate Web Division......Page 9
Managing Your Website Is A Full-Time Job......Page 11
Periodic Redesign Is Not Enough......Page 12
You Are Wasting Money On Social Networking......Page 13
You’re Not Getting Value From Your Web Team......Page 15
Design By Committee Brings Death......Page 17
A CMS Is Not A Silver Bullet......Page 19
You Have Too Much Content......Page 20
Conclusions......Page 21
Portfolio Design Study: Design Patterns and Current Practices......Page 22
Light vs. Dark Design......Page 23
How Many Columns?......Page 24
Introductory Block On Top?......Page 26
Layout Alignment......Page 27
Navigation Alignment......Page 29
Flash Elements......Page 30
Where To Put Contact Information?......Page 31
Client Page......Page 34
Services Page......Page 35
Portfolio Page......Page 36
Workflow Page......Page 37
Contact Page......Page 38
Other Findings......Page 39
Summary......Page 40
Pitfall #1: Obfuscating......Page 42
Pitfall #2: Cramming Information......Page 43
Pitfall #4: Unusual Navigation......Page 44
Pitfall #5: Visual Clutter......Page 45
Define your Criteria and Strategies for Success......Page 46
Consider Multiple Portfolios......Page 47
Target Your Market......Page 49
Use the Right Technology......Page 52
Limit The Scope And Type of Work You Promote......Page 54
Provide Adequate Contact Information, Documentation And Explanations......Page 56
Present Your Work In The Context of Your Goals......Page 57
Infuse Your Personality In The Design......Page 58
Develop Long-Term Goals......Page 60
It Begins With a Story......Page 62
Revealing the Design in Stories......Page 63
The Power of Emotion......Page 65
Bring Teams Together......Page 68
User-Centered Goal......Page 69
Defining the User......Page 70
The Benefits......Page 71
Happily Ever After: The Reality......Page 72
Dorelle Rabinowitz......Page 73
Curt Cloninger......Page 76
Christian Saylor......Page 78
Cindy Chastain......Page 80
In Packaging: Apple......Page 83
In Technology: Microsoft Courier......Page 84
In Marketing: Six Scents Perfume......Page 85
In Data: Taxi07:Roads Forward......Page 86
In Websites: Showtime Sports......Page 87
The End Is The Beginning Of This Story......Page 88
Websites vs. Web Applications......Page 89
Different Types of Web Applications......Page 90
First, Know Your Users......Page 91
How to Identify Users?......Page 92
Design Process......Page 94
Sketching......Page 95
Prototyping......Page 96
No One Likes Surprises......Page 97
Users Should Be Able to Be Efficient......Page 99
Help!......Page 101
Can’t Get No Satisfaction......Page 102
Master-Detail Views......Page 103
Reports......Page 104
Don’t Forget UI Design Patterns......Page 105
Case Study: Online Banking Application......Page 107
Final Thoughts......Page 108
Progressive Enhancement And Standards Do Not Limit Web Design......Page 109
The Mess That Is The Web......Page 110
Creating Celebrities And A Place We
Wish We Were At......Page 111
Hollywood And Advertising Teach Us Nothing......Page 112
The Myth Of Innovating Exclusively Through Technology......Page 113
Innovation Isn’t About New Toys......Page 114
The Corporate Spin On Innovation, And Its Consequences......Page 115
The Stockholm Syndrome Of Bad Interfaces......Page 116
This Is Not About Technology Or Design......Page 117
Where Is The Beauty Of The Web?......Page 119
To Recap: Our Issues......Page 120
Why Standards Matter, And What “Following Standards” Means......Page 122
Progressive Enhancement Works......Page 123
Best Practices Come From Application And Iterative Improvement......Page 125
Together We Can Do This......Page 126
Color Theory for Professional Designers......Page 128

Warm Colors......Page 130
Red (Primary Color)......Page 131
Orange (Secondary Color)......Page 132
Yellow (Primary Color)......Page 133
Green (Secondary Color)......Page 134
Blue (Primary Color)......Page 135
Purple (Secondary Color)......Page 136
Neutrals......Page 137
Black......Page 138
White......Page 139
Gray......Page 140
Beige and Tan......Page 141
Cream and Ivory......Page 142
In Brief......Page 143
Traditional Color Scheme Types......Page 144
Monochromatic......Page 145
Analogous......Page 147
Complementary......Page 149
Split Complementary......Page 150
Triadic......Page 151
Double-Complementary (Tetradic)......Page 152
Custom......Page 154
Creating a Color Scheme......Page 155
Adding in Neutrals......Page 159
The Easiest Color Schemes......Page 160
How Many Colors?......Page 162
Conclusion......Page 163
Explain Why You Are Asking About Money......Page 165
Justify Your Recommendations In Language John Can Understand......Page 166
Include John In The Process......Page 167
Educate John About Design......Page 168
Communicate With John Regularly......Page 169
Explain John’s Ongoing Role......Page 170
The Moral Of The Story......Page 171
The Passive-Aggressive......Page 173
How to Deal With It......Page 174
How to Deal With It......Page 175
Identifying Characteristics......Page 176
Identifying Characteristics......Page 177
The Scornful Saver......Page 178
The “I-Could-Do-This-Myself”-er......Page 179
How to Deal With It......Page 180
Identifying Characteristics......Page 181
Identifying Characteristics......Page 182
Wrap-up......Page 183
How To Respond Effectively To Design Criticism......Page 184
Have The Right Attitude......Page 187
Understand The Objective......Page 188
Separate Wheat From The Chaff......Page 190
Learn From It......Page 191
Look For A New Idea......Page 192
Dig Deeper When Necessary......Page 193
Thank The Critic......Page 195
Why Network?......Page 196
Collaborations......Page 197
Problem-Solving......Page 198
Help Others......Page 199
Seek Mutual Benefit......Page 200
Focus on Depth of Relationships......Page 201
Know What You’re Looking For......Page 202
Network Indirectly......Page 203
Don’t Wait Until You Need Something......Page 204
Don’t Let Networking Hurt Your Productivity......Page 205
Don’t Try to Be Everywhere Online......Page 206
16. Pay Attention to Local Opportunities......Page 207
Group Interview: Expert Advice For Students and Young Web Designers......Page 209
Wolfgang Bartelme......Page 210
Henry Jones......Page 211
David Leggett......Page 212
Chris Spooner......Page 213
Jacob Cass......Page 214
Zach Dunn......Page 215
Brian Hoff......Page 216
Elliot Jay Stocks......Page 217
Walter Apai......Page 218
Darren Hoyt......Page 219
Paul Boag......Page 220
Soh Tanaka......Page 221
Chris Coyier......Page 222
Soh Tanaka......Page 223
Chris Spooner......Page 224
Darren Hoyt......Page 227
Walter Apai......Page 228
Paul Andrew......Page 230
Brian Hoff......Page 231
Jon Phillips......Page 232
Paul Andrew......Page 233
Brian Hoff......Page 235
Henry Jones......Page 236
Jacob Cass......Page 237
Paul Boag......Page 238
Henry Jones......Page 239
Paul Andrew......Page 240
Soh Tanaka......Page 242