From Amazon
Curt Cloninger has very astutely categorised current trends in Web design into 10 "underground" design styles. What differentiates these styles from the corporate blandness that wallpapers most of the commercial Web is that their genesis is born of the passion for creative communication of their creators.
So if you're tired of the horizontal nav bar and hierarchical structure that typifies sites such as Microsoft, IBM and Yahoo, and yearn for something different, but workable in a commercial environment, this is where it's at. After all, as Cloninger puts it "The Web is not a database".
As well as deconstructing examples of design styles as diverse as "Gothic Organic", "Mondrian Poster", "SuperTiny Simcity" and "1950s' Hello Kitty" Cloninger identifies the main protagonists (often a single individual, or company) in their development. In addition there are techniques and tips showing how to produce some of the more definitive aspects of each genre.
But it is not a hands-on technical manual, this book will change the way you design as well as how you view the Web. Having read it, it's impossible to look at another site without seeing where it fits (or doesn't) in Cloninger's Web view. --Ken McMahon
Book Description
Helps Web Designers distinguish their work from the crowd by learning to break away from boring, print-based site design strategies.
Inspires with colorful and eye opening examples of edgy, refreshing styles from the experimental web design subculture.
References corporate sites that show proof of concept by successfully applying these design solutions, and shows how to transform your existing site. In a light and friendly voice, the author introduces the reader to new ways of styling Websites. With specific examples for each of ten categories, he provides a wealth of techniques for the designer who wishes to apply these approaches in their own work. The styles are broken down into ten categories including- Gothic Organic School, Wireframe Icon School, Lo-fi Grunge School, Paper Bag School, Mondrian Poster School, Pixelated Punk Rock School, 1950s Hello Kitty School, HTMinimaLism School, DraftingTable/Instruction Manual School, Super Tiny SimCity School. Fresh Styles for Web Designers will appeal to anyone who cares about the design of Websites because it provides new paradigms. Younger, Gen X and Y designers will like it because it speaks to their aesthetic and affirms their work; Baby Boomer designers will too because it will show them how to create sites that break the mold of old media design strategies.
From the Back Cover
In a light and friendly voice, the author introduces the reader to new ways of styling websites. With specific examples for each of ten categories, he provides a wealth of techniques for the designer who wishes to apply these approaches in their own work. The styles are broken down into ten categories, which are:
- Gothic Organic School
- Wireframe Icon School
- Lo-fi Grunge School
- Paper Bag School
- Mondrian Poster School
- Pixelated Punk Rock School
- 1950's Hello Kitty School
- HTMinimaLism School
- DraftingTable/Instruction Manual School
Super Tiny SimCity School Further explorations in the book help designers determine which style choices would be most appropriate when changing the look of their own sites.
About the Author
Curt Cloninger is a web designer, writer, and net artist. His commercial design portfolio includes sites like the award-winning (and revenue- generating) integritymusic.com. Curt is also a popular speaker at industry-wide internet conferences, and a regular contributor to design zines such as A List Apart. His net art has been exhibited at the Museum of Image and Sound in Sco Paulo, Brazil, archived on rhizome.org, and featured in digital art publications like On/Off and Neural. Curt lives at lab404.com, plays at playdamage.org, and continues to hold the heretical belief that beauty enhances usability.
