Book Review: The Smashing Book
Starting off with my first book review of the year.
I was very excited to hear about a Smashing Magazine (SM) book, entitled ‘The Smashing Book’. SM is undoubtedly the number one web designer’s resource on the web. Whenever I need to find something, it’s the first place I go to look. It covers all aspects of web design and has some great authors who put a lot of effort into their writing.
The book contains no lists of links or aggregated content. It has 10 carefully prepared, written and edited stories that are based upon topic suggestions and wishes of Smashing Magazine’s readers.
Who is it for?
Web designers. Most definitely for beginners. Intermediate to seasoned designers should know most of the book but it’s a nice reminder of various best practices.
What’s in it?
As you’d expect, the book covers pretty much all aspects of web design.
- User interface design
- CSS layouts
- Typography
- Usability
- Color
- Optimization
- Increasing conversions
- Turning a website into a remarkable brand
On top of these in depth chapters there are interviews with some of the industrie’s well established designers.
Verdict
The book is basically all of SM’s best articles condensed into a book. This is what you’d expect, as it would be hard to top what they have on the website already.
The content is very detailed, perhaps even too much in some cases, but it is like a ‘bible of web design’ covering all the things you should know.
Not a big fan of the book’s aesthetics – it’s a bit like a novel in size and has an awkward bound. Would have liked to see a bigger, more open book (take Handcrafted CSS or HTML and CSS Web Standards Solutions for example).
If you’re an avid reader of SM like I am, then you’ve probably already read most of the book before. Nice read to refresh your memory and I enjoyed the extra chapter about SM behind the scenes. I’m glad I have the book but if you’re strapped for cash, most of it is all available online, for free.
What did you think of The Smashing Book?
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9 Appreciated Comments
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On the , Johnathan said:
I got it for christmas and I’m on the second chapter at the minute. The first chapter was great but finding the second a little too basic but the rest of it looks great.
I prefer having everything in a book rather than lots of different articles spread around on the site, make it much easier to read I think.
And I agree about the binding, really awkward turing the pages without breaking the spine.
On the , Sean Delaney said:
My binding has already broke! Page 89 is out and stuck back in with tape!
I am currently on chapter 4 and so far I’m really enjoying the book. I have to agree with Johnathan tho, I like having all the material in my hand than it been spread across many pages of a website.
A lot or should I say 90% of what I’ve read so far I knew or was at least aware off but it is nice to have a refresh of things now and again. Looking forward to finishing the book too.
On the , アダルトSEO said:
The Smashing Book looks excellent. I want to introduce it to my friends.
On the , Peter Joseph said:
I love the book but I agree that the format isn’t the greatest. If it were bigger and bound nicer I think it would be just about perfect.
As it is, it’s a great source of reference and inspiration
On the , Sbuster said:
I love this book not been able to buy from Venezuela eh (problems with my paypal account). but I have summarized some of this book a few followers on twitter and more and more I blame myself for not buying it. something I do not like is that it published for free in pdf as it is not the same as having him in the hand. as you say Lee should be a Bliblia wall for web designers
On the , Stephan said:
This review is not correct – all Smashing Books consist of content exclusively produced for the book. You will not find any of the content on the Smashing Magazine website except the pre-released sample chapter.