Robin Williams has taught millions what makes for good design and why, never forgetting that most of us don't speak jargon--and she does it all with a disarming sense of humor. Now Robin, with coauthors John Tollett and Dave Rohr, translates the principles of creative, effective design to the Web in Robin Williams Web Design Workshop. Learn from these pros everything you need to know about Web design, including the ways that color, fonts, clip art, photographs, and layout can work together to create the visual impression you want. Robin doesn't just tell you about good Web design, she shows you, walking you through every step of the design process, from site planning and layout to navigation design and functionality--the book is illustrated with hundreds of full-color examples. Like Robin herself, Robin Williams Web Design Workshop strikes the perfect teaching balance, combining theory and real-world experience, all wrapped up in a colorful, engaging package.

Table of Contents:
Introduction. I. BACKGROUND. 1. How much do you already know? Color Theory (RGB vs. CMYK, web safe colors, etc.). File formats (GIF, JPG, TIF, PSD, RIF, HTML, PNG, etc.). Page building (software, index page, naming files, etc.). Resolution (bit depth, ppi vs dpi, screen resolution vs. print resolution, etc.). Type and fonts (aliased vs. anti-aliased type, quote marks and apostrophes in graphic type, cross-platform fonts, etc.). FTP process. Tables: How to make and use them. Fonts (viewer customizable and what to do about it). 2. Taking advantage of clip art and fonts. Using clip art in web design, buttons, animations, etc. Where to get it, what to do with it (file format, color, etc.). Use a new typeface! 3. Taking advantage of photographs. Using photographs on the web. Borders, resolution issues, thumbnails, etc. 4. It's a horizontal world. Horizontal screens, laptops, initial visual impact, etc. Ways to take advantage of the horizontal space, etc. 5. Creating a visual impression. What makes a site look personal, corporate, portal, trendy, dorky? II. PLAN THAT SITE. 6. Initial planning and client input. Audience, market. Browser compatibility. Hosting, domain names. Working with clients. Save those source files!!! Design vs. production. 7. Organization of site. Site mapping. 8. Organizing the work flow. Including updating (“this page last updated...”). 9. Layout process. In PhotoShop or Illustrator. Posting on web for client to view, etc. 10. Enhanced functionality (when do you need it, where to get it). Automated stuff like sending out a newsletter (list management), auto-responders. Chat rooms/guest books. Database integration. CGI scripts. E-commerce. Javascript. Other code. 11. Web site work is never done. Submitting to search engines. Maintenance. III. IDEA SOURCE. 12. Slicing and dicing. Slicing up the PhotoShop file for placement into cells. Troubleshooting cells. 13. Backgrounds. Don't be stupid. How to make seamless tiles. Examples of backgrounds that work (tiled, single image, etc.). 14. Navigation. What makes for clear navigation. Options for navigation (left side, right side, top, bottom, frames, flash). 15. Buttons. Lots of ideas for buttons. Tips on streamlining the process; making them easy to revise (style sheets). 16. Rollovers and image swaps. For navigation clarity. Examples of clever uses of, multiple image swaps. 17. Fonts and typefaces. Readability and legibility. Specifying certain fonts. Cross-platform fonts. When to use or not use real quotation marks and apostrophes. Quote marks and apostrophes in graphics. 18. Search and/or site index page. Lots of examples of site index pages. How to add a search feature. 19. Dynamic HTML (DHTML). What is it, when do you use it. Lots of examples of DHTML in use. 20. Cascading Style Sheets. What are they, when do you use them. Lots of examples of CSS in use. 21. Frames. Advantages and disadvantages; have a reason for using them. Examples of poorly executed frames. Examples of well executed frames. 22. Animated GIFs. Advantages and disadvantages. Lots of examples. Make them stop. 23. Flash animations. Advantages and disadvantages. Lots of examples of building web sites in Flash. 24. Layers. What are they, when to use them. Advantages and disadvantages. Creating them?? 25. Forms. Need CGI; where to get it, simple scripts. Lots of examples of lovely forms.