The Zen of CSS Design
Sunday, 24 April 2005 @ 2:35
I just finished reading Zen of CSS Design, The: Visual Enlightenment for the Web by Dave Shea and Molly E. Holzschlag. For those that don’t recognize the name, Dave Shea is the “creator and cultivator of the highly influential CSS Zen Garden.” The book is well-written, interesting, and covers the subject well.
The way in which the book covers web design is both different and interesting. Instead of simply mechanically moving through lessons, the auther covers web design standards, principles, and technique� by using the conceptualization, birth, and life of the website CSS Zen Garden as a perpectual example. The result provides for interesting reading and for an excellent real-world example experience.
Another thing that makes this book different from many web development books is that it spends more time covering design theory than technical application. This to me is exciting, because even though it was very elementary to me personally, we always need to be reminded about the fundamental principles of design. This book will be of most value however to those just beginning their education in web design or those with a more technical background seeking to improve�or at least enhance their understanding or appreachiation of�good design.
What I found most interesting about the book was the history of Shea and his adventure with CSS Zen Garden. He descripes this interests with web design, web standards, and making a statement. It was interesting to follow the detailed process of organizing his efforts, putting the project together, and partaking of an insiders view of something that has been such a high profile event.
All-in-all, the book is a good read. It was quick, but effective. I did find the last half of the book to be a little repetative, but that might have been because the principles were already understood. Advanced CSS masters will find little value in the book technically, but the history of the web described in the biginning chapters and the story of the Zen Garden makes it still a worthwhile read. Novices and others looking to increase their knowledge of CSS and general web layout however, will be find� a collection of lessons and tutorials pulled from real page examples hosted online in the garden archives.
I was a little disappointed, but that is only because I was hoping to learn something new and not because the book was lacking. It was simply because the book is for a more entry-level audience�and for that it achieves it’s purpose well.
Zen of CSS Design, The: Visual Enlightenment for the Web
Author(s): Dave Shea, Molly Holzschlag
Publisher: Peach Pit
Published: Feb 17, 2005
ISBN: 0321303474
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