The Web Designer's Idea Book: The Ultimate Guide To Themes, Trends & Styles In Website Design

by Patrick McNeil

Inspiring Web Design at a Glance

The Web Designer's Idea Book includes more than 700 websites arranged thematically, so you can find inspiration for layout, color, style and more. Author Patrick McNeil has cataloged more than 5,000 sites on his website, and showcased in this book are the very best examples.

Sites are organized by type, design style, theme, color, element and structure. Each chapter is easy to use and reference again and again, whether you're talking with a coworker or discussing website design options with a client. As a handy desk reference for design layout, color and style, this book is a must-have for starting new projects.

Genres: Design, Website Design, Reference, Nonfiction, Business, Web, Technology

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Laurian]

This is 1/2 of this months UX book club read at my company. I found it when I was at Powells a few months ago and thought it would server as a useful tool when I get stuck while doing design. I often find myself just unhappy with what I'm producing because it is the same thing over and over again. This is fine for creating a consistent look-and-feel across a spectrum of products, but it can also mean that what I'm doing is derivative and not staying up-to-date. And, lord knows, the US government doesn't need anymore dated software products.

This book is exactly what is promises. It is filled to the brim with beautiful pictures of websites. I don't always agree with the categories, but that really isn't the point. It allows for the plethora of web design to be presented in a meaningful way that isn't overwhelming.

I really enjoyed this book and know I will be returning to it regularly. I also look forward to Vol 2, which is in my book bag right now ready to be read.

[Tom]

These types of books are tough, since as soon as you bind them the websites are no longer in vogue. However, I really like the way the book is organized, showing sites by type, design style, theme, color, element and structure. You can look at blog designs, or red designs, or designs that make good use of gradients, and the index is helpful in getting where you want, fast. Lots of Scandinavian sites, interesting.

[Y]

I enjoyed this catalog and his comments on the different types of design there are today. The sites screenshots are organized by type, color, and style so you can clearly see how similar these sites really are. Love the neat organization of this book.

[Mark Shropshire]

Enjoyed how the designs were organized in this book. Paper/print quality is great. I think web based css galleries now superced the need for books like this unless the books have a lot explanation and review of the work.

[Chris]

Had some decent examples, but felt limited in its breadth. Would have liked more corporate categories as well as CMS-centric examples, since those are all the rage these days (for better or worse [worse]).

[Marva Whitaker]

This book was really interesting. -Which is weird, given that it's just examples of good sites divided into various types. But I liked the notes and the color combos at the ends of the chapter were helpful.

[Jeffrey Ning]

Structured approach of web development using HTML5 and CSS3 web design. However, the examples are still based on HTML 4.0 or XHTML instead of responsive design using HTML5 and CSS3. Good read for systematic developer, designer or programmer.

[Patrick]

I wrote it, so of course it gets 5 stars :)

[Cheryl]

Visual delight; inspiring

[Kelley Taylor]

Color schemes were not accurate and very little was informative. No font suggestions that I could find. But it was a great lookbook.

[Alex]

A lot of websites broken down into categories. As a web designer I thought it is a good reference to see different websites and different styles of sites.

[Bart De Pelsmaeker]

Very inspiring, a must-have resource for all involved in designing sites and apps.

[Michele White]

Very visual book to help you think about what constitutes good web design, broken down by elements and style. A helpful resource when approaching your own design project.

[Chris]

This is a good book for beginner new to web design. Offer a lot of visual ideas but not much on the academic side.

[Erika Reyes]

Good book yo get your feet wet. Nothing technical, just talking about types of layouts and how certain features or colors affect perception of user.