Warning: Transcending CSS is not for beginners. It might not even be for intermediate CSS users. It is for advanced users who have made several ho-hum, run-of-the-mill websites with CSS and are looking for ways to put some oomph in their designs. There is code in this book – XHTML markup and CSS syntax are given for all of the examples explained in the book – but it will be useless to readers who don’t already know how to create table-less XHTML and CSS websites. This is not an instructional book; it is an inspirational book. The first paragraph makes the objectives clear:
“Transcendent CSS is more than a plea to use the latest, coolest CSS. It’s a quest to use the lessons you’re learning in CSS as a means to becoming the finest artist and designer you can be. Transcendent CSS asks you to embrace the new rather than the old and to stimulate new ways to find inspiration, create more agile and appropriate workflows for Web design, and encourage yourself to constantly learn more about both the design and the technical issues with which you work.”
As one might expect of a book concerned with art rather than technique, it is visually stunning. It is filled with pictures, every one in color, which probably explains the higher-than-average price. Many are screenshots of websites, but even more depict hundreds of examples of color and design from the real world. This book is likely to appeal to designers and non-designers alike, if only because it is so visually appealing.
The first two chapters of the book are largely concerned with things one might expect to find in a web design book: markup, layout, prototyping, best practices, process, and workflow. Chapter three, “Inspiration,” is entirely different, as it directs the reader to seek inspiration in all sorts of places outside of the World Wide Web and urges the designer to think less about technology and more about art. Chapter four returns to a more traditional results-based approach, but this time with an eye toward the future: CSS3 and advanced layouts are demonstrated. It is important for Web designers to keep the future in mind, but it can be frustrating to see examples of slick techniques with so little browser support that implementation is impractical.
Transcending CSS is a book for competent designers who want to make more beautiful websites without sacrificing flexibility, extensibility or standards-compliance.
ISBN 0321410971
Author: Andy Clarke and Molly E. Holzschlag
Publisher: New Riders Press
Copyright © 2006
List Price: $49.99
Review by Anne Thwaits, October 2008