Distinctive Design: A Practical Guide to a Useful, Beautiful Web

Standing out from the crowd

Producing website designs that stand out and get noticed is one of the web designer s greatest challenges. Distinctive Design examines the bond between code, content, and visuals to guide you through the factors that increase your design s visibility, usability, and beauty.

Award–winning web designer Alexander Dawson guides you through the principles that underpin beautiful, user–friendly design, with helpful hints and tricks to maximize a site s visual performance.

Inside, you will learn:

What makes a web design distinctive How to design for different devices How to make your content distinctive How design affects emotions and influences behavior How to design outstanding user interfaces How to promote user interaction How to ensure your site is accessible to all users How design is related to usability How to optimize your site for searches

From the fonts and colors you choose to the amount of white space you provide, the ultimate goal of any website is to effectively display your services and content. By exploring the power of influential design, Distinctive Design will show you how to strengthen your message.

Alexander Dawson is an award–winning web professional and writer with more than 10 years of industry experience. Dawson spends his days running his web consultancy firm, writing professionally about web design, and giving his free time to assist others in the field.

Please visit www.wiley.com/go/distinctivedesign to download project files and bonus material. 

Introducing distinctive design.

Motives and Motivation.

A Primer on Distinction.

Great Expectations.

Frequently Asked Questions.

Book Conventions.

E–Book Bonus Chapters.

Down The Rabbit Hole We Go!

Part I: Designing for the Web.

CHAPTER 1: The Distinction of Web Design.

CHAPTER 2: Designing for Different Devices.

Part II: The Art of Distinctive Documentation.

CHAPTER 3: Principles of Information Design.

CHAPTER 4: Design Concepts and Theories.

Part III: Implementing Design Theory.

CHAPTER 5: Introducing Design Psychology.

CHAPTER 6: Sculpting a User Interface.

Part IV: User–Centered Considerations.

CHAPTER 7: Promoting User Interaction.

CHAPTER 8: The Foundations of User Experience.

Part V: Designing for Ubiquitous Users.

CHAPTER 9: The Construct of Usability.

CHAPTER 10: Focusing Facets of Findability.

Index.

BONUS CHAPTER 1: Understanding Information Architecture.

BONUS CHAPTER 2: The Influence of Sociology.

BONUS CHAPTER 3: Accessibility: Removing Disability.