Design for Hackers: Reverse Engineering Beauty

"If you want to learn to create great design yourself...there simply is no way to do so with lists of rules. Instead, I want to provide you with a new set of eyes through which you can see the world anew."–––DAVID KADAVY
WHY DID MONET NEVER USE THE COLOR BLACK IN HIS PAINTINGS?
WHY IS THE GOLDEN RATIO NOT ALL IT′S CRACKED UP TO BE?
WHY IS COMIC SANS SUCH A HATED FONT?
It′s amazing what you can learn about great web design by asking questions like these. Award–winning designer David Kadavy uses this "reverse–engineering" process in Design for Hackers to deconstruct classical design principles and techniques from web designers. Using an eclectic array of reverse–engineered examples, ranging from Twitter′s latest redesign, to Target′s red shopping carts, and ancient graffiti from the walls of Pompeii, he explains:COLOR THEORY: How can you enliven your designs by understanding how colors interact?PROPORTION AND GEOMETRY: How can you establish a grid that is suitable for the device on which your design will be displayed?SIZE AND SCALE: How can you create clean design just by choosing the right type sizes?WHITE SPACE: How can you use it elegantly to communicate clearly?COMPOSITION AND DESIGN PRINCIPLES: How can you use them to make your designs more compelling?TYPOGRAPHIC ETIQUETTE: What tiny typographic details can make a huge difference in what you′re communicating?

Spis treści:
Introduction 1
Part I: Understanding Design.
CHAPTER 1: Why Design Matters 9
CHAPTER 2: The Purpose of Design 19
Part II: Medium and Form.
CHAPTER 3: Medium and Form in Typography 37
CHAPTER 4: Technology and Culture 75
Part III: Composition.
CHAPTER 5: Fool′s Golden Ratio: Understanding Proportions 105
CHAPTER 6: Holding the Eye: Comp osition and Design Principles 133
CHAPTER 7: Enlivening Information: Establishing a Visual Hierarchy 167
Part IV: Color.
CHAPTER 8: Color Science 195
CHAPTER 9: Color Theory 235
Part V: Appendixes.
APPENDIX A: Choosing and Pairing Fonts 291
APPENDIX B: Typographic Etiquette 311
Index 329

Nota biograficzna:
David Kadavy is a user interface designer whose clients include Silicon Valley startups such as oDesk, UserVoice, and PBworks. He led the design departments at two Silicon Valley startups and an architecture firm, taught a college course in typography, and studied ancient typography in Rome. David blogs about design at kadavy.net, and his Twitter handle is @kadavy.

Okładka tylna:
"If you want to learn to create great design yourself...there simply is no way to do so with lists of rules. Instead, I want to provide you with a new set of eyes through which you can see the world anew."–––DAVID KADAVY
WHY DID MONET NEVER USE THE COLOR BLACK IN HIS PAINTINGS?
WHY IS THE GOLDEN RATIO NOT ALL IT′S CRACKED UP TO BE?
WHY IS COMIC SANS SUCH A HATED FONT?
It′s amazing what you can learn about great web design by asking questions like these. Award–winning designer David Kadavy uses this "reverse–engineering" process in Design for Hackers to deconstruct classical design principles and techniques from web designers. Using an eclectic array of reverse–engineered examples, ranging from Twitter′s latest redesign, to Target′s red shopping carts, and ancient graffiti from the walls of Pompeii, he explains:COLOR THEORY: How can you enliven your designs by understanding how colors interact?PROPORTION AND GEOMETRY: How can you establish a grid that is suitable for the device on which your design will be displayed?SIZE AND SCALE: How can you create clean design just by choosing the right type sizes?WHITE SPACE: How can you use it elegantly to communicate clearly?COMPOSITION AND DESIGN PRINCIPLES: How can you use them to make your designs more compelling?TYPOGRAPHIC ETIQUETTE: What tiny typographic details can make a huge difference in what you′re communicating?