The Non-Designer's Web Book, 3rd Edition
By Robin Williams and John Tollett

I loved Williams' The Mac Is Not A Typewriter and The Non-Designer's Design Book, which really did a great job of introducing the basic elements of graphic design in a way that was logical and straightforward.

To some extent, her approach works here as well. Unfortunately, a book on website design presents some challenges that a book on the principles of graphic design does not. As with many computer and technology-related books, The Non-Designer's Web Book can't decided on what level of web-savvy it expects from its target audience. It tries to please all the people all the time, and the result is probably going to please nobody.

I quickly became frustrated with early chapters that were just too simplistic. I don't need an explanation of what the internet is. I know what the internet is. That's why I'm looking for advice on website design. Unfortunately, the publisher probably realized that some people with no knowledge of the internet who have decided they need a website for their business really will buy this book and they'll need all of that introductory handholding.

When Williams gets to do what she does best, illustrating what looks good in web design and what doesn't, then there are some really great insights to be found here. There are also some good technical tips.

But like all computer books, this one suffers from the inevitable problem of becoming rapidly outdated. It was four years in publication when I read it, but the writing was done a year or two before that. So a ton of recent web trends get no mention, and several currently irrelevant ones are emphasized. This is not an issue with the authors or the publisher. It's just the nature of the technology business.

The graphic design perspective makes parts of this well worth reading, and depending on your level of familiarity with web design, you may get some good technical information under your belt by reading this. But either way, most readers will find themselves wading through a lot that they don't need in order to find the helpful parts.

The Non-Designer's Web Book was book #34, and the last book in my effort to read 50 books in 2009. So I fell short of the goal by 16 books, but improved by about 10 on the previous year's effort.