Visual Communication on the Web by Paul Martin, burrough, xtine Lester

Most web design books developed for the trade market are a series of exercises without a theoretical, aesthetic, or historic framework. In this book, Visual Communication on the Web, web design exercises are accompanied by concise introductions that relate history, design principles, and visual communication theories to the practice of designing for the web.

Specifically, Visual Communication on the Web teaches the reader to develop one dynamic web page over the course of 14 chapters. Exercises build upon each other so the reader creates and revises the work while learning new code or tools. Predictable mistakes are purposely included so that readers learn how to "fix" the project while working on it a much-needed skill for anyone interested in coding. By the end of this course-in-a-book, readers will have created a web page with a centered container div, a Lightbox image gallery, and an external style sheet using HTML, CSS, and copy-pasted and modified code.

With its easy to follow instruction and witty introductions, Visual Communication on the Web makes an excellent companion to xtine burrough's Digital Foundations and Net Works as well as Paul Martin Lester's Visual Communication: Images with Messages.