What do a PNG, a GIF and a JPEG have in common? Which is best to use on the Web if you are using dithered colours? Designing Web Graphics.2 is a graphical designer’s dream. Packed with colour charts, tip boxes, screenshots, this book serves as a reference guide as well as a learner’s guide to effective use of low‐bandwidth graphics on the Web. The book has a strong Web component, meaning that it refers the reader to topic‐specific Websites that have up‐to‐date information. This book is very diverse in its content, containing chapter titles such as: Getting Started, Web File Formats, Browser‐Safe Color, Layout and Alignment Techniques, Animation, Sound, and Interactivity. Its diverse nature is a strength in that it gives the reader a broad range of topics to explore when designing Web pages. The vastness and eclectic nature of the Web lends itself to many interpretations on “good design.” Basing a majority of its information on graphics, this book attempts to show the reader a cross‐section of what components make up the World Wide Web.
For the computer novice, information and historical background of the different graphical formats will provide a solid base for further, more detailed explanations. The author recommends choosing cross‐platform compatible colours because of the many video cards available that do not support more than 256 colours. On the other hand, the author stresses the importance of knowing your audience, as explained in a note about browser‐safe colours: “It’s always important to decide who your audience is before you design a site and create artwork that is appropriate for your viewers.” So, in other words, if you know that your site will be based on an intranet and that all computers within the network will support thousands of colours, than it might be acceptable to use colours outside the 256 range.
Accomplished Web‐surfers and graphic buffs will find some useful information regarding the percentages of browsers being used as well as the breakdown of the most used computers on the Internet. Explanations on why and how to use browser‐safe colours in your Web pages are clarified in the examples of what the different graphics look like with different monitors and video cards. By creating the pages to be as widely viewable as possible, you will increase the audience that will be able to view your site. There is an in‐depth explanation of when, why, and how to effectively use transparent GIFs. By referencing URLs it also provides supplemental information on where to find more updated information on transparent GIFs.
There are several good points about this book. A lively page set‐up allows the user to jump around from section to section. The screenshots taken make the reader feel comfortable with the instructions in the mini‐tutorials. Further, next to many of the screenshots is the source code. So the reader can duplicate the screenshots and be able to see what goes on behind the scenes. The book gives tips on what different Webmasters do to create their sites. Some Webmasters sketch their tables out by hand before they begin programming. The book effectively portrays a broad range of different styles and methods of creating Web pages and graphics. Another nice thing about the book is that although the author uses many Macintosh program screenshots, the user can be operating a Macintosh or a Windows‐based PC to create media.
Interestingly, the book not only seeks to educate on matters of static graphics, there are sections on other media as well such as animation, sound, and interactivity. FutureSplash, Macromedia Director, and GifBuilder are just a few of the mentioned animation programs, and although they are not explained in extensive detail, they do mention how to imbed the programs into the Web pages. In terms of sound, there is a section called, “Tips for Making Web‐Based Sound Files” that gives some tips on what KHz is recommended for different kinds of recordings. The chapter on interactivity explores the uses for forms, buttons, and counters. It goes into detail on how to “shock”, or make a shockwave file that is viewable on the Web, out of a Macromedia Director File.
In closing, Designing Web Graphics.2 by Lynda Weinman contains valuable information across a wide spectrum of Web development categories. Theory and examples come together in this book as it’s colourful pages come alive for some informative lessons in Web‐smart graphic and Web page design.
