Design for Hackers: Reverse Engineering Beauty - Softcover

Kadavy, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1119998956 ISBN 13: 9781119998952

Publisher: Wiley, 2011

Synopsis

The smash hit web design book that debuted at #18 on Amazon.

Web design isn't just about knowing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. When it comes to web design for developers or web design for programmers, you need to know design principles to make beautiful and engaging interfaces.

Hackers are able to accomplish so much in so little time because they come from a community that's built upon sharing knowledge. When it comes to programming, they can learn whatever they need to learn by reading manuals, or simply typing in a Google search. But learning design isn't so simple.

Many design books try to teach design through lists of "do's" and "don'ts." But hackers know you need a deeper understanding of something to really do it well. Design for Hackers takes apart design by "reverse-engineering" Impressionist painting, Renaissance sculpture, the Mac OS X Aqua interface, Twitter's web interface, and much more. You'll learn about color theory, typography, proportions, and design principles. This theoretical advice is mixed with concrete, actionable advice such as suggestions for color scheme tools, and a chart of "all of the fonts you'll ever need."

Whether you're doing interaction design, user interface design, user experience design, iOS/Android mobile design, or good old-fashioned "web design," by the end of the book, you'll be seeing design through new eyes.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"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 on 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 for 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 with 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?

About the Author

David Kadavy is president of Kadavy, Inc., a user interface design consultancy with clients including oDesk, PBworks, and UserVoice, and mentor at the 500 Startups seed fund. Previously, David led the design departments of two Silicon Valley startups and an architecture firm, taught a college course in typography, and studied ancient typography in Rome while earning his BFA in graphic design. David's design work has been featured in Communication Arts magazine, and he has spoken at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive conference. David has written for SmashingMagazine.com, blogs about design and entrepreneurship at his blog, kadavy.net, and tweets at the handle @kadavy. More than 30,000 people have taken his free design course at designforhackers.com.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1119998956
• ISBN 13: 9781119998952
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352