Transcending CSS Fine Art Web Design Voice That Matter ...

This is a somewhat unique CSS book in that it is not a "beginners" book nor it is a purely "advanced" book either. It is a book for web designers who know the basics of CSS who want to know how to use the full potential of CSS level 3 whether or not every browser will support every technique you use. It describes what can be done with CSS and how web layouts can be viewed as a means to provide semantic data to your viewers.

Throughout this book, Andy Clark provides beautiful illustrations and photographs of web pages, stock photos and snap shots that give the book a less "textbook" feeling and more of a slight story telling feeling. It's hard to describe, but it makes reading it more interesting and allows it to flow better. There are four main sections of the book: Discovery, Process, Inspiration, and Transcendence.

The book begins with Discovery: This section reviews many existing well designed web sites (CSS Zen Garden, Clear Left, Adacto, A List Apart, etc.) in explaining what the term "Transcendent CSS" really means. These principles such as not all browsers see the same design, use all available CSS selectors, use CSS3 where possible, se JavaScript and the DOM, avoid sing hacks and filters, and use semantic name conventions.

The next section is Process: This section talks about how to create a perfect workflow. The process of working with wireframes, using prototypes, how to build proper layouts, organizing CSS code, styling navigation and understanding elements of typography are all discussed.

The section Inspiration is my favorite section. This section really focuses on design techniques like grid-based design. The design technique really as the author states is the only way to properly design with CSS. Andy goes through many sample sites and breaks down each design in a grid and shows how it was created and with what markup and CSS. I never found a CSS book before that really explains from a designer's perspective their view of design. The author also goes into other design with print and media to get other points of view to design techniques. The most important thing about the book is that it doesn't just talk about theory; it shows actual CSS code snippets to really explain it. Well, done.

The final section is Transcendence which focuses heavily on the new ideas and techniques of using CSS3 and positioning and floats. Absolute positioning is first discussed with emphasis on positioning images, image zooming, and creative floating. There are so many different techniques and examples in this section it will take you months to properly go through them all. A great section as well.

Well, this book I think is a new beginning (hopefully) to CSS books especially with the new browsers (Firebox 2 and IE7) supporting some of the new CSS3 techniques that make designing web layouts fun again. I hope you get as much out of this book as I know I will. A great buy and a must buy!

Andy Clarke is an internationally known speaker, designer, and consultant focusing on creative, accessible Web development. Andy is passionate about design and passionate about Web standards, bridging the gap between design and code. He regularly trains designers and developers in the creative applications of Web standards. Andy has written articles for A List Apart Magazine and contributed to the CSS Zen Garden. Outside of his studio, Andy is a member of the Web Standards Project.

Author, instructor, and Web designer Molly E. Holzschlag has written over 30 books on Web design and development. She’s been coined "one of the greatest digerati" and deemed one of the Top 25 Most Influential Women on the Web. Molly is also Group Lead of Web Standards Project and frequent lecturer on Web design and development around the world.