Books and other essentials

There is quite a lot of professional and not-so-professional literature we need to read for our classes. (We have a great library at school and it's always good for browsing.) I list here few books I've been reading recently. Most of them are mine, start of a good collection, hopefully.


Dinucci/Giudice/Stiles: Elements of Web Design (2nd Edition)
A bit outdated and very basic, but good glance at what is the whole www about. A good read, even if some parts feel like Windows 98.

Steve Krug: Don't make me think!
Entertainingly written package about good webpage design. What to do so that your page won't look like a lawnmower when it's actually V8.

Matthew MacDonald: Creating a Web Site - The Missing Manual
As stated. When you master this, you can code a perfect website and retire to Bahamas when you are 24. Or at least buy another pottle of milk.

Maggie Macnab: Decoding Design - Understanding and Using Symbols in Visual Communication
About subliminal messages in symbols through numbers. (Especially good in logo design.) You never knew how obvious it was, until it was obvious.

Kimmo Pälikkö: Creating Art - Theory & Technique (This book's net version is available for free in the author's website.)
One of my favourite books about picture composition and how to guide the viewer's gaze across the pic to where you want. It has also great examples from famous painters which reveal why some works are so impressive. All in all, an olive in my martini.

Timothy Samara: Design Elements - A Graphic Style Manual
Appealing volume. Know the rules and know when to break them - only in graphic design, not suitable for societies.

Smith/Smith/Gerantabee: Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium All-In-One for Dummies
When you master this, you can create perfect webcontent, retire to Bahamas when you are 24 and shoo off desperate companies wanting to hire you. Or get another pottle of milk.

No book is really worth reading without a proper drink. In New Zealand, I learned what good coffee is about. Unfortunately, in Finland it's pretty impossible to find, so I too often settle for filtered coffee. Here is my friend, George, enjoying some great coffee in the observatory cafe I used to work in: