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Andy Clarke

Art Direction for the Web

  Art Direction for the Web

The web can be more than plain rectangles and perfect circles. Art Direction for the Web exists because we wanted to explore how we all, designers and front-end developers alike, can break out of generic web experiences prevailing today.

In the book, Andy explores original compositions, unexpected layouts, critical design thinking and front-end techniques that will help you create something that stands out.

To achieve this, the book applies art direction to examine a new approach to designing for the web. This book is supposed to make you think, and ask questions, and polish every pixel with clear intent and purpose. It will show you how art direction will:

  • Connect your brand with customers
  • Create connected experiences
  • Improve engagement and conversions
  • Bring personas and user stories to life
  • Take design beyond frameworks

  • Published on April 2019
  • Tags: Design, CSS Grid, Flexbox

Print + eBook

$ 48.75 $ 63.00

Quality hardcover. Free worldwide shipping. 100 days money-back-guarantee.

eBook

$ 19.00

DRM-free, of course. ePUB, Kindle, PDF.
Included with your Smashing Membership.

With Art Direction for the Web, Andy provides a framework for harnessing the web’s potential. With historical context and real-life examples, Andy inspires each of us to be more purposeful about the choices we make.

Trent Walton

co-founder of Paravel Inc.

About The Book

Modern web technologies like CSS Grid, Flexbox and Shapes have made it possible for us to implement print’s often distinctive designs, and the web’s now full of tutorials on how to use them. But the most important question is not “how” we can use art direction techniques to improve our designs for the web, but “when” and “why?”

Based on Andy Clarke’s twenty years’ experience of working with clients, plus the expertise of the art directors and designers he interviewed, this book is about why art direction matters and how to art-direct compelling and effective experiences across devices and platforms.

A hardcover book laying open on a wooden table, with two pages open that are showing the table of contents

Andy explores the work of some of the most influential art directors, luminaries like Alexey Brodovitch, Bea Feitler, and Neville Brody. Andy doesn’t encourage us to merely mimic work from a previous era and medium, but to understand their thinking and learn how to apply that knowledge to art direction for the web.

Art Direction for the Web will help you make your sites more effective at communicating, persuading, and selling. If you develop products, this book will make them more compelling and more enjoyable to use.

Download A Free PDF Sample

Want to peek inside? We’re happy to provide a free sample chapter on how to direct grids, available in PDF, ePUB and Amazon Kindle (of course). The eBook is included with the print version for free.

Download the excerpt (6.5 MB): PDF, ePUB, Amazon Kindle.

  Art Direction for the Web

Print + eBook

$ 48.75 $ 63.00

Quality hardcover. Free worldwide shipping. 100 days money-back-guarantee.

eBook

$ 19.00

DRM-free, of course. ePUB, Kindle, PDF.
Included with your Smashing Membership.

Table of Contents

The possibilities of art direction on the web go far beyond responsive images. Andy’s brand-new book explores how to create art-directed experiences with modern HTML and CSS techniques.

About The Author

Andy Clarke is a well-known web designer, design consultant, and mentor. He’s been called plenty of things since he started working on the web. His ego likes terms such as “Ambassador for CSS,” “industry prophet,” and “inspiring,” but he’s most proud that Jeffrey Zeldman once called him a “triple-talented bastard.” With his wife Sue, Andy founded Stuff & Nonsense in 1998, where they’ve helped companies around the world to improve their designs by providing consulting and design expertise.

  Art Direction for the Web

Technical Details

  • 344 pages
  • 17 × 24 cm (6.7 × 9.5 in)
  • Quality hardcover with stitched binding and ribbon page marker
  • ISBN: 9-78-3-945749-76-0
  • Free worldwide airmail shipping from Germany starting mid-April
  • Release: April 2019

Print + eBook

$ 48.75 $ 63.00

Quality hardcover. Free worldwide shipping. 100 days money-back-guarantee.

eBook

$ 19.00

DRM-free, of course. ePUB, Kindle, PDF.
Included with your Smashing Membership.

Frequently Asked Questions

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