Have you ever wished that you could make your web pages look fantastic and professional, as well as having great functionality? Well, look no further. In this book we take you through the basics of web design, looking at using color effectively on sites, visual elements that work, and how to use text effectively, before going on to show how to put these elements together to make a well designed, brilliantly laid out web page. We also compare and contrast graphics formats, look at how to optimize your graphics for best site performance, and review the best tools currently available for producing graphics for the Web, and which to choose to suit your needs best. In this book we cover: - Effective use of color, visual elements, and text - Professional web page design and layout - The ins and outs of bitmaps and vector graphics, including using Flash, SVG and SMIL - Optimizing web graphics, for better site performance - Includes tutorials on Photoshop/Image Ready, Paint Shop Pro, and Fireworks MX From the Publisher This book is for any web professional who wants to get up to speed with web design quickly and effectively. No previous design experience is necessary, but knowledge of HTML is assumed, and some knowledge of CSS and a graphics package is recommended.   About the Author NICK BOYCE Nick is an art school dropout who became interested in interactive design through his involvement with photography and digital media. He has been using Photoshop since version 2, and spent a lot of time using Macromedia Director before getting involved in web design. After working at an educational production unit developing CD-ROMs and videos, Nick went on to become a lecturer in Interactive Multimedia, and started maintaining a mailing list to keep his students informed of the most interesting design on the Web. In 1999 he decided to build a site that assembled the information from the mailing list into a database. The result was Anarchitect.net, which has become a popular destination for designers and still maintains a mailing list. Anarchitect also functions as a space for collaborative artwork, with several projects running per year both online and offline. Nick has been a Director at Triplezero, a web design consultancy based in Adelaide, South Australia since 1998. His goal is to buy a helicopter by the age of 25. At the time of publishing he is 24. ISAAC FORMAN Isaac Forman is a Director of Triplezero in Adelaide, South Australia. Discovering what to do, and how not to do it, has come from a variety of opportunities including a brief stunt in educational multimedia. Since the founding of Triplezero in 1998, he has provided professional Internet design and strategy service to local and international clients. In addition, Isaac is a founder of, and prolific contributor to, the international web developer community evolt.org. He whiles away much of his spare time fighting with his cat, and playing with his kitten. Distractions include digital photography, sport, and a giant tennis ball ñ possibly the greatest purchase in his retail history. Isaac lives to eat, travel, and destroy opponents at Racing Scrabble. He has eaten a spider. DAVE GIBBONS Dave Gibbons is a writer and web designer from Beaverton, Oregon, US. He recently worked for five years as a writer, Web/Intranet Designer and programmer, and usability tester at Intel. When not losing sleep over proper web design, Dave writes humor ("humour" in the rest of the English-speaking world), novels, and screenplays. ADRIAN ROSELLI Adrian Roselli is a founder and partner at Algonquin Studios, located in Buffalo, New York, and also holds the moderately confusing title Vice President of Interactive Media. Adrian has almost 10 years of experience in graphic design, web design, and multimedia development, as well as extensive experience in interface design and usability. He has been developing for the World Wide Web since its inception, when he should have been falling asleep in a video-editing suite. Adrian is also a board member of the American Advertising Federation affiliate in Buffalo (Brainstorm). One of the founders of evolt.org, Adrian has even found time to send scathing site critiques to some of the regulars on the evolt.org mailing list, which is where he spends much of his free time. Adrian is known as "aardvark" in the wild jungles of the Internet, although if you ask him how he got that nickname, he''ll just change the subject and try to steal your sandwich.