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Add to SafariWhen comparing Universal Principles of Design, by William Lidwell vs Digital Design Essentials, the Slant community recommends Digital Design Essentials for most people. In the question“What are the best books on web design?” Digital Design Essentials is ranked 4th while Universal Principles of Design, by William Lidwell is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Digital Design Essentials is:
This book works as a great reference for explaining design decisions to clients or coworkers, as both explanations and examples are provided.
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Backs up well known theories
Many of the theories presented in the book will already be familiar to designers. However this book backs up the theories with data, additional research and examples that encourage the designer to consider the theories in different ways.
Pro Variety of theories
There are 125 different theories introduced in the book that cover a very wide range of relevant disciplines (such as psychology and biology).
Pro Great as a reference
This book works as a great reference for explaining design decisions to clients or coworkers, as both explanations and examples are provided.
Pro Each topic includes a case study
Multiple case studies (over 100) are provided throughout the book to demonstrate the theory discussed.
Cons
Con Theories are not described in depth
Each theory has two pages; one page with visual examples, and another page with a written description. These act more as an introduction to the various theories as they don't go into much depth.
Con Basic overview of web design
This book is most beneficial for beginners just starting out with web design and UX as it's not a resource with much depth. Someone with an understanding of design essentials may find this book fairly repetitive and common sense.
