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Inspiring Web Design at a Glance

The Web Designer's Idea Book includes more than 700 websites arranged thematically, so you can find inspiration for layout, color, style and more. Author Patrick McNeil has cataloged more than 20,000 sites on his website, and showcased in this book are the very best examples.

Sites are organized by color, design style, type, theme, element and structure. It's easy to use and reference again and again, whether you're talking with a co-worker or discussing website design options with a client. As a handy desk reference for design layout, color and style, this book is a must-have for starting new projects.

User Reviews about The Web Designer's Idea Book: The Ultimate Guide To Themes - Trends & Styles In Website Design

Some of you might disagree with me but I think this book is perfect for both beginners as well as web design professionals and freelancers. I've purchased it for more than 6 months and I still go back to it for ideas and inspirations. This book has always been helpful when I need to create designs for my customers. 5 star in my book. -- This book is perfect for beginners as well as professionals

This is a great book for ideas and inspiration. For people looking for principles, and how to design web pages, this is not the book for you. I would recommend "Head First Web Design". It is a very good book, with easy to understand principles.

As the name states, this is an idea book. I think it's unfair that people give this book a 1 star because they didn't bother to read the title or description of the book. This book delivers as promised. It indexes different web page design examples into categories such as type, design style, theme, color, etc. I bought this book as a quick source for design inspiration and it plays that role perfectly. I highly recommend this book to all web designers looking to expand their creativity. There is also a 2nd edition to this book which will be coming out later this year. I already have it on my wish list. -- Great "Idea Book"!

Don't be fooled; this isn't a step-by-step guide on how to build a website. However, it is a fantastic tool to use if you need help coming up with ideas for your own sites. The author has divided the book into sections based on characteristics that the sites share and by including the links, the reader can get a first-hand look at how the site is built. Combine this book with a web developer toolkit of some sort to view the code and CSS and this is better than any class.

Waiting for the next volume! -- Great tool for ideas!

If you're designing a new website, this book is a great resource for quickly finding creative ideas.

This book will not teach you design principles. For example, when describing a "Super Clean" website, the author writes, "The heart of super-clean style is that, visually speaking, these designs are super-clean." He's good humored about that sentence, but it's not instructional.

Visual impact makes this book great. The "design" focus of this book is on visual appeal. What the author lacks in instructional skills, he makes up for with screen shots of beautifully crafted websites. Two things could make this book better:
1. Present with more clarity the elements that make a site visually appealing.
2. Provide larger screen shots, either by adding pages or making the physical book larger.

If you're looking for instruction on design patterns, usability, or navigation try "The Design of Sites" by Van Duyne, Landay, and Hong.

This is a handy book to flip through for design ideas. And it's easy to read. I plan to buy the 2nd edition when it becomes available. -- Handy Brainstorming Resource