Rating: 
Summary: Good for beginners
Review: Overall, pretty good for beginners. If you work for an ad agency, for instance, it won't make you an expert, but it will help you understand what that weird consultant is talking about when he's implementing your designs. If you think you're an expert in the field (and you really are), then there's nothing new here.There are some omissions, one in particular that made me put the book back down. He devotes an entire chapter to browsers, lists a few of them, shows some screenshots, but completely fails to mention the most comprehensive collection of browsers on the internet (the evolt.org browser archive). It seems odd to dedicate an entire chapter to a topic and leave out the most recognized resource on that topic.
Rating: 
Summary: Buy Veen's Book
Review: Reviewed by:
Timothy E. McMahon, M.S.
Principal Web Developer
The McMahon Group There are hundreds, if not thousands of books on web design and development out there for us to reference. While there are so many authors writing, there are far fewer worth spending your money on. Jeffrey Veen though is one worth the money. Veen's book The Art and Science of Web Design is a lesson to all of us in web development that the age of specialization is drawing to an end. To succeed in this maturing field, we need to begin integrating our design, programming and usability skills into one cohesive package that provides value to our employers and value to our users. The Art and Science of Web Design touches on many areas from interface consistency, to rule-based design to browsers. I've read scores of books on web development and without doubt, Veen's book was one of the most enjoyable reads and one of the more informative texts I've purchased. This is one book worth adding to your personal library.
Rating:
Summary: Perspective from Someone in the Trenches
Review: So many people seem to be obsessed with Jakob Neilsen that they forget that his is merely one point of view. Jeffrey Veen presents his perspective, which is largely based on common sense and solutions derived from actually designing websites. If you are a professional web designer who builds different types of sites for a broad range of clients, read this one soon. If you are looking for a cookbook of technology, look elsewhere. If you are looking for an intelligent perspective on site architecture, internet advertising, and how to give your sites a strong foundation, Jeffrey Veen's words are well worth your time. Even if you don't agree with him, it will make you really examine how you approach your design process.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Up to par.
Review: The area of usability is rapidly expanding in the publishing world. There are 2 pillars, JaKob Nielsen, and now Steve Krug. Nielsen geared to the experience user, with very specific and structure and specifics on desing. Krug, aims at the casual user. Both produced great books. Veen seems to be a tweener, his approach is not as simple and forward as Krug, and not nearly as detailed as Nielsen. I found the book to be of little value. It had a few good points, and I learned a couple of new things, but I would recomend Nielson and Krug, and rate Veen's book a very distant 3rd.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but faulted
Review: The book is helpful and interesting for a print designer just getting into web design. It has lots of insight into why and how sites work, and good solutions to surviving the vagaries of web design for those of us used to designing type within a tenth of a point. However, I have to wonder about quality control. I'm shocked at the number of typos in this book. There is no reason for any publisher to print a book with 10 typos bookwide, much less 10 typos (at a minimum) per chapter. I doubt if this reflects the author's expertise, but I wonder if it doesn't reflect a particular laziness in attention to detail, both on Veen's part and on the part of the publisher. If this were a textbook, or if it presented hard facts or figures rather than opinion, I'd demand a refund. Let's hope the book sells well so it can go back to press and all those mistakes can be fixed. Overall, good ideas that unfortunately need to be taken with a grain of salt.
Rating:
Summary: Big Yellow Face
Review: The cover..., not because Mr. Veen does not own a serviceable countenance, but because it doesn't clue the prospective reader in on the wealth of useful Web interface-related junk inside. "Junk" is used in its most positive form, of course, as related to the effusive collection of diverse material Veen attempts -- and succeeds -- to convey in his color-coded pages. He's all over the place as he gathers together everything there is to say about Web design through copious color illustrations (one on almost every page, for those who count such things) without actually giving step-by-step instructions. In other words, this is a lengthy, but easy-to-read, explanation of concepts and best-practices rather than a "if you want to produce a mouseover, here's the JavaScript you'll need" sort of book. It isn't about how to do things when considering your Web site design options, but rather why you should do things. Ultimately, 'The Art & Science of Web Design' manages to provide lots of great examples of both what is right and what is wrong with current thinking regarding the balance of useability and pretty pictures, the so-called "laws" of use (which are sometimes overzealously applied) and one man's rather well-reasoned opinions and well-researched facts concerning how people use the Web, and how Web sites need to adapt to those principles.
Rating:
Summary: - * -
Review: The idea of separating the logical specification for a thing from its physical realization is probably very old -- take, for example, dance notation of the 1600s. In the Art & Science of Web Design, Jeffery Veen examines the importance of this separation in today's electronic expression. This theme is explored from a variety of perspectives. We learn about the tight coupling between content and presentation but the reason for separation, the need for disciplines with markedly different sensibilities to collaborate, the process of pattern extraction and generalization, the tricks for conditional page rendering, and much more. This book goes a long way towards describing the real messiness inherent in creative expression on the Web. But, most importantly, Veen shows how to thrive in it.
Rating:
Summary: All potatoes, no meat
Review: There are some authors who I may not always agree with but I'll pull their books off the shelf time again for reminders about what works on the web. Jakob Nielsen and David Siegel come to mind. On the basis of this book, Jeffrey Veen won't be joining the pack. When he tries to be strategic, the book rambles. When he gets down to detail, e.g. style sheets, do'ers will be disappointed. Any book that says "This code will produce this result" must expect users to write up the code and try it for themselves. In that case they'll be disappointed with Veen's book. Keep browsing and you'll find better value for money.
Rating:
Summary: The book I wish I wrote!
Review: There are some horrible web design books out there. This is not one of them. The author really gets it! It covers basics like "the fold" to advanced notions like OO-Design. He manages to get you through what is wrong with 90% of the pages out there. This is not the only book you will ever need but it is the one book everyone should have.
Rating: 
Summary: He Blinded Me With (Dismal) Science
Review: This book may have been average fare in 1995 but hello, it's 2001. In the 7-8 years that the World Wide Web has been an information destination, the world has seen just over a jillion books about web design. The vast majority of them are better written, better researched and free of sloppy grammatical and spelling errors, unlike this me-too release. At best, it's an introductory book for the Rip Van Winkle who has just discovered the Internet. If you want science, do yourself a favor and stick with titles from Jakob Nielsen. (Is it just me or is this book's cover remarkably similar to "Permission Marketing" by Seth Godin?)
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