Adobe Creative Suite已经推出一段时间了, 一直没有关注这套产品, 今天在Borders看到一本叫做Sams Teach Yourself Adobe Creative Suite All in One的书, 大概翻了翻,主要是讲Creative Suite(Premium edition,contains Photoshop CS,Illustrator CS, InDesign CS, GoLive CS, Acrobat 7.0 Professional )中每个程序的作用, 如何运用每个程序来进行设计的整个流程, 第二部分是每个程序的一些基本操作, 最后用一个例子讲解运用整个Creative Suite的过程.

看过之后第一个感觉是, Adobe实在会赚钱, 有些东西明明可以一个软件就够了, 干吗搞那么复杂, 还要用上整个Suite, 要知道这整套价值可是$1229.00. 比如要做一个brochure, 按照Creative Suite的概念, 就是先用Illustrator CS设计Logo, 然后找出合适的图片, 用Photoshop处理图片, 这些元素文件都放到一个File Management system中, 叫做Version Cue, 然后用InDesign做页面设计, 再用Acrobat 7.0生成PDF文件做Review and commend, 最后用InDesign 或者Acrobat打印, 出版, 如果要发布成Web page, 可以从InDesign中导出一个Package转到GoLive中, 做成网页发布.

不过这整套软件一般的设计公司或部门应该都会用到的, 推出Creative Suite概念后, 确实让整个设计流程变的更加简单, 易于管理, 也更流畅了. 这里有个Adobe官方的关于Creative Suite对流程管理的Flash动画, 以及Product overview. 

Quick tour(Flash 1:49 min)

Digital Web给了刚刚出版的新书The Zen of CSS Design第一个Book Review,我在之前的Blog中提到过这本书,应该这个月25号就出版了,但现在书还没有到Amazon那里,现在显示的状态还是Pre-Order,1个月前定购了一本,不知道什么时候能到.

Quote:

Summary

This book isn’t just about the how, it’s also about the why: Why should I use the different type controls? Why should I use graphics in my design? Why should I use special effects? Why should I use CSS for layout? (That last one’s kind of a given with this book, but you get my point.)

There are lots of resources that tell you how to do something with CSS—for instance, putting a border around an element—but far fewer try to explain why you should do it. This book explains that “why.”

It’s a natural progression from Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide (definitely a “how” book) to Eric Meyer on CSS and More Eric Meyer on CSS (both halfway between “how” and “why.”). Which is not to say I think writing this book was easy. It’s crammed with useful how-to info and wraps it all up in explanations of why you would want to do it this way.

 Complete Review

Dave Shea, CSS Zen Garden的创建者和维护者, 将订在12月23日发布新书The Zen of CSS Design : Visual Beauty for the Web 这本书将使用CSS Zen Garden中的10余个设计做为例子, 详细的分析这些案例, 并讲述如何用CSS来设计漂亮的网页, 你将在新书中学到很多新的概念.真的是本很值得期待的书, 相信将是继Eric A. Meyer的Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide之后的又一本好书

Quote from Amazon:

Proving once and for all that standards-compliant design does not equal dull design, this inspiring tome uses examples from the landmark CSS Zen Garden site as the foundation for discussions on how to create beautiful, progressive CSS-based Web sites. By using the Zen Garden sites as examples of how CSS design techniques and approaches can be applied to specific Web challenges, authors Dave Shea and Molly Holzschlag provide an eye-opening look at the range of design methods made possible by CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). By the time you've finished perusing the volume, you'll have a new understanding of the graphically rich, fully accessible sites that CSS design facilitates. In sections on design, layout, imagery, typography, effects, and themes, Dave and Molly take you through every phase of the design process--from striking a sensible balance between text and graphics to creating eye-popping special effects (no scripting required).

More Info