By Patrick McNeil. Grade: A+

When I opened this book, my amazement could have made me gasp aloud. The book opens to pages of full-color, top-notch designs. My mind started ticking away immediately. The inspiration was already sparking in the air above me. No words were read; just viewing and consuming.

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 catalogued more than 5,000 sites on his website, and showcased in this book are the very best examples.

Again, I find this book amazing. It has hundreds of designs to study and be inspired from. Most of us have gotten the message that the nineties style of design is out. But it’s not a bad idea to have this era’s web design trends laid out for us in a nutshell. It’s a time to take a comprehensive view of the styles we’ve been seeing around. To find a few of the most impressive layouts we might ever see.

This book has just about every design style there is. From minimalist to a-typical. From church to the design firm. Each section has a short introduction telling how this particular type of site is usually structured or the foundation of its design and color scheme. It would be good to read and pick up on this part for technical reasons. As in, being able to re-create this yourself.

In short, this is web designers haven. Great designs to look at and choose from. It should inspire even the most lethargic of web designers, the most dull and antiquated of the trade, and you know who I’m talking about, for them to get up and try something new. It should make you excited about where design is headed. Where your personal designs are headed. What new bigger and bolder things you can do.

This book has very few words. Except the credits of course. And it doesn’t need much more. Just open the book and start bookmarking like crazy. Tag the things you can do and tag the things you want to do. Maybe you won’t achieve the same caliber of design right away but store the idea away, someday you will.