Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The cover image on Learning Web Design is a spiral. Spirals have been a part of the human experience as early as ancient Greece, and possibly since prehistory, fascinating the human imagination. In ancient times spirals were often used to represent what people believed to be portals between the present world and the world of their ancestors. In the Minoan civilization, spirals were commonly used in art and as decoration. In modern times, millions have been entertained by the spiral known as Slinky®.

The spiral shape is found throughout the natural world, most notably in the shell of the nautilus, the design of many spider webs, and the blooms of certain flowers. Another form of spiral is the double helix of DNA. In weather patterns, the spiral can be found in hurricanes, tornadoes, and the isobars surrounding high and low pressure centers. Of the known galaxies, the spiral is the most common shape.

The spiral can also be found in architecture. It tops Ionic columns, and from ancient to modern times, the spiral staircase has been a common architectural form.The helical spiral is the central structure of Frank Lloyd Wright's design of the Guggenheim Museum.

Mathematically speaking, spirals are planar curves, circling outward from a central point at a regular ratio.Archimedes discovered the first mathematical representation of a spiral:r = aØ, where r is the radius, a is any constant, and Ø is the angle of rotation from the axis.This spiral is known as the Spiral of Archimedes. Many other, more complex, spirals have been found and described by mathematicians since. Spirals can also be non-planar; these three-dimensional spirals either maintain a constant radius as the central point shifts along the third axis (a helical spiral, as in the thread of a screw), or travel outward from the central point as it moves along the third axis (as in the thread of a cone-shaped drill). Matt Hutchinson was the production editor and copyeditor for Learning Web Design. David Futato did the typesetting and page makeup, with assistance from Emma Colby. Jane Ellin, Genevieve d'Entremont, Claire Cloutier, and Edie Freedman provided quality control. Tom Dinse wrote the index.

Edie Freedman designed the cover of this book, with help from the O'Reilly Design team, using Photoshop 6 and QuarkXPress 4.1. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's Myriad Condensed font. David Futato designed and produced the CD label.

David Futato designed and implemented the interior layout using QuarkXPress 4.1. The text and heading fonts are Linotype Birka and Adobe Myriad Condensed; the sidebar font is Adobe Syntax; and the code font is TheSans Mono Condensed from LucasFont. The illustrations and screenshots that appear in the book were produced by Chris Reilley using Macromedia Freehand MX and Adobe Photoshop 7. This colophon was written by David Futato.