Maybe it was my expectation, but I thought this was a terrible book to learn from. (I'm new to SharePoint, and have no prior knowledge of SPD). My issue with the book is there are no activites(NONE), and it reads like technical or reference manual not a programming book.

I figured by chapter 5 or 6 I would have added my corporate logo, changed colors, tables, components, saved and backed out changes created my own "Theme" etc....Nope, I haven't even opened SharePoint Designer yet, and the branding related chapters are over.

I got this book to quickly learn how to brand our site using SharePoint Designer. What it seems like I got was a very wordy description of seemingly every component, and line of code on the site without actually USING the SPD tool. It's possible that after I learn SharePoint Designer I can go back to this book for further reference, but right now I need a "hand's on" book with specific learning activities.