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Seeing Data: Designing User Interfaces for Database Systems Using .NET Review by Jason A. Salas
Fantastic discussion of UI development for WinForms projects
The one quality that makes this book a clear winner is the quality of the content and clarity of author Rebecca Riordan's writing. She uses a friendly, humorous, often bitingly sarcastic voice that eases the normal tension accompanying such a complex topic as UI design for Windows applications with .NET technologies. You'll appreciate this tone as Riordan takes you through some very challenging scenarios in developing winning desktop apps.
The main focus is on presentation tier technologies and techniques used to create great programs that customers will really enjoy using. The book starts out with five phenomenally-written chapters on GDI+, typography, color, and image programming that every developer working with .NET should read, whether they're examining UI design for desktop applications, or otherwise. It also includes a helpful glossary of development terms mentioned throughout the text that you'll enjoy and refer to often.
Riordan also attempts to demystify the many complexities of .NET databinding within Windows Forms. as do most Addison-Wesley texts, the book's physical properties are to be appreciated, using sturdy binding and thick paper, making the book close and sit easily after a session open on your lap (and who hasn't wrecked at least book doing so?).
The only downside to this book (and a minor one at that) is the exclusive presentation of code in Visual Basic .NET, which would make the book largely one-dimensional to programmers working with that language (or liberal minded C# readers). But programming language semantics aside, this is a real gem, and one you'll want to pickup for your WinForms team projects.