[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]For many web designers, the last thing that they want is the same old, same old. Repeatedly making the same website over and over again is as dull and sad as writing a summary The Other Wes Moore or To Kill a Mockingbird. If you don’t want that, perhaps you’re interested in books on web design? A good web design book can pull you out of any rut and give you some fresh inspiration in your craft. If you’re feeling stuck, sad, and wholly uncreative, some of this literature might be just for you.
CSS: The Definitive Guide
Cascading Style Sheets, also known as CSS, is what most modern web designers use to give their websites some pop, color, and interest. It can turn a dry, boring informational page into something beautiful and eye-catching. This is The Other Wes Moore summary, to continue the analogy mentioned above. One that is entertaining, but easy to comprehend. CSS: The Definitive Guide is truly the definitive guide to being like the other Wes Moore: Special and successful. Whether you’re just getting started or you’re a seasoned pro, this belongs on your bookshelf.
CSS Pocket Reference: Visual Presentation for the Web
Made by the same people that created the one above, CSS Pocket Reference: Visual Presentation for the Web is something you should have, as well. It teaches you all of the necessary CSS material that you need. It comes as a pocket resource, which makes the book more readily accessible and easier to use than a massive tome would be. If you get the first book, you would be amiss not to get this one to go along with it. The two work together in a great way.
Beginning HTML5 and CSS3 For Dummies
You have to stay up-to-date in the web design world. You don’t want to build a website that looks older than anyone who uses it, after all. With Beginning HTML5 and CSS3 For Dummies, you’ll learn how to use the newest HTML and CSS technology in the best way possible. A part of the rather famous “For Dummies” series, this book can teach anyone the basics of HTML5 and CSS3. If you’re still using basic HTML and CSS, then you’re likely going to experience a significant shake-up in your work when you introduce this. But it’s all for the better!
HTML QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginner’s Guide To HTML
If you’re a new web designer, or just interested in web design, this book can teach you everything that you need to know about using HTML. If you’re already a web designer, you likely know this already. However, it’s a good idea to keep around to refresh your mind and give yourself new ideas occasionally. The most experienced people sometimes forget some of the small things as they progress! Because of this, revisiting the basics can keep things fresh and interesting, rather than old and boring.
Learning Web Design: A Beginner’s Guide to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Web Graphics
In the same vein as the one before it, this is a book that can teach new designers and refresh the memories of the experienced. Unlike the previous book, this one covers more than just HTML. It also includes information on CSS and JavaScript, something important to front-end development at any stage. Keeping things simple for users can make a website beautiful, so looking over the simple things is worth doing, no matter what stage you’re coding at. This is a must-have in your library.
Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills
Now, this is a fun one! Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills gives you, as the title suggests, 80 challenges to meet. They depend on your design skills and will help you exercise and tone them. There’s no better way to hone a skill than to practice it and to challenge yourself to use it. You also can’t find a better way to break out of a rut by turning it into a regular practice or even challenging other web designers that you know to contests. If you work in an office, it can be a morale booster.
Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
What makes a website useful and interesting to users isn’t necessarily the busiest or complicated page. Often, it’s the one with a great, intuitive design that is simple to use. Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability is a book that can help you meet that standard while also being creative. Balancing creativity, appearance, and usability is something that many coders have problems with, so this book can help you walk that tightrope.
Web Designer’s Idea Book, Volume 3: Inspiration from the Best Web Design Trends, Themes, and Styles
What was trendy ten years ago is outdated and ugly now. People make fun of websites that look like they’re from the 2000s, even though they looked cool then. How weird does MySpace look compared to Facebook now? You can stay up-to-date and avoid that embarrassment by using the Web Designer’s Idea Book, Volume 4: Inspiration from the Best Web Design Trends, Themes, and Styles. This book, which should be replaced with the newest version regularly, gives you ideas that are with the times. The new ideas should keep you creative and happy, not boring and sad.
Professional WordPress: Design and Development
WordPress is more and more often used as the basis for professional websites. If you happen to be in charge of the web design for a company using WordPress, you should familiarize yourself with how the design elements work. While it isn’t as complicated as making an entire website from scratch, it can be confusing for someone who has never used it before. Professional WordPress: Design and Development helps at all levels of web development.
Web design is an ever-changing, ever-shifting animal. You need to stay up-to-date in your appearance while remaining as efficient as possible in your functioning. These books can break you out of any rut you find yourself in while trying to balance these two duties, making you challenged, creative, and happy once more.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
