50+ Articles to Make You a Better Web Designer
This post is a collection of some of the best articles that I’ve come across on various topics related to web design. These are excellent, insightful, thought-provoking articles that may be able to help you in your own design career. Some are new and some are a few years old, but they all have something valuable to say.
To make it easier to digest, I’ve categorized them according to topic (with a general category at the end). Choose a few areas that are particularly challenging for you and see what you can learn from these experts.
For more design resources from DesignM.ag please see:
CSS:
Which CSS Grid Framework Should You Use for Your Web Design? – NETTUTS
6 Keys to Understanding Modern CSS-Based Layouts – Jonathan Snook
Faux Absolute Positioning – A List Apart
Creating Sexy Style Sheets – Vitamin
Efficient CSS with Shorthand Properties – 456 Berea St.
CSS Float Theory: Things You Should Know – Smashing Magazine
CSS Specificity: Things You Should Know – Smashing Magazine
Top Reasons Your CSS Columns Are Messed Up – Warpspire
100% Height Layout Using CSS – Dave Woods
Typography:
Typography Essentials – A Getting Started Guide – Freelance Folder
Typographic Contrast and Flow – Web Designer Wall
10 Examples of Beautiful CSS Typography and How They Did It – 3.7Crea.tv
Layout:
Grid-Based Design: Six Creative Column Techniques – Smashing Magazine
Five Simple Steps to Designing Grid Systems – Mark Boulton
Building a Semantic 4-Column CSS Layout – Mirificam Press
Indestructible Website: How to Build an EM Based Layout that Won’t Break – Mirificam Press
Multi-Column Layouts Climb Out of the Box – A List Apart
Setting Type on the Web to a Baseline Grid – A List Apart
An Introduction to Using Patterns in Web Design – 37Signals
CSS Layouts: 40+ Tutorials, Tips, Demos and Best Practices – Noupe
The Incredible Em & Elastic Layouts with CSS – Jon Tan
Whitespace – A List Apart
Color:
Color for Coders – Color and Design for the Non-Designer – SitePoint
Choosing Color Combinations – Veerle’s Blog
Creativity:
12 Ways to Tap Into an Endless Well of Creativity – PSDTUTS
8 Web Design Tactics to Help You When You’re Stuck – SEOmoz
Usability:
Why and How: Styling TeXt Links – Andy Rutledge
Design Decisions vs. Audience Considerations – Digital Web Magazine
Practical Usability Testing– Digital Web
The Ultimate Web Design Usability Checklist– Not Usable
10 Usability Nightmares You Should Be Aware Of– Smashing Magazine
30 Usability Issues to Be Aware Of – Smashing Magazine
23 Actionable Lessons from Eye-Tracking Studies – Virtual Hosting Blog
Usability 101: Introduction to Usability – Jakob Nielson’s Alertbox
Business:
A Simple Guide on How to Effectively Talk to Clients – Six Revisions
Getting Design Approval: The Single Mockup Theory – Fadtastic
10 Ways to Get Design Approval – 24 Ways
Free Resource: Pre-Design Questionnaire – Outlaw Design Blog
Design Processes and Why Every Designer Needs One – Positive Space Blog
Accessibility:
Evaluating Website Accessibility Part 1 – Background and Preparation – 456 Berea St.
Evaluating Website Accessibility Part 2 – Basic Checkpoints – 456 Berea St.
Evaluating Website Accessibility Part 3 – Digging Deeper – 456 Berea St.
10 Colour Contrast Checking Tools to Improve the Accessibility of Your Web Design – 456 Berea St.
7 Accessibility Mistakes Part 1 – Digital Web Magazine
7 Accessibility Mistakes Part 2 – Digital Web Magazine
Standards:
Developing with Web Standards – 456 Berea St.
5 Most Common Misconceptions About Web Standards – CSS Globe
Portfolios:
Creating a Successful Online Portfolio – Smashing Magazine
Build a Killer Online Portfolio in 9 Easy Steps – Freelance Switch
General:
10 Principles of Effective Web Design – Smashing Magazine
12 Steps to Creating a Professional Web Design – Chromatic Sites
9 Essential Principles for Good Web Design – PSDTUTS
25 Ways to Improve Your Site in 5 Minutes – Fadtastic
35 Designers x 5 Questions – Smashing Magazine
Web Design-isms: 7 Surefire Styles that Work – Vitamin
20 Pro Tips .Net Magazine
7 Crucial Tips for Designing and Maintaining a Large Site – NETTUTS
Design Cheat Sheets for Front-End Web Developers – Six Revisions
Understanding YSlow: What Matters; What Doesn’t – Templature
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Nice post, thanks for the resources. Can’t wait for 456 Berea St to get back from vacation.
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Hey there,
I love it, loads of useful resources. Bit ashamed a few of mine didn’t get on there, maybe next time aye!
Cheers
I agree with your design philosophy but I don’t agree that the world is ready for css layout exclusively. Case in point, try looking at this page in IE6.
Wow… excellent list. They are all great reads. I will be spending the next few days reading them all!
Wow its a must see if you want be a web designer.Kudos.
Wow, thanks for this! These all sound like very interesting reads which I’m sure will come in helpful. π
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Matt,
Agreed. Their return will be welcomed.
Robert,
Thanks for sharing your opinion. The issues with this site in IE6 aren’t the fault of anything or anyone but me as the designer. Obviously I need to do a bit of tweaking to get things right. I just haven’t had the time and since almost none of my visitors use IE6 it hasn’t taken priority.
great thanks
Excellent list! Some of these I’ve seen but it looks like a lot of ones I haven’t, a great read for a rainy day, thanks! Something to add to the list, the 960 layout – http://960.gs/ Interesting things seem to happen when you apply grids. Cheers!
How did I just find this blog? What a killer resource! Keep it up!
those are lost of articles:)thanks for the list
Thanks for assembling this – it’s the kind of list every designer needs to bookmark for long-term reference.
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Thanks for the Tips!
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Yep, now I’m better!