This section will be updated from time to time with recommendations on good reading for web developers and designers. I’m a firm believer in reading regularly to keep up with the latest trends and technology and because reading other peoples’ opinions gives you the perspective that you need to form your own opinion. The latter statement is probably the most important point that I can make:
If you want to stand out and be recognised, you need to form your own opinion and make it known.
Books & Magazines
The following should be useful reading to new developers and/or designers.
.net magazine
Known as “Practical Web Design” outside the UK. No this isn’t .NET in the sense of Microsoft. .net Magazine is about web design, techniques, usability and current affairs. Featuring articles from leading agencies and all-round advice on developing for the web, it doesn’t focus on coding as much as the context in which web applications are built: the internet,, marketing, branding, standards and even legal.
In my experience, developers and marketers get along like cats and dogs (supply vs. demand). This magazine helps to bring the two fields together in a harmonious way.
Designing for the web
by Mark Boulton
This book was recently published in 2009 and I wish it had been out much sooner. It is one of those sources that you find and you think “if only I had known this right from the beginning”. Structured in 5 parts of 5 chapters each, it covers: Getting Started; Research and Ideas; Typography; Colour; and Layout.
I’ve been working on my own for a while, so I already had a lot of the knowledge from Parts 1 and 2 and didn’t need to learn how to quit your job and work for yourself. The parts that I was most interested in were the Typography, Colour and Layout sections that are a nicely distilled summary of the theory that you might otherwise find scattered among design text books, or in large art tomes at the local bookshop. A good read for anyone starting work in the design or digital marketing industry.