25 Must Buy, Borrow, or Steal Books for Web Designers

This article was written by Blog Design Blog

When I get passionate about a topic, I tend to search for the best material I can find on it in order to expand my knowledge further. Web design is no exception and this list represents the books I have found to be very useful. These are all books that I have actually read and most of which are sitting on my bookshelf right now. This list is a follow up to my article “Buy, Borrow, or Steal the Best Books to Get Ahead.”The links lead to the book’s amazon page and they have my associate id attached to them. Because I don’t have ads on this site I have to ask that if you like this list and decide to buy a book from amazon, please use my links as it would be helpful in paying for my coffee and book addiction. Enjoy!

Typography

1. The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst

This is one of those books a lot of people with a background in graphics design loves. I think the language is way too exaggerated for a person without a graphics design background. I only include it in this list, because some of you might find that you like it since it has withstood the test of times, but I don’t recommend it for your first book on typography. Richard Rutter at webtypography.net took the elements in this book and applied it to the web very well. The site is a must read.

2. Designing with Type: The Essential Guide to Typography by James Craig, William Bevington, and Irene Korol Scala

This was my first book on typography and it does a very good job at explaining typography in a way that is easy to understand. It is organized very well, includes good examples, and lots of pretty pictures to stare at. Does a good job of covering all the areas you need to know about typography,

3. Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors, & Students by Ellen Lupton

This was my second book on typography and while it covers a lot of the same materials as other typography books, I found it very helpful to see a different author explain the different aspects of typography. Typography is one of those subjects where it is very helpful to hear different opinions and angles on the subject in order to get a better grasp of it.

4. The Complete Manual of Typography by James Felici

I used this book in the same way as the others and it was to expand my mind about typography by reading other angles on the subject of typography. I would recommend going with the one that speaks to you the best first and then reading other books to get a more full understanding of it.

CSS/XHTML

5. CSS Mastery: Advanced Web Standards Solutions by Andy Budd, Simon Collison, and Cameron Moll

CSS Mastery is one of those solid books that does a good job covering the different aspects of CSS and XHTML you need to know in order to build a website. At the end of the book it goes through a couple case studies so you can get a look at practical applications of what you learned.

6. The Art and Science of CSS by Jonathan Snook, Steve Smith, Jina Bolton, and Cameron Adams

A good book that is jam packed with good examples teaching you the fundamentals you need in order to build a website. The difference between this and CSS mastery is that this book uses more color so some examples are easier to see and they also cover a few different topics. Both books cover the basics though, which one you use is up to your personal preference and needs.

7. Bulletproof Web Design by Dan Cederholm

This book’s primary focus is on building websites that can stand the test of time, well at least better than non web standards websites. This books takes examples of websites that are not coded well and then shows you how to make it better.

8. The CSS Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks by Rachel Andrew

This book is organized by tips so you can skim through it looking for what you need to learn. It is helpful for when you are clueless why certain things work a certain way or want to do something a certain way, but don’t know how.

9. CSS Pocket Reference: Visual Presentation for the Web by Eric Meyer

I carry this pocketbook with my macbook pro a lot in the beginning and still do from time to time, because it is a useful book to refer to when you can’t remember certain code structures because you don’t use that particular code often.

Design

10. The Principals of Beautiful Web Design by Jason Beaird

A very good book to start you off on the principles that make a beautiful web design. It has a lot of good examples of each principle. At the end of each chapter, what you learned is applied to a website that the author is building so you get to see a nice site unfold as you read the book.

11. Design Elements: A Graphic Style Manual by Timothy Samara

A more detailed book on design elements that I found to be very useful after reading the principles of beautiful web design. This book goes through different aspects of design in a more in depth manner so you get a better understanding of the different design elements.

12. Design-it-Yourself Graphic Workshop by Chuck Green

A great book that covers the different aspects involved in logo, letterhead, business card, and newsletter design. I found it very helpful to see how print designers work and a lot of the principals they apply to their work can be applied to the web as well.

Color

13. Color Design Workbook: A Real-World Guide to Using Color in Graphic Design by Noreen Morioka, Terry Stone Sean Adams

All design books talk about color and that includes typography books as well. So I am only recommending one book on color, because I don’t feel reading any more books on color would help more than experimenting with it yourself or supplementing it with online resources.

Usability

14. Prioritizing Web Usability by Jakon Nielsen and Hoa Loranger

Everyone who talks about usability has read this book and for good reason. Jakob Nielsen is considered the guru of usability so check out this book. It is a good read with lots of interesting facts as well as things not to do when building your website.

15. Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug

A much shorter book than Prioritizing Web Usability, but just as useful. Steve Krug uses a lot of examples in order to show you both good and bad websites. He also talks a lot on how to set up usability testing to get the most out of it.

16. Designing the Obvious: A Common Sense Approach to Web Application Design by Robert Hoekman Jr,

As the title says, it is about designing the obvious in such a way that it really is obvious and easy to use. After you are are done designing for usability though, you should work on making it more pretty though.

Logos

17. Logo Design Workbook: A Hands-On Guide to Creating Logos by Noreen Morioka, Terry Stone Sean Adams

Who doesn’t want a cool logo? Learning how to build logos is one of those things that are great to know, because often times you will have to design either your own logo or a client’s. It is important when designing logos to understand how the brand affects your image.

18. Logo by Michael Evamy

A great book that has a ton of logos (1300 logos). Great as a reference or source of inspiration.

Javascript

19. Simply Javascript by Kevin Yank and Cameron Adams

There comes a point where you want to add more functionality to your design and javascript is a great way to do this. Be careful not to make it so that your visitors need javascript in order to use vital functions of your site as this will exclude quite a bit of users.

20. Learning jQuery: Better Interaction Design and Web Development with Simple Javascript Techniques by Karl Swedberg and Jonathan Chaffer

jQuery is a great framework that makes javascript easier to use as well as easier to understand. This book is written by the developers of jQuery and is filled with great examples that makes it easy to learn.

Extras

21. The Unusually Useful Web Book by June Cohen

This book is filled with ideas on how to structure your web design projects, which makes them easier to work with. It also goes in depth on the various stages of web design and questions you should ask yourself.

22. How To Be A RockStar Freelancer by Collis Ta’eed

I found this book very valuable in expanding on my knowledge and making me a better freelancer. Check out freelanceswitch.com for some great articles Collis has written on the subject so you know what you are getting into.

23. Google Analytics 2.0 by Jerri L. Ledford and Mary E. Tyler

Google Analytics is awesome not only because it is free, but it is a very powerful program to track what your visitors are doing. If you don’t know what your visitors are doing, then you won’t be able to fix problems before they get out of control or make your design better. Read my book review on Google analytics 2.0 for more information.

Bonus for Blog Designers

24. Clear Blogging: How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them by Bob Walsh

While knowing what makes a blog successful from a blogger’s point of view is not required, I found it very helpful in making better blog designs. This book goes over a lot of the different tools bloggers use as well as what makes a blog successful.

25. Blogging Heroes: Interviews with 30 of the World’s Top Bloggers by Michael A. Banks

If you have ever been curious as to how the top blogs came to be, then this book is for you. The interviews reveal a lot of interesting information about the top blogs and their authors. I have to say though, that a lot of the top blogs’ design are terrible and the only reason they can get away with that is because they have the advantage of not only being the first in their niche, but also being around for years. That and great content of course. Read my book review on Blogging Heroes.

How to use this list

The books in this list represent the books I liked and found useful, but they may not be the best fit for you. This is because each of us come from different backgrounds and have different learning styles. Check out my article on finding the best books on any subject in order to find the best books for you. I recommend going to your library or bookstore though and checking these books out to see if they are right for you first before buying.

Next article in this series will focus on how to find the best online resources in any subject. Subscribe today by RSS for free and get more tips on improving your blog design. If you don’t know about rss feeds or you want to use the email subscription option, read this page on subscribing to Blog Design Blog.