This is the internet era, if you want to learn something, you hit wikipedia and check it out… but… theres something thats lost on the internet. Theres a lot of info that youre only going to find in books, so even if youre a web designer, a true lover of the world wide web, you still ought to take a moment now and then to crack open a book and see whats inside.
Here are ten books that you absolutely must read if youre a professional web designer…
HTML Dog: The Book
We know, we know. You already KNOW how to write in HTML, or else why would you be a web designer? However, HTML Dog: The Book is focused on helping you write cleaner, more efficient, more effective lines of code. Look, in the long run, itll save you time and confusion, and jobs that used to take you a week will wind up taking you a couple days. Great little reference bible for coders working with XHTML and CSS.
Andy Warhol Idea Book
As a web designer, your job is to be half coder, half artist, so take some time to develop your creative side with a book thats half inspiration, half sketchpad. The Andy Warhol Idea Book is a really neat little sketchbook for when youre stuck for inspiration. Open it up and youll find sketches and notes from Warhol himself and some blank pages for you to sketch on to try and develop your own ideas.
Web Design: Navigation
Part of the ICONS Web Design series. We could include that whole series on this list, but wed run out of space for everything else, so we settled for this one since it focuses on something that a lot of web designers neglect: Clear, coherent, easy navigation. The book is essentially a series of case studies on great navigation design where narrative and usability have been taken into consideration, featuring nearly one hundred projects from more than twenty countries, with some really nice work from leading studios like Fahrenheit, Clusta and Sequence. Navigation is a tricky subject, and this book can help you get a clear grasp on what defines a great, easily navigatable site.
The Findability Formula: The Easy, Non-Technical Approach to Search Engine Marketing
Great reference book if youre struggling to learn how to optimize your projects to grab more hits on The Google (as ones grandmother might call it). In plain english, the author discusses the subject of Findability, that being the creation of sites that are, simply put, easy to find on search engines. Definitely worth a read if youre looking to bring in some more clients.
Sexy Web Design: Creating Interfaces that Work
When youre working in a medium that mixes form and function, it can be hard to find the balance. Sexy Web Design is devote to finding that balance, showing how you can create sites that are clean and easy to access and navigate without sacrificing that style and flair that makes your work unique.
Graphic Design Theory: Readings from the Field
A collection of twenty four essays devoted to helping web designers think about graphic design in a clear, efficient way. The writings youll find within the text are both historical and contemporary, focusing heavily on the philosophy to graphic design aesthetics. No matter how proud you already might be of your visual sensibilities, you can always make your sites look even cooler, and thats what this book is all about.
Website Owners Manual
The Website Owners Manual is something of an entry-level book for web designers. If youve never written a line of HTML, the book will get you started. If youre an old hand, you may think of forgetting this book even exists, BUT, theres a lot of great, plain english, common sense stuff in here. Just as in Karate, even a black belt keeps practicing the first kick he ever learned, so this is just a nice little guide to refresh yourself on the basics and think about your work more clearly and efficiently.
Recharge your Design Batteries
A bunch of wild ideas in here, and well be honest, they wont all work for you. A lot of it you might even write off as new age goofiness, but there are also some pretty cool notions in here to help you refresh yourself and stay creative and inventive. Its really about putting yourself in the right mindset and being open to new ideas. Give it a read the next time you get a creative block and its pretty much guaranteed to get you excited enough about your work to get going again.
Total Web Monitoring: Watching Performance, Users and Communities
This book mixes academic thought exercises with real world examples to explore the concept of web monitoring, keeping statistics on your visitors, and optimizing your sites accessibility, visibility and effectiveness. Concise, easy to read, and a great tome to refer to if youre wondering how to optimize your web-presence.
Phoenix, by Osamu Tezuka
A Japanese comic book might seem an odd choice for a list of books on web design, but the hot new concept of eyetracking is pretty old stuff if youre a comics fan. If you want to know how to capture the eye, how to lead it along the page, read anything by Japanese comics legend Osamu Tezuka. The way the panels are shaped, the way the art is arranged along the page, your eye cant help but go exactly where Tezuka wants it to go. If you want a more specific reference book for website eyetracking, check out Eyetracking Web Usability, but know that this new technique is only new to web design. The great comic book artists have already mastered it, and youre likely to learn more from them than you might from a reference book.
Gil Smith writes about how to apply to web design colleges