The 25 Must Read Articles For Web Designers

January 16th 2009

Design, Typography, Coding, whatever, these articles are the MUST READ articles for web designers. Read them and advance your knowledge of web design.

Design Process

Using White Space Effectively In Web Design
This article, while being very new has received much attention in its insight into the usage of white space in design. A great article. I expect to see much from this website in the near future.
6 Interface Design Principles and Tips Every Web Designer Should Know
While it seems like any other article, this article actually provides important points that are easily overlooked when designing. In web design, you design for the audience, and this article really goes into that fact.
To be or not to be: Minimalist
This article delves into both sides of the arguments on whether or not to be minimalist, explaining the difference and clarifying what makes a good design.
Five Looks, One Layout: How to Develop a Library of Web Design Styles at Your Fingertips
The main attraction of this article is its detailed explanation on how to take any design and transform it to one of five different styles. Each of these styles is detailed and the features pointed out.
Paper Prototyping
This article explains the commonly overlooked process of paper prototyping. A great read for every web designer, as it shows a great method of usability prototyping.
The 3 Components of Good Web Design
Covers how to achieve balance between interface, aesthetics and information. Useful for designers new to web design.
10 Principles of the UI Design Masters

User Interface makes a web design. Read this article to learn how to make your design right.

My web design process from sketch
While a short article, this article covers the importance of going from sketch to prototyping, what may be becoming a lost art.
The Golden Ratio in Web Design
Everybody loves ratios. This article covers the usages of ratios in web design.
Web Design Trends For 2009
Not only does this article introduce the web trends, but it also gives a detailed explanation of each.
Design is in the Details
Design really is in the details. Read this article to learn how to make your design the best it can be.
FOWD Speeches
Okay, this may not be an article, but it has the lectures from FOWD. Find more on Vimeo. Be sure to listen to these, you get a lot more than from any article.

Typography

The Elements of Typographic Style Applied to the Web
A great book. Now a series of articles you can read off of the web.
On Choosing Type
Typefaces say a lot about a design. Read this to know how to choose yours to give off the proper impressions.
Five simple steps to better typography
Five tips to improve your typography. Could it be any simpler?
CSS Typography
Using CSS to make your typography shine. May seem obvious, but some of these ideas are overlooked way too often.
Web Design is 95% Typography
95%?! You should be reading this… if 95% of web design is typography, you’d better pay attention to it.
CSS Typography: Contrast Techniques, Tutorials and Best Practices
More CSS techniques for developing a readable and consistent typography design on your website.
Read My Design: A Guide Typography in Web Design
A guide for the usage of typography in web design. Great to understanding how to increase readability and scannability.

Development

Slice and Dice that PSD
50 Extremely Useful And Powerful CSS Tools
Make your life easier. Learn about many CSS tools to make coding an ease.
Using CSS to Do Anything: 50+ Creative Examples and Tutorials
CSS can be used to do so much. Check this article out to learn what and how.
70 Expert Ideas For Better CSS Coding

We can always improve. Look at this article to learn how to make your CSS coding better.
10 Useful Web Application Interface Techniques
Interface design is a difficult topic. This article offers insight on this tricky matter.