The Science of Web Art, Design and Development

I have just finished reading Transcending CSS by Andy Clarke, one of the best readings I had so far on Web-related matters.

The book does assume you know a good amount of CSS, not a single paragraph is spent explaining how selectors and rules work, so it is not suitable for beginners keen to wet their feet on the waters of CSS. Yet, as the most part of the book is not quite technical, it also doesn’t requires you to be a CSS wizard.

Transcending CSS, as the title properly says, is not about CSS, it is about going beyond, it is about Web Design, a term that is in everybody’s mouth, but not necessarily in a meaningful way. It is about getting to the end of the road and start paving where Web Design will follow in the future.

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I have just finished reading Robert Bringhurst’s book Elements of Typographic Style, a classic book and essential guide on typography.

Being typography an art over half a millenium old and being the natural heir of the millenar legacy of scribes, there is plenty to learn from history when typesseting a text.

Any good designer knows that desing is much more than just good taste and typography is no exception.

Much of what pleases us is related to natural (biological) factors and is generally universal and somehow unvariable over history. Another good part is cultural, which ends up in history again to understand its dynamics.

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I think most people that love their work, not only designers, are not very joyful with the perspective that there is a complex business science behind it and that getting to know it increases the chances of success, where success is, of course, earning money, respect, stability and, last but not least, the power and freedom to do what you want.

I came across with “Talent is not enough: Secret business for designers” by chance and decided to buy it because I read some nice reviews of it, and additionally, is a cheap book.

Whether you are a designer or any other kind of problem-solving professional, as software developpers, photographers or even artists, if you like what you do but you are frustrated with the amount of bureacracy and networking envolved, you must definetely buy this book.

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