Books | Webdesigner Depot

21 Sep
Win a copy of “The Book of CSS3″
Books, Contests
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Today we have another awesome giveaway for all WDD readers where you can win 1 of 5 copies being given away of The Book of CSS3
As you know, CSS3 is the technology behind most of the eye-catching visuals you see on the Web today, but the official documentation can be dry and hard to follow and browser implementations are scattershot at best.
This is where Peter Gasston’s latest book can come in really handy. The Book of CSS3 translates the dense technical language of the CSS3 specification into plain English and shows you what CSS3 can do right now, in all major browsers.
It contains real-world examples and a focus on the principles of good design, it extends your CSS skills, helping you transform ordinary markup into stunning, richly-styled web pages.
Read on for more details about the book and info on how to participate… Read more
26 May
Book review: the Smashing Book 2
Books, Opinion, Review
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In February, Smashing Magazine officially released their latest print book project, The Smashing Book 2, and they were kind enough to send me a review copy at no charge.
This review is not a paid review, nor is it influenced in any way by Webdesigner Depot or Smashing Magazine.
Although this review does give the book some valuable exposure, this is primarily going to be a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the book.
Thus, I won’t be reviewing the contents or discussing the improvements from the previous Smashing Book. You can get those details on the book’s product page, or on Smashing Magazine’s own article that formally announced the book. Read more
20 Apr
Win 5 copies of The Web Designer’s Idea Book 2
Books, Contests, Web Design
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The second installment of The Web Designer’s Idea Book takes the best methods of organizing content from a variety of online galleries and combines them to create what could be the most well-thought-out source of design inspiration available.
This book provides a great compilation of the best themes, trends and styles in today’s web design.
We reviewed this book a while back on WDD and you can read our full review here.
Today, we’re giving away 5 copies of this amazing book to 5 lucky WDD readers…. read on for more information about the book and how to participate… Read more
16 Feb
New Threadless Book and Free Vouchers
Books, Contests
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Threadless is an amazing megastore for design T-shirts. Their community submits designs online which are then voted on, and the best ones are selected to be printed and sold through their store.
The designs are truly amazing. I’ve bought several of their T-shirts through their online store and they’re really great!
They recently released their 10th anniversary book. The book features 300 of the best designs year-by-year, with killer graphics from the likes of Si Scott, Olly Moss, Geoff, McFetridge and many others, as well as interviews with designers and lots of other juicy stuff about Threadless.
We’re partnering with Threadless to offer 10 vouchers worth $30 each which can be used to purchase any Threadless merchandise that you wish for, including their brand new book (which retails for $15 for the paperback version). Read more
15 Dec
Win 5 Copies of the Using WordPress Book
Books, Contests, WordPress
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WordPress continues to dominate the blogging market as publishers continue to embrace the platform to get their content on the web.
You can make the most of WordPress by learning as much as you can about it and this is why you’ll love today’s giveaway.
Que’s publishing has a long and reputable history for great books and they have recently announced the USING series of books.
They’re more than just books, as they include step-by-step video tutorials, audio sidebars and web content to complement these books.
One week from today, we’ll be giving away 5 copies of the USING WordPress books to 5 lucky WDD readers.
Read on for more details and for instructions on how to participate. Read more
3 Dec
Book Review — HTML5: Up and Running
Books, HTML 5, Review
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As far as web design literature goes, I think it’s safe to say that 2010 has been the year of HTML5 books.
While a number of titles have been incorporating CSS3 into their content since before 2010, this year has seen major book releases that are focused primarily on HTML5.
So I was pretty excited when Mark Pilgrim sent out a tweet offering free review copies of his new HTML5 book HTML5: Up and Running, courtesy of O’Reilly Media. He responded to my email the same day, and the book arrived shortly thereafter.
Overall, I can say that I was relieved that I really enjoyed the book, and can see myself using it regularly to reference a number of HTML5-related topics — especially some of those that I wasn’t already familiar with.
If this was a paid review, I would have felt more pressure to stay away from the book’s weak spots, but I can honestly say that won’t matter because the book is definitely worth purchasing, and is an excellent source for developers making the transition from HTML4/XHTML to HTML5 and its related technologies. Read more
15 Oct
Review of The Web Designer’s Idea Book II
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I have to admit, the idea of a book that aims to inspire web designers with example websites seemed a little repetitive to me when I first thought about it.
After all, there are dozens of excellent galleries out there online that we can access for free, that are updated on a daily or at least weekly basis.
Could a book compete with that? Or would it just be filled with the same sites we’ve all seen in every gallery and design roundup out there.
As someone who studies design galleries and roundups on an almost daily basis, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the majority of the designs included in The Web Designer’s Idea Book, Volume 2, by Patrick McNeil (who writes a monthly column for .net magazine and runs Design Meltdown), were not ones I remember seeing previously.
In fact, most of the designs in the book are fresh and new, and haven’t made the usual rounds of galleries and showcases. Read more
23 Jul
Book Review: From Photoshop to HTML
Books, Review, Web Development
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If you’re new to creating website designs using Photoshop, learning to transform those .PSD files into semantic, standards-compliant CSS and HTML files can be a bit intimidating.
After all, there are plenty of great services out there that can slice up and code your files for you. But there are those cases when you may prefer to slice those designs by yourself.
That’s where From Photoshop to HTML: How to Slice Your Designs Like a Pro by Jeffrey Way, editor of Nettuts+, comes in.
In this 145-page book, the entire process of converting a .PSD file into a working website design is covered, in detail, with code examples. Read more
11 Jun
Winners of Radim Malinic’s Book #Three
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We’re finally ready with the results of last week’s giveaway, where we’re giving away 5 copies of Radim Malinic’s new book called #Three.
As you probably know by now, Radim is the illustrator of the awesome graphics that you see in the header and footer of Webdesigner Depot.
The book features Radim’s designs from the past 18 months, both in detail and in real-world settings.
All winners were chosen at random and the results appear after the jump. Radim will contact all winners directly via email with details as to how to receive their prizes.
Did you make it this time? Check below to find out! Read more
4 Jun
Review and Giveaway: Radim Malinic’s Book #THREE
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Book #THREE by Brand Nu is a unique book that serves as the portfolio of Radim Malinic, one of the most prolific and successful commercial illustrators around.
Radim is the illustrator of the awesome graphics that you see in the header and footer of Webdesigner Depot. If you didn’t see our interview with Radim, you can check it out here
It’s filled with designs from the past 18 months, both in detail and in real-world settings.
The list of clients included in this book is extensive, and includes high profile organizations such as the London Film Museum, QV Melbourne, Acer Computers and Haagen-Dazs ice cream.
Read on to know more about #Three and for a chance to win 1 of 5 books that we will be giving away next week… Read more
26 May
HTML5 and CSS3 Books to Watch for in 2010
Books, HTML, Review
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Over the past year, new techniques and tricks involving HTML5 and CSS3 enhancements have been shared on a number of websites, giving developers new possibilities for improving the user experience.
Of course, the plethora of information online is hard to keep up with, and some of it may be out of date, inaccurate, or may fail to promote accessibility, progressive enhancement, or other best practices methods.
To that end, designers and developers today may prefer to have a desktop reference in the form of a good old ink and paper companion.
So in this article, I’ve compiled a list of eleven books that will be released in 2010 that focus on HTML5 and CSS3. Many of the authors listed alongside the titles below will be familiar to us, since some of them have established themselves online as zealous proponents of best practices and standards-based code.
Read more
16 Apr
Book Review: Digging Into WordPress
Books, Review
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Digging Into WordPress by Chris Coyier and Jeff Starr is one of the most comprehensive looks at WordPress available.
At over 400 pages long, it’s massive, whether you have the PDF version or the print edition.
Whether you’re just getting started with WP or you’ve been using it for years, there’s something for everyone in this book.
In this post, we’ll review the book and talk a bit about its highlights and features.
If you own this book or have read it, please feel free to add your own comments at the end of this post. Read more
9 Apr
Book Review: Making Ideas Happen
Books, Productivity, Review
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Most creative professionals have no problem coming up with ideas.
In fact, too many ideas is more often the problem rather than too few. Where we usually run into issues, though, is in the follow-through.
How do we take the brilliant ideas that we come up with on a daily basis and see them through to completed projects?
That’s exactly what the book Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky (the founder of Behance) aims to teach us.
He’s spent years studying the habits and methods of successful creatives who have a knack for following through on their great ideas and bringing them to fruition. He presents this information in a way that is both easy to understand and easy to implement. Read more
25 Mar
Book Review: Logo Design Love
Books, Logos, Review
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Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities by David Airey is a fantastic place to start if you’re interested in creating logos that aren’t just visually appealing, but are also memorable, easily recognizable, and timeless.
The book includes a ton of real-world examples from a variety of businesses; everything from the brands of Fortune 500 companies to local restaurants and other businesses have space devoted to them.
There are examples on virtually every page, lending credence to the points being discussed. Airey’s extensive experience as a graphic designer shines through and lends even more credibility to the book.
It’s essential reading for anyone looking to create better logo designs, whether they’re just getting started or have been designing for years already. Read more
24 Mar
Winners of “jQuery: Novice to Ninja”
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Last week’s contest from SitePoint is now officially over.
The giveaway was really successful with almost 800 entries from all over the world.
Many thanks to all of you who participated and to SitePoint for their generous prizes.
Each of the 5 winners has won a full copy of their latest and very successful book “jQuery: Novice to Ninja”.
All winners were chosen at random and you can find the results after the jump. We will contact all the winners via email with details as to how to receive their prizes.
Read more
17 Mar
Win 5 Copies of “jQuery: Novice to Ninja”
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Sitepoint is known to consistently release amazing books.
Their latest book, “jQuery: Novice to Ninja”, covers jQuery, one of the most powerful JavaScript frameworks.
The exciting new 390-page book is perfect for any jQuery user, regardless of whether you’re a beginner, advanced, or somewhere in-between.
WDD has once again partnered with Sitepoint to bring you this great book in a fantastic giveaway.
Just one week from today we will be giving away free copies of this great book to 5 lucky WDD readers chosen at random.
Read on for more details and information on how to participate… Read more
1 Dec
Winners of ‘Fancy Form Design’
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The results are in! Today we’re pleased to announce the winners of the SitePoint book giveaway.
All winners will be contacted via email for details as to how to receive their prizes.
Check out to see if you won and view the winners’ names after the jump.
For those that didn’t win this time, you can buy the PDF version for only $14.95 until December 5th via this link OR get $5.00 off the print book, published in full color, shipped to your door anywhere in the world by following this link. Worldwide shipping is free when you add a 2nd book to your order.
Thanks to the almost 1000 of you that participated and thanks to SitePoint for sponsoring this great contest for the WDD community. Read more
24 Nov
Win 5 Free Copies of ‘Fancy Form Design’
Books, Contests
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We’re partnering once again with the awesome folks at SitePoint to bring you another great giveaway for one of their latest books.
The book this time is called Fancy Form Design and it guides you through the creation of beautiful forms for your websites.
Forms need not be ugly, they can be beautiful, too, and their coding can now be hassle free.
We will give away a total of 5 copies of the book, and the contest will run for a week, with the results announced on December 1st.
To get a chance to win, please follow the guidelines for participation after the jump. Read more
27 Apr
Winners of ‘Sexy Web Design’
Books, Contests
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Today we’re happy to announce the winners of the SitePoint book giveaway.
Congratulations to @innervoices, @kmog, @sherri_g, @6bdesign and @TylorSkory. Each of you have won a full copy of the book “Sexy Web Design”.
All winners will be contacted via email for details as to how to receive their prize.
For the ones that didn’t win, don’t despair as SitePoint has generously provided a 25% discount for all of our readers that would like to purchase the book. Note that this discount is only valid until May 1st: Discount link
Thanks to the almost 600 of you who participated and thanks to SitePoint for sponsoring this great contest for the WDD community.
16 Apr
Win 5 Free Copies of ‘Sexy Web Design’
Books, Contests
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I’m always reading tons of design blogs as well as buying books and magazines to gain more knowledge on design and bring fresh ideas to WDD.
A little while ago, I ordered Elliot Jay Stocks book “Sexy Web Design” and after reading it, I thought it would be a great idea if I could bring this book to the loyal readers of WDD.
So, I’ve partnered with the publisher SitePoint, one of the leading resources for designers, to bring this great book to the WDD audience.
Starting today, we’ll be running a 10 day contest here on WDD, where you can win one of 5 free copies of the book that we’ll be giving away. Read more
23 Mar
30 Useful Web Design Books for 2009
Books, CSS, Design
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To keep up with the fast-paced web design industry you must seek out self education sources as often as possible, such as books, or you’ll be left behind.
The year 2009 promises to bring us some excellent, and even groundbreaking, new reads. Listed below are 30 web design related books from some of the brightest designers and developers in the industry, that will likely be influential must-reads.
Certainly there can’t be any promise that these books will deliver, but it will be worth your while to check them out.
Each book has either a release date or estimated release date listed, however these dates often change due to publishing and other related issues, so please take these dates as approximations only. Read more