Hello Web Design (The Custom Designed PDF)

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Hello Web Design

Design Fundamentals and Shortcuts for Non-Designers

About the Book

Learn design fundamentals and shortcuts to make you a better designer. 

Beginner design books assume you want to become an expert designer. What if you want to learn just enough to complement your existing work? Hello Web Design will teach you the basics about design (no history!) and give you shortcuts so you can immediately become a better designer.

What you'll learn

Walkthrough the stages of design

Learn the steps of designing to help you go from idea, to blank paper, to prototypes, to launched project.

Shortcuts on choosing colors

Forget choosing colors randomly on a color wheel find out the best shortcuts to get you a great color palette fast.

The basics of fonts

Learn the differences between fonts, basic typography, and where to find (and narrow down) great typefaces.

Demystifying white space

You know it's important, but how to use it? We'll go through where white space can help your design the most.

Where to find images and icons

Great imagery can make a design. Learn some easy tips on how to use imagery and great resources on where to find it.

The importance of user experience

Design isn't how it looks it's how it works. Learn how your visual design ties into the user-experience.

Who am I?

Hey there! I'm Tracy Osborn — a designer/developer/entreprenerd (you read that right). I have a BFA in Art & Design and taught myself programming in order to launch my startup, WeddingLovely (500 Startups F11). You can read more about WeddingLovely in Indie Hackers.

I've always been frustrated by beginner books and wrote Hello Web App to teach web app development to designers using Python and Django. Today, Hello Web App has been read by thousands of people around the world. 

Hello Web Design is based on my Design for Non-Designers conference presentation given around the world, including Mozilla's View Source Conference 2016, GitHub's CodeConf LA 2016, and as a keynote at O'Reilly's Fluent Conference 2016

Would love to chat to you — say hello to me on Twitter!

About the Author

Tracy Osborn
Tracy Osborn

Designer, developer, author, entreprenerd. Program manager at TinySeed. Author of Hello Web Books. Blogging at tracyosborn.com.

About the Contributors

Jeremy Keith
Jeremy Keith

Foreword

Table of Contents

  •  
    • Foreword
    • Introduction
  • 1.0. If you only read one chapter, make it this one
    •  
      • How it works is more important than how it looks
      • Quick tips on improving your design
  • 2.0. Theory and Design Principles
    • 2.1. Grid
      • Shortcuts
      • Real-life examples
    • 2.2. Color
      • Shortcuts
      • Real life examples
    • 2.3. Typography
      • Typography principles
      • Shortcuts
      • Real-life examples
    • 2.4. White Space
      • Quick theory
      • Shortcuts
      • Real-life examples
    • 2.5. Layout and Hierarchy
      • Real-life examples
    • 2.6. Content
      • Real-life examples
    • 2.7. User Experience
      • Before designing
      • During the design process
      • After launching your design
      • Shortcuts
      • Real-life examples
    • 2.8. Images and Imagery
      • Shortcuts
      • Real-life examples
    • 2.9. Extra Tidbits
      • Start simple
      • Consider the “rule of thirds”
      • Avoid pure black
      • Lighting should come from above
      • Contrast highlights what’s important
      • Colors look different depending on the environment
      • Be careful about overlaying text on images
      • Some tips when designing for repeated workflows
  • 3.0. The Process and Training Your Design Eye
    • 3.1. Finding Inspiration
    • 3.2. Planning
    • 3.3. Prototypes
      • Wireframing
      • Mocking up your design
    • 3.4. Getting Feedback
      • Some advice on showing your design to others
    • 3.5. Coding Your Design
      • Don’t worry about being original
      • Use a CSS framework
      • Remember responsiveness
      • Pay attention to site size
      • Use analytics
  • 4.0. Reassurances
  • 5.0. Additional Resources
    •  
      • Books
      • Blogs and online magazines
      • Online courses
      • Inspiration
      • Grid resources
      • Color resources
      • Font resources
      • Image resources
      • CSS frameworks
      • Web analytics
      • Wireframing
      • Getting feedback
      • Final thoughts
    • Special Thanks
    • About the Author
  • Notes

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