6 great resources

Some of Obsessed with web’s favourite resources

As many of you would know, having good online resources is crucial when working in the web space. Whether you’re a designer, developer or even a content author, you need to stay up to date with trends and continuously learn. Today I have listed some of my favourite resources on available on the web. These are always changing though, and the resources page will continue to be updated to reflect this.

Smashing Magazine

Smashing magazine is one of the most resourceful sites I have ever come across. They share web knowledge across the board including web developing, User Experience, web accessibility, graphic designer, coding and so on.

It is a great resource to discover what the latest web design trends and techniques, find more information on a specific top and even find web development jobs in your city.

If you are interested in web, work in web or just want to understand a bit more about it, I promise you will find what you’re looking for at Smashing!

CSS-Tricks

CSS-Tricks to me, was inspiring. It has an abundance of information on CSS including videos, snippets (SO MANY SNIPPETS!) and just regular blog posts. My favourite part of this site is the Forums section. It’s like he has built a little CSS community and it is just amazing - so many useful conversations and people coming from different experiences. Go forth and check it out!

Neilson Norman Group

The Neilson Norman group (NNG) is a leading voice in the user experience field. They are the Hugo Boss of resources when it comes to UX. NNG releases reports on various aspects of UX and do extensive research to come to conclusions. And the best part is? They know users. They DO user research. They don’t just talk about it. I have attended NNG training on visual design for mobile and tablet and within the two days of my training, I learnt more than I could have in a university degree or other qualification. They know their stuff! I have used their articles a lot for my own research, they are plentiful and on almost any UX issue you could think of.

A book apart

A book apart is part of another great resource, a list apart. The reason I have chosen to speak of a book apart rather than a list apart is, quite frankly, these books are inspirational. They are SO well written, and can help almost anyone understand different web design principles, standards or even code. I have almost the entire collection in my own personal library, and I recommended them to everyone I know. One of them is even a prescribed text in book in one of my university units! That’s how good they are. No, they are not free, but yes, they are WORTH EVERY PENNY. Available in both print and ebook, you can’t go wrong.

Stack Overflow

Stack overflow is probably more useful for the developers out there, and if you don’t already know about it, it will change your life (no, I am not being dramatic, it really will).

“Stack Overflow is a question and answer site for professional and enthusiast programmers. It's built and run by you as part of the Stack Exchange network of Q&A sites. With your help, we're working together to build a library of detailed answers to every question about programming.”

I could have explained that myself, but they just do it so well! So if you’re having problems with trying to get something to look right or even just actually display, I have no doubt Stack Overflow will have your answers.

0 to 255

Words cannot describe how happy I was when I discovered this tool. There is nothing worse in life than finding the perfect colour to discover it didn’t pass colour contrast (see my earlier post on colour). Fortunately, I have a cure… This little tool allows you to enter any hex value and bring up a long list of the same shade of colour, both darking and lighter. Simple, yet so very useful! It is great when you want to stick to a small colour palette, as you can move up and down one colour and your design will continue to have a sleek and professional finish!

Other resources

Don't forget to check out my resources page for more great resources!