Book: Hardboiled Web Design

Author: Andy Clarke

This book has two main topics:

1. The “hardboiled” way of thinking, how we should think as web designers, and how we should approach our work.
2. New technologies like HTML5, CSS3, various useful scripts and tools, and how he uses this stuff to create awesome websites.

An example of a hardboiled way of thinking is work from the top down, instead of the down up. That websites should not look the same in every browser, but instead be crafted specifically for the browsers capabilities.

“Some people say that websites must look the same in every browser. To hell
with that. This attitude makes many of us think that we can’t make use of new
and emerging technologies like HTML5 and CSS3 today, and we have to wait
for some day in the future when all browsers support the same technologies
the same way at the same time! It ain’t gonna happen. It’s best that we, and the
people we work for, learn to live with that reality and move on.”

He then goes on to show a lot of the new HTML5 and CSS3 stuff with great examples and tips, and how to use various tools like Modernizr to design specifically for each browsers capabilities.

Great stuff, and there is a lot more of these kind of mindsets and technologies that you can implement in your work immediately.

Why did I read it?

I want to learn more about HTML5, CSS3, and how people like Andy Clarke use it in their work.

Mission accomplished?

Yes. It was very good. Highly recommend it for anyone wanting to implement HTML5 and CSS3 in their work. It also made me implement stuff like Modernizr in my work, which is really great.

Favorite part

There was a lot of good stuff in this book. But if I have to pick something, it’s gonna be the part about the mindset of designing from the top down rather than from the down up.