The internet has been around for over 25 years now. In the last two and a half decades, the web has experienced a euphoric early expansion, innovation-driven rebirth, an economic-driven bust, and constant evolution.
From all of this, there is one definite thing – the web as a medium of communication in commerce is here to stay. Moreover, it has swept into all our devices – TVs, smartphones, tablets, and more.
Consequently, there are multiple opportunities for users to employ their knowledge of web design. Do you want to learn the same but do not know how and where to start? If you browse the internet, you will see vast information is available to grasp.
Hence, it is not easy to know where and how to start. But, if you wish to learn the drill, you have to start somewhere. So, to help you, we share with you some of the best books on website design. These are the best web design books for beginners. So, let us get started and address these eleven books one by one.
11 Top Web Design Books
- HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites 1st Edition – Best Web Designing Books
- Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited
- Learning Web Design
- Web Design Playground: HTML & CSS the Interactive Way 1st Edition
- The Principles of Beautiful Web Design Paperback – September 29, 2020
- Web Design All-in-One For Dummies 2nd Edition
- Basics of Web Design: HTML5 & CSS 5th Edition
- HTML And CSS Quickstart Guide – Best Books On Responsive Web Design
- Hello Web Design: Design Fundamentals and Shortcuts for Non-Designers Hardcover – June 22, 2021
- Build Your Own Web Site The Right Way Using HTML & CSS, 2nd Edition 1st Edition
- Responsive Web Design (Brief Books for People Who Make Websites, No. 4) Paperback – January 1, 2011
11 Best Books On Web Design For Beginners & Advanced Learners
1. HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites 1st Edition
About the book
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| Rating | 4.7 |
| Author | Jon Duckett |
| Publisher | Wiley; 1st edition (April 21, 2014) |
| Pages | 512 pages |
| Weight | 3.1 pounds |
| Dimensions | 7.8 x 1.5 x 9.2 inches |
| Cons | Its Kindle Version is not the best. |
Every day more and more people are interested in learning CSS and HTML. The software can help one make their blogs look visually appealing. Typically, the books that teach web design are bland and monotonous. They target people who aspire to be programmers. But, it is one of the best web designing books. Hence, it follows a revolutionary approach.
- It makes learning HTML and CSS accessible for new learners.
- It is a full-color book.
- The book employs lifestyle photography and graphics to elucidate the topics engagingly.
- It has a unique structure that makes it easier to build on knowledge and progress from one chapter to the next.
- It has practical exercises to help you practice what you have learned.
Learning Outcomes
By buying this one of the top-recommended books on web design for beginners, you will learn several things, but the book majorly covers the color introduction to the HTML and CSS fundamentals. In addition, this is also one of the best books on responsive web design to discover:
- How to structure and design websites
- Prepare images for the web
- Control layout and typography
- Read and write CSS and HTML
Who should take this book?
It is one of the best web design books for beginners. The book will specifically benefit:
- Programmers
- Professional web designers
- Content editors
- Marketers
- Bloggers
- Hobbyist web designers
- E-commerce managers
2. Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (3rd Edition) (Voices That Matter) 3rd Edition
About the book
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| Rating | 4.6 |
| Author | Steve Krug |
| Publisher | New Riders; 3rd edition (December 24, 2013) |
| Pages | 216 pages |
| Weight | 13.4 ounces |
| Dimensions | 6.95 x 0.7 x 8.95 inches |
| Cons | Some concepts are outdated. |
It is one of the top web design books. Since its publishing in 2000, several thousand designers have made it their bible. It is funny, engaging, and practical. Hence, it is one of the best web designing books. It is a short, fun-to-read book illustrated beautifully.
Learning Outcomes
It is one of the best books on website design and teaches you:
- Principles of information design and intuitive navigation
Who should read this book?
If you have read this one of the best web design books for beginners, you will agree why it is the top choice for:
- Developers
- Designers
- Programmers
However, if you have not read it, it is a book that benefits everyone. So, if you are interested in web design, it is one of the best books to learn web design.
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3. Learning Web Design: A Beginner’s Guide to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Web Graphics 5th Edition
About the book
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| Rating | 4.6 |
| Author | Jennifer Niederst Robbins |
| Publisher | O’Reilly Media; 5th edition (June 19, 2018) |
| Pages | 808 pages |
| Weight | 1.47 pounds |
| Dimensions | 8 x 1.5 x 9.75 inches |
| Cons | The author could include more examples. |
It is one of the best books on website design that starts with the basics and takes you to the advanced level. In every chapter, you will find exercises that help you learn different techniques. In addition, several short quizzes can help you assess your learnings from the best books on responsive web design.
Learning Outcomes
In this one of the best web designing books, you will learn the following:
- How web and web pages work
- Building web pages
- Designing a simple site with multicolumn pages
- Employing Flexbox and Grid for sophisticated and flexible page layout
- Knowing how JavaScript works
- Creating responsive websites
- Acquiring familiarity with command line
- Understanding the responsive web design
- Build HTML pages with text, links, images, tables, and forms
- Employing style sheets (CSS) for colors, backgrounds, formatting text, page layout, and even simple animation effects
- Optimizing web images
- Understanding the super-powers of SVG graphics (Check free SVG images online)
- Knowledge of the modern web developer’s toolkit
- Learning how to make web pages look great on all devices
Who should read this book?
It is one of the best books to learn web design for:
- Professionals
- Students of all backgrounds
- People of any skill level
- Beginners
- Experienced developers who want to keep their skills up-to-date
What do you need?
It is one of the best books on web design for beginners. So, you can read this, even if you have no prior experience in web design.
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4. Web Design Playground: HTML & CSS the Interactive Way 1st Edition
About the book
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| Rating | 4.6 |
| Author | Paul McFedries |
| Publisher | Manning; 1st edition (May 19, 2019) |
| Pages | 440 pages |
| Weight | 1.98 pounds |
| Dimensions | 7.38 x 1.1 x 9.25 inches |
| Cons | Print quality is unfortunately not the best. |
It is one of the top web design books. In this project-based book, you will employ a custom online workspace to design product pages, websites, photo galleries, etc. Buying this one of the best web designing books also gives you access to free eBooks in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.
Learning outcomes of this best books on website design
It is one of the best web design books for beginners. A few things you can expect to learn here include:
- Familiarity with web design
- Knowledge of CSS
- HTML fundamentals
- Creating and formatting your first interactive web page
- Adding structure to your page
- Learning about images and styles
- Adding images and other media
- Understanding of floating and positioning elements
- Creating a landing page
- Styling margins, borders, and sizes
- Working with fonts and colors
- Knowledge of page layouts
- Designing responsive web pages
- Designing a Photo Gallery
- Building a portfolio
- Learning advanced CSS selectors
- Accentuating page text with typography
- Adding colors to your web design
5. The Principles of Beautiful Web Design Paperback – September 29, 2020
About the book
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| Rating | 4.4 |
| Author | Jason Beaird and James George |
| Publisher | SitePoint; 4th edition (September 29, 2020) |
| Pages | 282 pages |
| Weight | 1.29 pounds |
| Dimensions | 7.99 x 0.59 x 10 inches |
| Cons | In several instances, it feels like the authors have tried to compress information to fit in fewer pages. |
It is one of the best web designing books. In this one of the best books on website design, you will see an easy-to-follow guide, full of color and beautiful examples, which make you well-versed in creating incredible designs.
Learning Outcomes
It is one of the top-recommended books on web design for beginners. There are several things to learn in this book. A few of them include:
- Knowing what makes a great design by implementation
- Learning how design fits modern app development workflows
- Using colors effectively
- Creating a color palette
- Developing color schemes
- Applying typography to make ordinary designs look good
- Understanding common user-interface patterns and resources
- Using lines, shapes, points, depth, and volumes
- Building beautiful layouts with grids
- Selecting, editing, and positioning imagery
What do you need?
It is one of the best books on responsive web design. The book is simple to understand and takes you through the process of building incredible designs from start to finish. So, you need no prior experience for the course.
Who should buy this book?
It is one of the best books to learn web design for:
- People who wish to create beautiful websites
- Anyone wanting to develop websites that guarantee incredible user experience
- Developers desiring to make their applications more visually appealing
- It is also the best web design books for beginners who yearn to be successful designers
6. Web Design All-in-One For Dummies 2nd Edition
About the book
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| Rating | 4.4 |
| Author | Sue Jenkins |
| Publisher | For Dummies; 2nd edition (January 22, 2013) |
| Pages | 688 pages |
| Weight | 2.54 pounds |
| Dimensions | 7.3 x 1.4 x 8.9 inches |
| Cons | It is one of the most expensive books on this list. |
If you want a comprehensive and one of the best web designing books, this can be your go-to book. It has the five best web design books for beginners infused into one. The book offers in-depth coverage of the subject, and you will learn everything to know about building a website, testing it, and making it public. The instructor tries to update it frequently. So, you will find the latest techniques handy here.
Learning Outcomes
It is one of the best books to learn web design. Here you will learn the following:
- Getting started with web designing
- Making your site attractive to search engines
- Designing pages for the web
- Creating a website
- Pre-launch testing
- Publishing and site maintenance
- Page-building strategies
- Linking social media to website
- How to design for browsers, phones, and tablets
- Emerging tools like CSS 3 and HTML5
- Optimizing web graphics
- CSS tricks for effective design
- Achieving audience focus
- Embedding images
- Using the texts properly
- Establishing the site’s look
- Building navigation systems
- Using mock-ups and storyboards
7. Basics of Web Design: HTML5 & CSS 5th Edition
About the book
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| Rating | 4.4 |
| Author | Dr. Terry Ann Felke-Morris |
| Publisher | Pearson; 5th edition (January 22, 2019) |
| Pages | 496 pages |
| Weight | 3.53 ounces |
| Dimensions | 7.9 x 0.85 x 9.9 inches |
| Cons | It is a great book, but the instructor could organize it better. |
It is one of the top web design books. It is a beginner-friendly book and offers a solid foundation in web development and web design, and has the newest topics, updated content, hands-on practice material, and several case studies and exercises.
Learning Outcomes
It is one of the top books on web design for beginners. Here, you will learn:
- Basics of web development and web design
- Knowledge of hard skills like CSS and HTML 5
- Responsive Page Layout employing the new CSS Flexible Box Layout (Flexbox) and CSS Grid Layout techniques
- Clarity on some soft skills a designer needs
Who should read this book?
It is one of the best books on responsive web design for:
- Anyone who wishes to develop their skills in web development, graphics, and web design
8. HTML and CSS QuickStart Guide: The Simplified Beginners Guide to Developing a Strong Coding Foundation, Building Responsive Websites, and Mastering … of Modern Web Design (QuickStart Guides)
About the book
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| Rating | 4.5 |
| Author | David DuRocher |
| Publisher | ClydeBank Media LLC (January 22, 2021) |
| Pages | 361 pages |
| Weight | 1.37 pounds |
| Dimensions | 7.5 x 0.82 x 9.25 inches |
| Cons | The author publishes the inclusion of digital assets as the highlight, but it is an absolute mess. |
It is one of the best books on website design, courtesy of the engaging and unique approach adopted by the instructor. So, if you follow the book well, you can begin designing from the first chapter itself without worrying too much about the complex jargon. It comes with enclosed bonus digital asset access, which takes you beyond theoretical learning with its GitHub code repository, hands-on project, multiple resources, online tools, etc.
Learning Outcomes
There are several things you learn here. These include:
- HTML and CSS fundamentals
- About the HTML tags, CSS elements, CSS styling
- Designing websites that look great on all browsers
- Producing a clean code
- Formatting, sizing, fonts, images, multimedia, forms, sprites, and gradients
Who should read these best web designing books?
It can be the top choice of book for you if you are:
- A jobseeker wishing to elevate their resume
- Freelancers wanting to make extra money
- Students who yearn to learn this skill
- Experienced developer
- Amateur designer
- Artists, bloggers, and digital entrepreneurs hoping to boost their web presence
- Anyone who wants to create their website from scratch
- Anyone interested in coding
- WordPress, Shopify, and Squarespace users who wish to customize the templates
- People who want to make modern, responsive, and attractive websites with no prior knowledge
9. Hello Web Design: Design Fundamentals and Shortcuts for Non-Designers Hardcover – June 22, 2021
About the book
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| Rating | 4.6 |
| Author | Tracy Osborn |
| Publisher | No Starch Press (June 22, 2021) |
| Pages | 160 pages |
| Weight | 13.6 ounces |
| Dimensions | 5.81 x 0.55 x 8.75 inches |
| Cons | The author should add more details. |
Next, we have another one of the top books to help you learn design fundamentals and shortcuts.
Learning Outcomes
In this one of the best web design books for beginners, you will learn the following:
- Best practices, design principles, pro tips, vital shortcuts, basic coding tutorials, and real-world examples required to create beautiful websites
- Cheat codes for a successful web design
- Color theory and typography
- Creating landing pages
- Maintaining good online portfolios
Who should read this book?
It is one of the best web designing books for everyone.
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10. Build Your Own Web Site The Right Way Using HTML & CSS, 2nd Edition 1st Edition
About the book
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| Rating | 4.2 |
| Author | Ian Lloyd |
| Publisher | SitePoint; 1st edition (December 8, 2008) |
| Pages | 470 pages |
| Weight | 1.6 pounds |
| Dimensions | 7 x 0.98 x 9 inches |
| Cons | Some topics need greater detail. |
Next, we have another of the top websites that help you acquire clarity on HTML and CSS.
Learning Outcomes
Here are some things you will learn in this course. These include:
- Designing your website with CSS and HTML
- Web development from scratch
- Building a fully functional website from ground-up
- Render correctly whether your visitors are using Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, or Safari
- Using the web standards to help your site load faster
- Maintenance of the website
- Making a website accessible for disabled users who use screen readers
What do you need?
It is a beginner-friendly course. So, you need no prior knowledge of it.
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11. Responsive Web Design (Brief Books for People Who Make Websites, No. 4) Paperback – January 1, 2011
About the book
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| Rating | 4.5 |
| Author | Ethan Marcotte |
| Publisher | A Book Apart (January 1, 2011) |
| Pages | 150 pages |
| Weight | 9.1 ounces |
| Dimensions | 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.2 inches |
| Cons | Some examples are hard to follow. |
It is a brief course that helps you create a beautiful responsive web design.
Learning Outcomes
These best web designing books will teach the following:
- Creating responsive designs
- Designing beautiful web pages
- CSS techniques and design principles
- Fluid grids, flexible images, and media queries
- Delivering a quality experience to your users
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Related: Web Design Challenges For Beginners, Web Designing Interview Questions & Answers, How To Make Money As A Web Designer? A Web Designer?
FAQs on Best Books To Learn Web Design
Ques 1. Can I learn web design on my own?
Ans. Yes, if you have decided to learn it yourself, there’s nothing you cannot achieve. Enroll in a good course and supplement it with a book and practice.
Ques 2. Is coding necessary for web design?
Ans. Almost every designer must possess at least some knowledge of basic programming languages like jQuery, PHP, HTML, Flash, and JavaScript.
Ques 3. What are the three basic things required for responsive web design?
Ans. The three basic components of a responsive web design are media query, the web browser, and the responsive web interface itself.
Ques 4. What are the three types of web design?
Ans. The three kinds of web design are – static, dynamic or CMS, and eCommerce.
So, these are some of the best books on website design that you can buy and start learning the subject on your own.
