đ The Book in 3 Sentences
- The book describes basic design tips in an easy-to-digest format
- Instead of learning design fundamentals itâs very concrete giving you tips to be used right away
- Aimed at developers wanting to level up their design skills
đ¨ Impressions
A great resource on leveling up your designs. Very practical and zero fluff with tips ranging from âuse fewer bordersâ and âDonât use grey text on colored backgroundsâ to basic ways to setup your own design system.
Itâs a quick read (218 pages) but a book you can come back to from time to time if youâre stuck with a problem.
Adam makes a great point on the importance of design systems to make your ui consistent, and I feel like this is one of the key points and good things about his css framework Tailwind CSS as well. It enforces you to pick values from the theme, rather than coming up with new ones on the spot.
How I Discovered It
Recommended by Fred Wright
Who Should Read It?
Mainly developers who want to improve their designs, who wants to make something good looking without hiring a designer. If you are a designer you will probably know most of the things that are mentioned, but itâs a good read nonetheless.
âď¸ How the Book Changed Me
- Good resource on how to setup your design system and choose things like font-sizes and colors.
- Instead of mostly working with shades of gray try changing the hue as well to add more life and color.
âď¸ My Top Quotes
The more systems you have in place, the faster youâll be able to work and the less youâll second guess your own decisions.
Donât use grey text on colored backgrounds
The absolute best way to notice the little details that make a design look really polished is to recreate that design from scratch, without peeking at the developer tools.
Start with a feature, not a layout