I think the power of using background images is amazing. Whenever you need to display text as an image due to fonts or for something like a logo, it’s easy to make it work and keep it 100% accessible. This is not rocket science, but it’s important. For instance, if I wanted to display a logo. The wrong way: <img src="logo.gif" alt="Company Logo" /> The right way:

Look at your website on a mobile phone if you want to understand why “the right way” is better. You will also appreciate it when it comes time to redesign the site and you don’t have to touch the html. [Nick Francis, US]

Replacing text with a background image. For instance, if you want to display the logo of your company instead of just plain text, you could do something like that:

This is not just great for people using a screenreaders, but may also have a positive impact on your Google PageRank. [Wolfgang Bartelme, Austria]

The background-position rollover trick popularized by Dave Shea - CSS Sprites. [Rob Goodlatte, US]

Combining several background images into one and using background-position to display the part I want. [Roger Johansson, Sweden]

Sliding doors is an obvious choice, especially when creating fluid layouts or tabbed navigation. I’ve almost got to the point where I use a whole bunch so regularly, they all blend into one! Andy Peatling, Canada]

Using overflow:auto to clear floated elements. Simple Clearing of Floats. [Matthew Buchanan, New Zealand]

Every web site must have a menu of some sort so I’ll go with the use of unordered lists to create them. The flexibility it allows amazes me every time I use it. [Filipe Varela, Portugal]

Using more than one class per element. For example, I could give a paragraph tag two classes. <p class="highlight clear"> . This may seem extremely novice but I find that when I talk to people about this, they have no idea it’s possible. (This also comes in handy when you want the last element class to take on a slightly different property as the ones before it.) [Matt Downey, US] <p class="highlight clear">

A trick that I use a lot in development is this: div { border: 1px solid red; } . In other words, quickly set borders on for everything to help work out layout issues (I also use the Web Developer Toolbar a lot for this kind of thing) [Ian Lloyd, UK] div { border: 1px solid red; }

This would have to be Easy Clearing. [R. Marie Cox, US] .clearfix:after { content: "."; display: block; height: 0; clear: both; visibility: hidden; } .clearfix {display: inline-block;} /* Hides from IE-mac */ * html .clearfix {height: 1%;} .clearfix {display: block;} /* End hide from IE-mac */

Making the absolute relative. More about this technique in Making the Absolute, Relative. [Christian Heilmann, London, England]

Absolute positioning. I wouldn’t say I use it nearly as often as other techniques, but it’s invaluable for getting solving tough coding challenges. [Cameron Moll, USA]

Liquid and elastic design, if you can call them CSS techniques! [Patrick Griffiths, UK]

Simple shorthand is the most basic and useful technique - nothing fancy, just beautiful simplicity. [Natalie Jost]

Google.com & Firebug. :) [Garrett Dimon, US]

Reusable code. In nearly all of the CSS which I’ve written recently, I’ve started developing code which can be applied to any element. For example, I might have a ‘hide’ class for an element on a page which I want to be hidden, or a ‘mute’ class for something which I want to be ‘muted’ (i.e. with less emphasis than regular content — footnotes, for example). To see this technique in action, just take a look at any of my stylesheets.Another technique I use is to develop a robust grid, with ‘column block’ making up the grid. To do this, I define several classes, such as ‘col_1′, ‘col_2′ — but not how you might expect. Where you could assume that ‘col_1′ is the first column in the design, I take a slightly different approach by defining this as a column which spans 1 ‘column block’ — ‘col_2′ would span 2 ‘column blocks’ etc. [Oliver Beattie]

Helvetica [Mark Boulton, UK]

Helvetica Nueve. Can’t get enough. [Kyle Neath, US]

I love simple fonts like Helvetica, Chalet etc. - and there are so many classic serif fonts that are absolutely gorgeous; Times is a classic but today’s users seem to tire of it because of overuse — so others like Garamond, Caslon, Baskerville, Minion and Palatino all hold a special place with me. [Oliver Beattie]

Using Univers Condensed a fair bit at the moment [Cameron Adams]

Each project is unique and if you want to help achieve a proper degree of differentiation there is no such thing as a “very often used font”. However, if I were to choose one of my personal favorites, I would have to go with the Univers family from Linotype. [Lucian Slatineanu, US/Romania]

Helvetica for a sans-serif and Lucida Bright for a serif. [Natalie Jost]

Lucida Grande. [Nick Francis, US]

Lucida Grande. [Roger Johansson, Sweden]

Lucida Grande is a beautiful font for normal text. I also like the cleanness of Trebuchet MS or Arial when used big on headers. [Filipe Varela, Portugal]

I do like Trebuchet, and Verdana (10px and below). “Regular” font: Lately, I’ve been using DIN. [Ryan Masuga, US]

It’s hard to pick just one, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say FF DIN. [Rob Goodlatte, US]

I love simple fonts like Helvetica, Chalet etc. - and there are so many classic serif fonts that are absolutely gorgeous; Times is a classic but today’s users seem to tire of it because of overuse - so others like Garamond, Caslon, Baskerville, Minion and Palatino all hold a special place with me. [Oliver Beattie]

I use Arial (sans-serif) or Georgia (serif) in every web-site project. [James Mathias, US]

Keeping “web friendly fonts” in mind, the most often used font for coded pages is Arial. [Derek Punsalan, US]

As well as the usual Arial, Verdana etc. for body copy, I tend to use clean sans-serif fonts for headings. I try to use a variety of different fonts but I am quite partial to a bit of Rockwell at the moment. [Dan Lindop, UK]

Arial. Sorry! I’ve been leaving typography, which I know embarrassingly little about, to the designers I’ve been working with recently. [Patrick Griffiths, UK]

I am totally not a font person, so I just use the usual suspects. Arial, Verdana. I’m sure that’s like fingernails on chalkboards for some people. [R. Marie Cox, US]

Web: Verdana 11px (150% leading). Display: Maple (Process Type). Print: Mercury Text (H&FJ) [Matthew Buchanan, New Zealand]

Mmm, I’m a big fan of Georgia. I know that means that if Georgia is not available, it means falling back to Times New Roman, but hey ho, them’s the breaks. [Ian Lloyd, UK]

I find myself using Georgia and Verdana quite a bit. They are good utility fonts and are fairly ubiquitous. While I wish there was more variety available, there are only a handful of fonts which are reliable, due to the limited selection installed across multiple operating systems. The key to best using fonts is to know what typefaces are available in which environments. I have seen quite a few sites which resort to using sIFR, but I think that with a little research and patience, there is still quite a bit that can be done within the browser itself. One thing I have learned by dabbling in typography is that the default sans-serif font on Ubuntu is considerably wider than the sans-serif on other operating systems. While the sans-serif for Windows and Mac tends to look like Arial or Helvetica, the default sans-serif on Ubuntu is actually closer to Verdana in width. [Nathan Smith, US]

I use Myraid Pro quite a lot, probably too much. I’m just in love with it’s different variations, each one can portray a very different message. Andy Peatling, Canada]

“Myriad Pro” and “Neue Helvetica” are my favorites. Both flexible, elegant and yet readable. [Wolfgang Bartelme, Austria]

It always depends on the context, but I’ve found Frutiger to be a reliable standby. [Garrett Dimon, US]

Warnock Pro (entire family) [Cameron Moll, USA]

Dax Regular [Paul Boag, UK]

Lately I’ve really liked the way Avenir looks on the screen. The font has a very fresh feel and works well with hum-drum web fonts. [Matt Downey, US]

Century Gothic, I just like the cleanliness of it. [Christian Heilmann, London, England]

Many of my corporate clients have existing corporate identities. In these cases, my role is often about interpreting corporate identities into the web environment. This means that fonts are often dictated from the outset. For other clients, I don’t think I have particular favourite fonts. I use different fonts - depending on the client and the feeling we are trying to get across. Even within serif font families there have not been particular favourites. I’ve used Rockwell, Clarendon, Goudy and even American Typewriter.I generally try to use as few actual image-based fonts as possible. I’m always conscious that the site may be viewed by small screen devices, by people who have images turned off, by blind users or people with screen magnifiers. Often image-based fonts are a barrier or an irritation to these people. Ideally, I prefer my content to be able to scale, display well on any device and be flexible enough so that users can override my settings.I generally try to use as few actual image-based fonts as possible. I’m always conscious that the site may be viewed by small screen devices, by people who have images turned off, by blind users or people with screen magnifiers. Often image-based fonts are a barrier or an irritation to these people.Ideally, I prefer my content to be able to scale, display well on any device and be flexible enough so that users can override my settings. [Russ Weakley, Australia]

“Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug. [Jesse Bennett-Chamberlain, Canada]

“Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug. It’s a small book with a big message about web usability. If you’re a web designer and haven’t read it, I would highly recommend it. Andy Peatling, Canada]

Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug. Again, not sure if this is quite ‘designer’ enough for you, but I wish more web developers and designers would read this before creating their first web site. It should be the law. [Ian Lloyd, UK]

“Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug. It is a simple book but also very powerful. It is an ideal book to give to entire teams to read - including content writers, designers, developers and clients. [Russ Weakley, Australia]

“Don’t Make Me Think” - it was fast enough pace to keep my attention. [R. Marie Cox, US]

“Don’t make me think!” by Steve Krug. best hour of your time you ever spent on learning usability. [Christian Heilmann, London, England]

Hands down, bar-none, undoubtedly the best book written about web design is Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug. [Patrick Griffiths, UK]

More usability than design related, but one of the influential books for me was Steve Krug’s - Don’t Make Me Think [Lucian Slatineanu, US/Romania]

For CSS Design I would recommend CSS Mastery by Andy Budd. For UI design and understanding usable layouts I would recommend Don’t Make Me Think! by Steve Krug. Many people may not consider the second book a design book, but I think it is crucial for any designer to understand how users think. Design is not only aesthetic, but also has to be functional in order to create results for your client. [Nick Francis, US]

“CSS Mastery” by Andy Budd is a great introduction to producing good CSS layouts. I’ve read a few others on this subject but this is the best in my opinion. [Dan Lindop, UK]

With seamingly endless resources online, I find it hard to justify purchasing an actual book off the shelf. The only book that I have purchased and can recommend CSS Mastery by Andy Budd (with Cameron Moll & Simon Collison). A great primer for anyone interested in building a strong foundation from which to build off of. [Derek Punsalan, US]

The Elements of Typographical Style, by Robert Bringhurst. This is the book which inspired WebTypography.net. Another great book about user interface design is Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug. It encourages web designers to create intuitive site navigation and messages. [Nathan Smith, US]

The Elements of Typographic Style [Cameron Moll, USA]

Elements of Typographic Style by Bringhurst. [Mark Boulton, UK]

The Elements of Typographic Style is pretty boring, but it’s amazing how much you pick up from it while you’re dozing off. [Cameron Adams]

Jeffrey Zeldman’s “Designing with Web Standards” [Paul Boag, UK]

I like “Transcending CSS”, it has some good ideas and is great for inspiration, plus my screenshot is in there (page 48). [James Mathias, US]

If there is one book that many, many people working in the Web industry desperately need to read it is Ian Lloyd’s “Build Your Own Website The Right Way Using HTML & CSS”. [Roger Johansson, Sweden]

“How to be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul” by Adrian Shaughnessy [Rob Goodlatte, US]

Web Standards Solutions by Dan Cederholm. [Matthew Buchanan, New Zealand]

The only book I have on my desk is “Bulletproof Web Design” by Dan Cederholm. That’s more CSS than design - but I don’t buy design books. They’re way too expensive, they take up space, and I can find everything I need online, if I need something. [Ryan Masuga, US]

Pro CSS Techniques book by Jeff Croft, Ian Lloyd and Dan Rubin. But if I had to pick one book that I’d recommend to everyone starting on their journey towards standards development it would be Web Standards Solutions by Dan Cederholm. [Matt Downey, US]

Well, it’s a not a book to read but sure is eye candy. And it’s not just one either: ‘Los Logos’, ‘Dos Logos’ and ‘Tres Logos’. Love ‘em. [Filipe Varela, Portugal]

Can’t recall a book that I’ve read specifically on design. But here are some web related books that I recommend: Books for your brain. [Keegan Jones, US]

All of Edward Tufte’s books. They aren’t directly related to design per se, but they have an incredible wealth of information with regards to communicating and pragmatic aesthetics. [Garrett Dimon, US]

Making and Breaking the Grid by Timothy Samara. An introduction to grid based layouts. Highly recommendable. [Wolfgang Bartelme, Austria]

Ogilvy On Advertising. [Mike Davidson, USA]

I’ve just got a copy of Web Standards Creativity by (among many, many others) Cameron Adams, Mark Boulton, Andy Clarke, Jeff Croft, Dan Rubin etc. - that one’s a pretty good read. Also, it’s good to read other books not directly related to web designs. For example, I’ve got quite a few print books:1) Letterpress - New applications for traditional skills (David Hury)2) Grid Systems (Kimberley Elam) 3) The Elements of Typographic style etc.

Chasing the Perfect by Natalia Ilyin. [Natalie Jost]

Defensive Design (37 Signals). [Kyle Neath, US]

Two CSS books that are absolutely brilliant are Transcending CSS by Andy Clarke and Pro CSS Techniques by Jeff Croft, Ian Lloyd and Dan Rubin. [Oliver Beattie]

I don’t read any design magazines on a regular basis - online or offline. I just started reading Digital Web a little bit. I have a newsreader that I hardly open anymore because I’m busy with work! I sift through cssmania.com now and then just to see what people are up to, and spend all my time on the ExpressionEngine forums. [Ryan Masuga, US]

There aren’t really any printed magazines that I read regularly. I suppose that my online reading list is probably fairly typical for most web designers, consisting of the usual suspects: Digital Web Magazine, A List Apart, UX Magazine, Boxes + Arrows, and of course Smashing – though you guys need a unique site design. [Nathan Smith, US]

A List Apart. [Mike Davidson, USA]

Online, I trust A List Apart, sorry that one’s probably obvious. I really like Create Magazine in print, just because I enjoy looking at the ads. [Nick Francis, US]

I don’t get design magazines from the shops, at all - I tend to find them too pretentious or up themselves, to be honest! Likewise, I’ve not bought techie magazines for a long while. For me, it’s all online, and once more I’m thinking more on the technical/techniques front. So for me it’s still alistapart.com - great writers, good ideas and nicely presented. [Ian Lloyd, UK]

A List Apart. [Oliver Beattie]

Does Wired count as a design magazine? It’s certainly got some of the best infographics I’ve ever seen. [Cameron Adams]

Pingmag [Derek Punsalan, US]

I really live the vibe and the variety that Netdiver features every day. [Filipe Varela, Portugal]

UX Magazine is a great read, and post a lot of fun articles. I also fill my feed reader with a bunch of web standards/web design/usability blogs and scan through them when I can find a spare minute from working! Andy Peatling, Canada]

I Check out Smashing Magazine from time to time, but I don’t really read a lot of design magazines, unless they have something specific. I do, however, watch Pixelperfect with Bert Monroy every week. [James Mathias, US]

Why Smashing Magazine, of course. [R. Marie Cox, US]

Fontblog.de - a German weblog on typography and other design related stuff. [Wolfgang Bartelme, Austria]

.net magazine (cheating, I get it for free as I am a contributor) [Christian Heilmann, London, England]

Communication Arts. [Kyle Neath, US]

Relevant Magazine. It’s extremely well designed (even the ads!), and it’s inspiring to flip through. If nothing else, it helps spark good design ideas. [Keegan Jones, US]

Computer Arts and .net magazine monthly. [Dan Lindop, UK]

HOW magazine is always an incredible source of design inspiration for me. Seeing printed and promotional pieces really challenge me to think about how to display and organize information on the web. [Matt Downey, US]

I like to read things that will broaden my horizons as a designer, not narrow them. A recent magazine I picked up in the UK which had great design, but also great content, was a magazine called Monocle. [Mark Boulton, UK]

I don’t follow any particular design magazines. Occasionally I’ll browse through a copy of Computer Arts or Communication Arts. [Rob Goodlatte, US]

I don’t read any on a regular basis any more - there are so many nowadays I just follow links and suggestions to interesting articles. [Patrick Griffiths, UK]

I really haven’t read any magazines. I’ve spent most of my time exploring books and finding books on classical aspects of design like typography and the grid. I’ve also found it incredibly enlightening to read books from different industries or different periods in art and history. It’s easy to follow the latest “fads” and apply that to a design, but it’s the classical and unchanging principles that really make a quality design stand out regardless of its particular style. I’m also starting to get into books on psychology, anthropology, and other related books that lend themselves to understanding human behavior and think of how we can apply that knowledge to the web. [Garrett Dimon, US]

I don’t read design magazines anymore. I used to, but these days I don’t have the time. Or the interest. [Roger Johansson, Sweden]

I don’t read any particular one on a weekly basis, but I pick up any design-related mags as often as I can with topics that range from food to architecture to aircraft design etc. [Cameron Moll, USA]