Published in 2023 the Tiny CSS Projects book is a collection of 12 individual projects that help you develop your knowledge of CSS.
Each chapter will have some starting code in HTML and maybe CSS, then as we go through the chapter and learn more CSS we will build up the project. You can then apply these learnings to other projects and ideas you have.
What’s in the book
The Tiny CSS Projects book is a practical guide to CSS by working together we will develop 12 projects that will develop our knowledge of CSS.
This book will teach you how to write new parts of CSS, develop your existing knowledge and for those who are new to CSS a good understanding of what CSS is and how to apply it.
We recently chatted to the JS Party Podcast hosts Nick Nisi (@nicknisi) and Amelia Wattenberger (@Wattenberger) all about the book.
Streamed on YouTube and available through podcast channels we chatted about chapter 2 CSS Grids and chapter 6 design a profile card to give you an idea of what to expect from the book.
Given that CSS is a fundamental part of the web, it is essential for anyone who is or wants to be designing and creating web pages to learn this language.
The Tiny CSS Projects book takes you through each project written by Mike and Martine covering a range of different areas in CSS such as:
- The fundamentals of CSS
- Layout in CSS including grid, flexbox, float and columns
- Fonts and typography
- Styling forms
- Animations and transitions
- Accessibility in CSS
- Styling images and different types of content
- Basics of SVG and how to style SVG’s
Who’s behind the book?
Michael Gearon
Michael Gearon is a UX designer and frontend developer living in Wales, UK. Mike graduated from the University of South Wales in BSc Media Technology and has been coding for over a decade.
Now working in the UK Government as a senior interaction designer, Mike is applying his expertise to solve challenges in the public sector. Tiny CSS Projects is his first published book after writing online articles across the web on frontend and UX topics.
Mike believes the best way to learn coding languages is to experiment – put ideas into practice and have fun. The main way he learnt web design and coding was not through theory textbooks, but instead by muddling through it, learning on the go and trying things out.
Martine Dowden
An award winning CTO, UX / UI designer & developer, international speaker, and author, Martine focuses on web interfaces that are beautiful, functional, accessible, and usable.
She approaches user experience from both art and science, drawing from her degrees in psychology and visual communications. She has worked as an developer, artist, educator, and consultant since 2005.
In 2015, she published a children’s book, “Programming Languages ABC++”. She then went on to write “Approachable Accessibility: Planning for Success” which was released in June 2019 and “Architecting CSS: The Programmer’s Guide to Effective Stylesheets” in 2020.
She continues to be active in the community and was recognized for her contributions by being awarded the Microsoft MVP award and Google Developer Expert in both the Web Technologies and Angular categories.
What makes the book unique
3 reasons why this book is useful is:
- It is a central place to find out about a range of CSS topics
- It is presented in a way of guiding you through learning and building actual projects which I believe is the best way to learn
- It has been edited, checked, reviewed and much much more to get it to a state of publishing, not all articles out there on the web go through as many steps
Where can you get Tiny CSS Projects book?
The book is still under development but you can buy it through the Manning Early Access Program (MEAP). There will be chapters ready to read straight away and as the book progresses more chapters will become available to read.
As part of the MEAP process you can also contribute towards the book leaving valuable feedback for me and Martine on the liveBook Discussion Forum.
If you’re interested in finding out more or better yet purchasing the Tiny CSS Projects digital book (thank you in advance) you can find the book on Manning Publishing (affiliate link below).
Alternatively you can always reach me on X (Twitter) if you want to chat.