Tool of the day: Codepen.io

Codepen.io is like Dribbble for front-end developers. It's a showcase of cool things people are doing with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It just so happens to be a great tool for quickly prototyping simple designs and design elements like buttons, gradients, shapes, etc. I use it for both inspiration (the community is full of really talented people) and as a tool to whip up designs in a hurry.

An introduction to typography in web design

Typography is the art (some say science) of arranging typed words to make a language visible. In other words, typography is what makes the words on your site legible.

Although having a solid understanding of typography isn't a must-have skill to become a web developer, it is something that will spice up any site or app you design down the road. The right mix of typefaces/fonts and their styling can make a dreary design pop.