Don’t Fear the Internet

BASIC HTML & CSS for NON-WEB DESIGNERS

by Jessica Hische & Russ Maschmeyer

Are you a print designer, photographer, fine-artist, or general creative person? Do you have a shitty website that you slapped together yourself in Dreamweaver in that ONE web design class that you took in college? Do you not have a site at all because you’ve been waiting two years for your cousin to put it together for you? Well, we’re here to help. We know that you have little to no desire to do web design professionally, but that doesn’t mean that you want an ugly cookie-cutter site or to settle for one that hasn't been updated since Hackers was in theaters. Through short tutorial videos, you’ll learn how to take a basic wordpress blog and manipulate the css, html (and even some php!) to match your aesthetic. You’ll feel empowered rather than crippled by the internet and worst case scenario you’ll at least end up having a better idea of how professional web designers turn your design dreams into a reality on screen.

About the Authors

Links and Resources

WordPress Codex

A very comprehensive site for wordpress users and those learning wordpress. There’s kind of so much information it can be hard to know where to start, but once you get the “how do I phrase this question?” side of things down, this is a wonderful resource.

HTML Dog

From beginner to advanced articles, a good resource for learning css and html (for other webby junk like javascript, php, and jQuery, Russ and I have found W3Schools to be handy but many web folks get up in arms about that site).

A List Apart

An amazing website of articles and resources related to web design, coding, and the general web industry. They also have a great series of books that are worth checking out if you want to get your hands a bit more dirty.

Method and Craft

A helpful (and beautiful) website of web-related articles and interviews with movers and shakers in the industry.

Web Standardistas

These dudes know their shit. While you might think as someone newly web-cognizant that you don’t need to be reading articles and books about web design, it certainly doesn’t hurt to pay attention to what’s out there, what web folks are getting fired up about, etc.

Google

I’m not trying to be a dick here—there are about 40 billion really good tutorial sites for wordpress alone. Web designers love to help each other out. As this site will be more of a tasting menu than an all-you-can-eat buffet, if you have a specific question or want to really dig deep into wordpress development, ask the interwebs about “great free wordpress tutorials” or somesuch.

Edit

Jessica Hische is a letterer, illustrator, and avid internetter in Brooklyn, New York. You may have stumbled across one of her side projects such as Daily Drop Cap or the “Should I Work for Free?” flowchart. Jessica and her work have been featured in many publications, she has traveled the world speaking about lettering and illustration, and she has probably consumed enough coffee to power a small nation.

@jessicahische / portfolio

Russ Maschmeyer would like to think of himself as a digital craftsman; a dyed-in-the-wool maker. He’s a web designer, inventor, musician, writer, DIY enthusiast, and champion intramural collegiate ping-ponger. He’s just about done with a two year stint at The School of Visual Arts earning an MFA in Interaction Design and learning from some brilliant folks while pursuing personal projects and freelance work.

@strangenative / portfolio