A Pocket Guide to Front-End Style Guides

by Anna Debenham

Style guides, once the exclusive domain of print designers, are now finding their way onto the web. In this pocket guide, you'll learn about the style guides that have been created specifically for websites, and how to make your own.

Designers and developers have taken different approaches to putting together their own web-based style guides. This book highlights the various techniques and the projects that have used them. It's packed with practical tips, whether you're starting from scratch or assembling one for an existing site.

Who should read this book?

This book is aimed at people who build stuff for the web and want to make their own style guides. It's full of techniques, practical advice and examples for both coders and non-coders.

Topics

PART 1: WHAT STYLE GUIDES ARE FOR

An introduction to why style guides exist, the different types out there, and where they're useful.

PART 2: THE WEB STYLE GUIDE SPECTRUM

There’s more than one way to build a style guide, so some designers and developers have varied their approaches depending on their own skills and project requirements.

PART 3: STYLE GUIDE INGREDIENTS

Now you've whet your appetite exploring some techniques, you're ready to get cooking. Follow the step-by-step instructions to bake your own style guide.

PART 4: BENEFITS

Find out about the positive side effects of building a style guide, and pre-empt some of the challenges you may face.

PART 5: EXAMPLES AND TOOLS

This final section will introduce you to some existing examples to help inspire you, and a range of tools to help you get started.

Genres: Design, Website Design

69 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 5, 2013

Reviews

[Matt]

As a seasoned designer with lots of experience working with���and writing���more traditional brand guidelines for print and web this all made great sense and will be a great reference to have. I wasn't previously familiar with "Front-end Style Guides" in the sense live-code "living" documents.

Can absolutely see this as a must-have primer on the topic for the fresh-out-of-school designers out there.

[Jason]

I just recently began researching style guide frameworks and practices. This book couldn't have come out at a better time for me. It reinforced a lot of what I've learned and gave me a lot more to think about. I'll definitely be using some of what I learned here as I build out a boilerplate style guide for my projects. Great pocket guide.

[puyol5 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 5/10

[Boyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good introduction to the concept.

[Eystein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and good introduction to style-guides. It explains the different types you may use depending on the size and type of site, and lists a few useful tools at the end. Recommended.