Finding inspiration

Now that I have a concept for my website the next step is to see if something similar has already been created. My original idea was to create a graphics heavy JavaScript training book, but I thought a faster way to get my ideas out there is to create a website. I went to the bookstore and checked if something similar existed. In Barns and Nobles I walk over to the technology section and what do I see? In the recommended books section I find a book titled “JavaScript and JQuery: Interactive Front-End Web Development“ by Jon Duckett. I will admit. I was Jelly at first. This book is exceptional. If you want to buy a copy, I say go for it. But it’s not exactly what I was envisioning for my website, which is good. I still have a niche.

I started to think back to other books and websites that I found interesting for being creative in their delivery of information. Below is a list of books and websites that are graphic heavy in their approach to teaching.

Head First book series by O’Reilly Media

Head first used fun imagery and interesting page layouts to make learning technical topics more fun. Reviewing the pages of the Head First book reminded me why I liked them so much in the past. The pages where the code examples are annotated with handwritten text is how I used to annotate my code textbooks when I was in college. The only thing I wish was different about these series of books is that they should have been printed in color.

Julia Evans

Do you like zines? Then you need to check out the zines created by Julia Evans. Julia is an incredible writer and a presenter that is full of life. You can tell she enjoys what she does. She has been a big inspiration for my current project.

www.dotnetperls.com

I came across this gem when I was working on a C-sharp.net project. I can’t put my finger on it but I like the layout of this website and the use of imagery it’s not highly polished, but I can focus on the example. www.dotnetperls.com in my go-to C# reference document