This is my second edition of T.I.D.B.I.T.S., and you’re probably still asking yourself what they are and why I do them. Here’s the deal: I don’t read very much. I’m probably in the lower 25% of all readers (and consequently the upper 25% of all TV watchers). So you can rest assured that what I do actually spend my valuable time reading is pretty dang good. Using that same logic, the amount you read is somewhat proportional to the quality of things you’ll read, and that explains why you’re reading our blog. Now we come to the reason for T.I.D.B.I.T.S. Since we’re not real good writers ourselves, the least we can do is point you in the direction of good writing and great resources for your development. Today’s tidbit is one of my personal favorites.
Smashing Magazine is a tremendous web design & development blog based out of the UK. I’ve been reading it for over a year and it has absolutely been the reason for my success and continued skill progression as a web developer. You can find anything from Photoshop tutorials to developing custom Wordpress plug-ins. Smashing is very heavily Wordpress and open-source based, and consequently you’ll often see posts showcasing free Wordpress templates, fonts, and icon sets. The editors of Smashing have a keen eye for beautiful modern web design and spend their time scouring the web for superb websites to include in their showcases. There’s an average of about 2 posts per day – plenty of content but not enough to overwhelm you.
I bring this up now since they recently released a book and redesigned their website, creating a “Smashing Network” of other design blogs and featured posts from the cream of the crop around the web. I can’t tell you how many free icon sets, fonts, and themes I have acquired via Smashing – and most of them are licensed for free commercial use, which is MONEY for a web developer. I highly recommend this blog. If you are at all in the design or development industry, and somehow you have not heard of Smashing, check them out as soon as you can!
