If you already know a bit of CSS, why spend time learning it better?
I’d been writing CSS for years before I took the time to fully understand what I was writing and why it worked the way it did (or didn’t).
I used to do a lot of work with WordPress which often involved overwriting other people’s code. I’d spend a long time Googling things, trying to get my head around existing code and why my changes didn’t take effect.
CSS can be a tricky beast and it’s not always clear what to learn next.
Reasons to learn CSS
If this sounds familiar, here are some reasons to learn CSS more thoroughly.
1. Efficiency
A firm understanding of CSS means you’ll probably write less code to achieve the same result. Whether that’s small visual tweak or coding layouts more efficiently, that means less time on development.
2. Earn more
At a basic level, spending less time on CSS development means you can either:
- Spend more time on other areas
- Be more profitable
- Do more work
But there’s also value in having a wider knowledgebase to draw from. Knowing more CSS might mean you’re able to command higher fees or take on jobs you previously wouldn’t have felt comfortable doing.
If you’re a designer, having a better understanding of what is (and is not) possible will help the design process immensely. If you’re working with a developer, that knowledge can only improve the designer/developer relationship.
3. Working with themes/templates/frameworks
If you’re working with frameworks or WordPress/Squarespace themes, there’s often a lot of existing code. Understanding what has already been written is essential, especially if you want to make changes with the smallest amount of additional code.
In many of these situations, you may not be able to change the underlying HTML. Having a better understanding of CSS might also let you make changes that previously wouldn’t have been possible.
4. Structured learning
Much of this information is freely available somewhere on the internet, so why pay for a course?
One of the difficult things about learning anything is knowing what to learn. CSS has become a huge language and it continues to grow.
CSS For Designers is a structured course: topics build on existing knowledge and new content is introduced as appropriate. I’ve written the material to include as much as I think is practically useful, without being overbearing.
That’s partly why the course won’t be launching with a section on CSS Grid, though that may come at a later date.
The other advantage of learning through a course is that I’m here to answer any questions you have along the way.
5. Why a written course?
There are a number of reasons this course is written rather than video-based:
- Code examples can be copied and pasted
- Course content pages are searchable in a browser
- It’s easy to skip through the content and find what you need (useful on a second pass of the course)
- It’s easier to keep the content up-to-date
The course uses Codepen for examples, which is a great tool for demonstrating code and experimenting with examples.