books by Paul McFedries
Math for Web Design
"A necessity for designing bulletproof layouts.”
—Chris Kardell, Centennial Bank
Math for Web Design: Precision layout and animation explains the mathematical principles behind good frontend design. With his engaging writing, author Paul McFedries makes it clear how math, carefully applied in CSS and JavaScript, solves everyday design problems such as distributing space, choosing accessible colors, positioning elements, and making animation feel natural. When you understand the calculations behind color, geometry, and motion, you can design with more precision, debug behavior more confidently, and create interfaces that are both attractive and functional.
You’ll start with the basics. Early chapters introduce the minimum math you need, then connect it immediately to front-end tools. From there, the book moves into real layout systems, showing how CSS units are computed, how inheritance affects sizes, how the box model changes formulas, and how Grid and Flexbox distribute space.
The middle chapters focus on responsive and visual decisions that define modern web design. You’ll work through percentage-based and viewport-based layouts, media query logic, liquid layouts, and custom clamp() formulas. You’ll also learn the mathematics of color, including color conversion, harmonious palettes, WCAG contrast ratios, alpha compositing, and blend modes. Typography receives the same practical treatment, with formulas for font size, line height, line length, fluid type, and modular scales.
Later chapters move into the math of interaction, motion, and richer UI effects. You’ll use trigonometry for circular menus, spinners, wave paths, and directional calculations, along with vectors and geometry to align components, create hover and parallax effects, and constrain dragging. The book then extends this foundation into Bezier curves, CSS easing, gesture math, and scroll-based animation.
Math for Web Design is a masterful guided tour through the math front-end professionals actually use. Each concept appears because it solves a concrete design or implementation problem. CSS and JavaScript examples keep the explanations grounded, while exercises and solutions help you build fluency. You’ll appreciate how this book builds a durable mental model layer by layer, connecting fundamentals to layout, color, typography, animation, interaction, and canvas work in a sequence you can revisit as a practical reference.
Build a Website with ChatGPT
Build a Website with ChatGPT shows you how to make websites in an AI-first world—no experience required! You’ll start with the basics of generating pages with ChatGPT, and by the end of the second chapter your first site will be up and running. Author Paul McFedries then shows you how to add interesting text and graphics, forms for user input, and even custom CSS to give your pages some pizzazz. As you go, you’ll expand your new AI skills to create photo galleries, portfolios, catalog pages and more.
Web Design Playground, Second Edition
Web Design Playground, Second Edition takes a creative, visual approach and clear explanations of the components, concepts, and of each step you’ll need to build your own web pages. You’ll become a confident web designer as you practice each new skill in the Playground. The many small projects introduce everything from page layout basics to new tags and features like Flexbox and CSS Grid—all presented in author Paul McFedries’s inimitably friendly style.
Don’t worry about setting up your own servers and domain names—the book comes with a free online “playground” to experiment with and get creative. You can concentrate on core skills like page layout and adding images and video, as well as learning typography, responsive design, and the other modern web design techniques. Before you know it, you’ll be ready to create gorgeous pages that reflect your creativity and style.
Web Design Playground
Web Design Playground takes you step by step from writing your first line of HTML to creating interesting, attractive web pages. In this project-based book, you’ll use a custom online workspace to design websites, product pages, photo galleries, and more. Don’t worry about setting up your own servers and domain names—the book comes with a free “playground” which lets you experiment without any of that! You can concentrate on core skills like adding images and video and laying out the page, plus learning typography, responsive design, and the other tools of the web trade.
