I can’t count how many times I’ve started a new project, wireframed it, built it, and then had the whole thing fall apart when it came time to do the work of actually finishing the design. Usually, it’s a personal project that, while you hope others may find some value in it, it’s not a money-making venture. So I don’t want to spend much on it.

That means I definitely don’t want to pay a designer. Nothing against designers. I’m in awe of them and the products they produce. I just can’t justify the cost of a good designer for a pet project that even I’m going to be over in a couple of months. And if I’m going to use a not-so-great designer, I may as well do it myself.

That’s why I was intrigued by Jarrod Drysdale’s new ebook, Bootstrapping Design. It’s a design book specifically targetd towards developers and aims to help us make our projects suck less. It states up front that it’s not going to make us world-class designers, but it will provide enough knowlege so we can DIY our projects design and do a good enough job to at least do justice to the hard work we’ve put into the functionality itself. I’m down with that.

I initially balked at the price. I can get an ebook and a hard-copy from somewhere like Pragmatic for $39! But I continued on and downloaded the sample pdf. Fonts! Choosing fonts is exactly where I usually get completely overwhelmed with design. There are so many choices. And rules, rules I don’t know. But I do know people make fun of you if you break the rules. So I read through the sample chapter and now I think after a few more readings, I can safely pick fonts for a new project and not have to worry about my designer friends having to say, “bless his heart”, behind my back.

So I’m excited to read the rest of what this ebook has to offer. If it helps my next project keep a designer from screaming and kicking a puppy, it’s worth it.