This book was written by Dave Shea and Molly Holzschlag, two great minds who help push Web Standards and cutting-edge design. I also have to add that I was fortunate enough to take a class taught by Molly at the University of Arizona a few years ago and I cannot recommend her enough.

The concept behind this book is to take some of the most beautiful and most innovative designs from the CSS Zen Garden and break them down, step-by-step, while pointing out challenges and solutions along the way. You will see many examples of taking CSS to the limits of browser compatibility (and dealing with the failings of Internet Explorer along the way). There is no doubt in my mind that you will feel more confident when it comes time to create a new CSS-based layout after seeing the way to solve various browser errors and markup challenges that can seem daunting at times.

I would not recommend this book for someone just getting started with CSS. I think this book is perfect for the designer who has built a pure CSS site or two and wants to add some polish or more advanced features to a new design. This book is also highly valuable as a source of graphic design inspiration and instruction. There are some chapters devoted to topics like typography and color as well.

Overall, this is a great book about design on the Web, no just CSS design. I consider this a must-have for your Web design bookshelf.

Follow me on Twitter. This post originally appeared at: Review of The Zen of CSS Design