Design and development is a major theme amongst the top posts we have featured in this month’s links mashup.

And that’s no bad thing, considering that those two disciplines form the backbone of the web. But what I especially like about some of the picks below is a return to fundamental aspects of design — after all, getting the ‘simple’ stuff (like typography) right can really make all the difference.

On the development front I got my hands on two excellent articles relating to coding standards. Despite the fact that I am not a developer, I strongly believe in carefully coded plugins — something you do not always see as a WordPress user.

And for the rest of us there is a good selection of themes and plugins for you to check out. Enjoy!

Design & Themes

The 10 Commandments of Web Design — the more designers that follow these rules, the better.

One More Time: Typography Is The Foundation Of Web Design — one cannot understate the importance of typography in design.

10 useful typography tips to improve your website readability — and here’s another article to force home the point!

WordPress Themes Based on Optimal Typography — with the above in mind, here are some good examples of designs that focus on typography.

3 More Free WordPress Frameworks When Themes Just Aren’t Enough — if you’re in the mood to develop your own child theme then here are three great starting points!

20 Free WordPress Pinterest-Style Themes — one for the photo bloggers.

Plugins

WordPress Plugins That Make Your Life Easier — a genuinely valuable list of plugins worth checking out.

Add an Author Box to Your WordPress Site with the Author Box Advanced Plugin — check out this customizable author mini-bio widget.

WordPress Security: Can Security Ninja Keep Your Site Safe? — site security is incredibly important and this plugin can help.

Development

WordPress Plugin Development Strategies — the WordPress community needs more articles like this.

Guide To WordPress Coding Standards — which is why we’ve included two here!

Creating WP List Tables by Hand — displaying data in a plugin should arguably always be done via WP List Tables.

Adopting A Responsive WordPress Theme Is More Than Install-And-Go — a fascinating read for anyone with more than a passing interest in WordPress design.

Using the Chrome Developer Tools to Edit a WordPress Theme — single out pesky CSS elements and do much more with your browser.

Eric Meyer on the past, present and future of CSS — one of the foremost experts on HTML and CSS shares his thoughts.