1. CSS Secrets, by Lea Verou, unveils the rare power of CSS that allows designers to create stunning visual effects with ease.
2. DOM Scripting, by Jeremy Keith and Jeffrey Sambells, is a designer-friendly approach to learning unobtrusive JavaScript to enhance the user experience.
3. Form Design Patterns, by Adam Silver, walks you through 10 different design patterns that focus on the user experience.
4. HTML & CSS: Design and Build Websites, by Jon Duckett, is an absolute beginner’s book for designers who want to learn the basic languages of the web.
5. JavaScript & jQuery: Interactive Front-End Web Development, by Jon Duckett, features pleasing design, clear writing, and comprehensive coverage of the programming language for the web.
6. JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, by David Flanagan, is comprehensive reference for programmers.
7. JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide, by John Pollock, is, by far, the most approachable and practical book on learning JavaScript.
8. jQuery: A Beginner’s Guide, by John Pollock ,is for anyone who wants to add rich user interaction to the web.
9. MODX: The Official Guide, by Bob Ray, is a must-have if you develop websites with MODX.
10. SMACSS, by Jonathan Snook, explains analytical process on CSS categorization.

1. The Best Punctuation Book, Period., by June Casagrande, is an excellent reference that lives up to its title.
2. The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, by Jane Straus, Lester Kaufman, and Tom Stern, is a breezy and practical guide to keep by your side.
3. The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation, by Bryan A. Garner, provides one of the most thorough, comprehensive explanations of the parts of speech I have read.
4. The Classic Guide to Better Writing, by Rudolf Flesch and A.H. Lass, is an old treasure I always had but only recently discovered.
5. Dreyer’s English, by Benjamin Dreyer, is an informative guide to clarity and style written in Dreyer’s concise and humorous prose, which draws from over twenty years of his copyediting experience.
6. The Elements of Style, by William Struck Jr.and E.B. White, is still a good reference for clear, no-nonsense writing.
7. HBR Guide to Better Business Writing, by Bryan A. Garner, is brief and helpful for daily writing in your job.
8. Mortal Syntax, by June Casagrande, is an informative read on the clobbered usage of grammar.
9. Nicely Said, by Nicole Fenton and Kate Kiefer Lee, is a required reading for anyone who writes content on the web.
10. On Writing Well, by William Zinsser, reminds me the reason I have been blogging for over ten years.
11. Origins of the Specious, by Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman, debunks words and usage that are often misunderstood.
12. Several Short Sentences About Writing, by Verlyn Klinkenborg, teaches writing one sentence at a time. Klinkenborg wrote this book using his own approach.
13. Woe is I, by Patricia T. O’Conner, makes grammar refreshingly clear and enjoyable.
14. Word by Word, by Kory Stamper, is a fun and fascinating read that will make you appreciate the art, science, and hard work invested into a lexicon.

1. Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth, by John Szwed, helps readers understand and appreciate Holiday’s unconventional approach to singing, distinctive vocals, and controversial song choices.
2. Classic Material: The Hip-Hop Album Guide, by Oliver Wang, taps into the progression of hip-hop with constructed criticism of classic albums that elevated the game.
3. Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington, by Terry Teachout, is an engaging biography of an accomplished composer, renowned bandleader, and skillful pianist whose obsessions included music, food, and women.
4. Flyboy in the Buttermilk, by Greg Tate, is packed with the author’s ingenious criticisms ranging from music (jazz, funk, punk-rock, and hip-hop) to book to film.
5. Flyboy 2, by Greg Tate, features a collection of Tate’s influential and critical essays in the past 30 years.
6. The History of Jazz, by Ted Gioia, is a must-read for anyone who is interested in the fascinating story of jazz.
7. I Hate Myself and Want to Die, by Tom Reynolds, is depressingly hilarious because of the author’s wit, incisive, heartless, and sometimes silly criticisms.
8. It’s About That Time, by Richard Cook, which begins with Birth of the Cool and ends with posthumous Doo Bop, is ingenious assessment of Miles’s music and life based on his albums.
9. Jazz: A Critic’s Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings, by Ben Ratliff, is a pleasurable read for both jazz novices and aficionados.
10. JAY-Z: Made In America, by Michael Eric Dyson, is a concise, engaging, and thoughtful examination of JAY-Z’s lyrics.
11. The Last Miles, by George Cole, is a 450-page analysis that covers every track from The Man With The Horn all the way up to Doo-Bop.
12. Me, by Elton John and Alexis Petridis, is an engaging, honest, emotional, and incredibly funny memoir.
13. Miles Beyond, by Paul Tingen, is an insightful read on Davis’s electric journey from 1967-1991.
14. Mo’ Meta Blues, by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Ben Greenman, is a fresh, funny, fulfilling music memoir of one of hip-hop’s rare drummers.
15. Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, by Terry Teachout, unfolds of the controversy of Armstrong’s old-fashioned way of mixing high art with low comedy and the dark side behind his clowning face.
16. Running the Voodoo Down, by Philip Freeman, is a detailed analysis of Davis’s fusion albums.
17. So What, by John Szwed, is a well-researched and thoughtful biography of Davis.
18. Trịnh Công Sơn (1939 – 2001) Cuộc Đời, Âm Nhạc, Thơ, Hội Họa & Suy Tưởng is a collection of essays on the life and work of one of the greatest Vietnamese songwriters written by his closed friends and confidants around the world.

Some projects I had worked on during my study for my MA in Graphic Design at the George Mason School of Art.

Vietnamese Typography: Nghệ thuật chữ Việt Nam
Wrote, designed, and published a web-based book on Vietnamese typography as a final project (AVT 794) to complete my MA in Graphic Design. Read more.

Professional Web Typography
Wrote, designed, and published a web-based book on web typography in Practices in Graphic Design (AVT 519). Read more.

Post Binding
Handcrafted a book for the final project in Experiential History of Graphic Design (AVT 613). Read more.

Web Typography: A Brief History
Wrote a research paper on the history of web typography in Experiential History of Graphic Design (AVT 613).

Nas’s Quote
Created my first calligraphy using pen, ink, and paper in Experiential History of Graphic Design (AVT 613). Learn more.

Mobile App Prototype for Sketches of Miles
Designed an app prototype for a do-over project in Professional Design Practices (AVT 599). Read more.

Video Résumé
Created a short typographic animation in Professional Design Practices (AVT 599) to show why I love the web. Read more.

Four Words
Created four words (“fire, water, earth, and air”) using analog typography in Graduate Design Seminar (AVT 596). Read more.

Magazine Ads for Simplexpression
Created an integrative design of handcrafted types and digital components in Graduate Design Seminar (AVT 596). Read more.

The Jazz Board Game
Created the concept and designed a jazz board game in Graduate Design Seminar (AVT 611). Read more.

The Vietjazz Branding Guide
Designed a branding guide web site for Vietjazz Records in Brand Identity Design (AVT 614). Read more.

Unitea
A fictitious tea company developed in Graduate Design Seminar (AVT 611). Read more.

The Tampa Bay Times

To be sure, the former secretary of state is an imperfect candidate with political baggage that would sink most other politicians… But Clinton’s record as a pragmatic progressive should be beyond question, and so should her resilience.

In the recent Democratic debate, Bernie Sanders called Hillary Clinton’s attack on his criticism of President Obama a “low blow.” Sanders was right. That was a low blow from Clinton. She should not have gone down that path. She should stick to the issues and not play dirty politic. She did so well in the debate. Whereas Sanders was vague in his policies, she provided details, particularly on foreign policies. Sanders’s messages were inspiring, but Clinton’s were realistic; therefore, I am still rooting for her. It was disappointment to see her go down that path. Please focus on the issues and not the negative attacks. Obama did that in his campaign and he won twice. It worked.

• “How People Learn to Become Resilient” by Maria Konnikova
• Thơ Mưa by Cao Nguyên
• “Gravitational Waves Exist: The Inside Story of How Scientists Finally Found Them” by Nicoloa Twilley
• “The Koch Brothers’ Dirty War on Solar Power” by Tim Dickenson
• “Stop Humiliating Teachers” by David Denby

Đây là một quyển sách về tiếng Việt rất thú vị. Nữa phần đầu tác giả Nam Hoài Bão giới thiệu tiếng nói và chữ viết của bốn dân tộc vùng Đông Á: Trung Hoa, Đại Hàn, Nhựt Bổn và Việt Nam. Như chữ Hán, Đại Hàn và Nhựt, chữ Việt Nam cũng khởi đầu viết theo tượng hình. Như sao này chữ Việt đổi mới theo dạng La Tinh.

Nữa phần sau của sách ông Nam Hoài Bão viết rất chi tiết về lịch sử chế tạo chữ quốc ngữ. Những tài liệu ông gôm lại sẽ giúp người đọc hiểu rõ hơn những người đã có công xây dựng nên chữ Việt mà ta dùng hôm nay. Chỉ khoảng mấy mươi năm, cái chữ mà người Tây sáng chế ra để giảng đạo cho những người dân không biết chữ đã trở thành một ngôn ngữ riêng của cả nước Việt Nam. Quốc ngữ có đầy đủ phong phú và sáng tạo để làm văn, thơ, nhac, hoặc để giao thiệp với nhau.

Những ai muốn tìm hiểu về lịch sử ngôn ngữ Việt Nam nên đọc quyển sách này. Xin thành thật cảm ơn ông Nam Hoài Bão đã để lại một quyển sách quý báu.

David Usher’s Let the Elephants Run is a self-help guide to spark your creativity. With concise writing, inviting typesetting, inspiring quotes, generous whitespace to write on, Usher helps you get your creative juices flowing. It’s an enjoyable read.

Vì con lọt lòng mẹ đúng Mồng Một Tết nên cha mẹ đặt tên con là Việt Xuân. Mỗi năm xuân đến con sẽ mang niềm vui và hạnh phúc đến mọi người.

Because you came out of mommy’s womb right on Vietnamese New Year, your mom and I named you Việt Xuân. On each Vietnamese New Year’s Day, you will bring joy and prosperity to everyone.