Credit is due to the author Barrie M North and the publisher Prentice Hall for the book Joomla! A Users Guide.  This book was a valuable resource in helping to grasp the overall design concepts of Joomal!.  Amazon.com

Another great text is the "stylin' with CSS - A Designers Guide, Second Edition" authored by Charles Wyke-Smith, published by NewRiders.  This book continues to give me new ideas and things to try.