Creative outlet of Douglas Bowman
My original Sliding Doors of CSS article published at A List Apart is now fully translated and available in Italian on gdesign.it. Capisce? Mille grazie (many thanks) to Giuseppe Di Carlo for asking permission and doing the work to translate the article.
Note: The article is also available in Russian, thanks to Andrei Smirnov.
After writing about the IE Factor several days ago, I thought I’d detail a specific example which had me pulling out my hair last week. I’ll also provide the solution I came up with. As I stated Monday:
Tweaks that should have worked had no effect, prompting me to try things that made absolutely no sense to try.
I relate it to a driving experience. One in which I drive to a certain destination often enough, that I become more and more familiar with the route that takes me there. I learn the best streets getting to and off the freeway system, every exit along the way. I know the interesting segments, the boring stretches. Most importantly, I start to recognize traffic patterns, and can predict the areas of congestion that will slow me down. No matter which route I take, there’s usually one portion of the trip where I know I’ll slow to a crawling pace. Some routes can’t be avoided, and the delays they bring must be factored into the total time I think the trip will take. continued
It’s not often that I point out or write about standards-compliant site designs and launches which get sent to me by email, especially personal sites. But designer Cameron Adams just launched a site that I think is worth your attention. The Man in Blue boasts a simple, attractive design created with lots of background-image goodness. Notice the soft shadows everywhere, the cracks in the corners which move as the window is resized, and the intricate way lots of small borders match up to create a subtle 3D effect. A brief technical overview highlights a few more features. continued
If you happen to be fluent in Russian, you might be interested in Andrei Smirnov‘s recently completed Russian translation of my Sliding Doors of CSS article, originally published at A List Apart. The translation is hosted on Andrei’s personal site, which provides a Russian-language resource dedicated to web standards and related web design topics. Many thanks to Andrei for volunteering his time to translate the article. continued
When I was designing Wired News last year, I was limited by what I knew I could implement. It was exciting to be experimenting and pioneering a large site redesign and conversion to web standards. But the design was, in part, dictated by my acquired knowledge of CSS at the time. It’s obvious to me whenever I look at Wired: there are things I would have designed differently had I known how — and been able — to pull them off. continued
A little over a week ago, in an article for ALA titled Sliding Doors of CSS, I introduced a new technique for layering background images with CSS. We walked through an example of how it could be used to create visually appealing tabs while keeping simple, text-based, semantic markup. We intentionally limited the scope of what the article covered so that it could remain focused on explaining and demonstrating the technique.
With an understanding of the technique firmly in grasp, now we can push it further. ALA just published Sliding Doors of CSS, Part II, which expands on what we covered the first article (Part I). Specifically, Part II addresses:
Part II fills in some gaps and expands on the utility and behavior of the original technique. If you haven’t yet read Part I, I highly recommend you do so before reading Part II. Again, instead of opening up comments here, I’ll direct any feedback you might have to the discussion on Part II already open at ALA.
We’ve read words about a relaunch, seen hints of a new logo, and gazed at a teaser screen that promised it was coming soon. After weeks of patient waiting, the new version of A List Apart is here. For several years, the digital magazine has been serving up a wealth of informative articles, tutorials, and expositions for people who make websites. I welcome having this tremendous faucet cranked all the way open again. Congrats to the whole ALA team on the new launch. continued
Separate content from its presentation. One of the lingering mantras of web design and development. It exists as both a rule and a strategic practice. A commandment which promises rewards if followed. But have we iterated this phrase so much as to strip away its meaning? Have we lost sight of what it means to keep the two independent? And is the concept even a real possibility? Is it still merely a myth? continued