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
SwitchBack
Remember that confession I wrote a while ago? A sobering story of a designer who grew up on Apples and Macs, but gave into the dark side, jumped ship, and began using Windows. Well, it’s coming up on a year since I wrote that piece. Some of my friends were beginning to wonder if I was serious about shaking the Windows addiction. continued
Sliding Doors of CSS, part II
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:
- Scenarios where no tab is highlighted
- Combination with Pixy’s single-image no-preload rollover
- A fix for IE/Win’s limited clickable region
- An alternate method for targeting the current tab
- Additional notes and uses for the technique
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.
Selected reading
In one of the main Exhibition Halls, the AIGA has a temporary bookstore set up with hundreds of books available about design, type, color, surface, theory… enough to make any designer drool and wish they had the entire collection available in their own library. While I love all kinds of design books, (Eames books are a favorite) I was disappointed that I wasn’t finding any related to design for the Web or multimedia. Then I came across this table. People all around me had no idea why I had whipped out my camera to take a picture of books sitting on a table, but I found these four to be in good company.
Greetings from Vancouver
Yes, that’s a reflective self-portrait of me, with the mountains of the North Shore in the background and the trees of Stanley Park off to the right. So far, we’re extremely lucky that the enormous amount of rain Vancouver received lately has given way to this kind of weather.
More to come later, but as a teaser: I think the crosswalk signal icons are wonderful here.
ALA and Sliding Doors
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
Power of Design, Vancouver
In two days, I’ll be heading north to Vancouver, B.C. for the AIGA National Design Conference, the power of Design. (Ironic that an American org is holding a national conference in Canada, eh?) This year’s conference will focus on the role of designers in the 21st century, in terms of culture, economy, and environment. Registration is still open if you’re up for making last minute plans. Be wary though: nearby hotels were filling up quick when I booked a month ago. GDC members are also eligible for the AIGA member rate. continued
Sliding Doors of CSS
It’s time to push the limits of CSS and raise another bar for standards-based web design. This tutorial walks through a new Sliding Doors technique for creating visually stunning interface elements with simple, text-based, semantic markup. (Translated into: Farsi, French I, French II, Italian, Russian)
Read the full article at A List Apart.
Mozilla advances
Mozilla Foundation charges out of the gates today with a handful of new product releases. Heavyweight full-featured browser Mozilla 1.5, lightweight standalone browser Firebird 0.7, and email/newsgroup client Thunderbird 0.3. continued
Are they really separated?
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
About the author
Designer, advisor, father. Former creative director at Twitter. Previously led design teams at Google, Stopdesign, and Wired. Disney geek. Giants fan.
