Just say “no” to speculative design

Does your web design company do speculative design work? We don’t. What I’m talking about is creating potential website layouts to show a prospect how their new website might look during the sales process. It’s not uncommon in our experience for a prospect to ask for this type of work, especially when they are talking… Read more »

Responsive Design – the future of web design

We’ve entered a new period of transition on the web, just after things seemed to be getting comfortable. I mean things were nice. We reached a least-common-denominator screen size of 1024px. (Good riddance 800 x 600!) All the modern browsers are using page zoom by default rather than text zoom. Designers could breathe easy and… Read more »

Attending Wordcamp Boulder 2010?

I’m having a hard time picking which seminars to attend at Wordcamp in Boulder, Colorado next weekend. There are a ton of great WordPress presentations on the schedule. Wordcamp is a one-day conference for WordPress developers, designers and enthusiasts. I’m interested in the following talks so far: Creating a Blog Community with Dave Taylor, Doyle Albee,… Read more »

24Ways: HTML5 heads toward desktop apps

“Breaking Out the Edges of the Browser” by Remy Sharp reveals the future: HTML5 has features that enable web developers to write applications that work both online and offline. One commenter stated that “When this really starts to grow (with wider browser support and consumer awareness), you can forget [Adobe] AIR.” Remy reviews two HTML5… Read more »

24Ways.org: Working with RBGA Color

The awesome “advent calendar for web geeks” can be found at 24ways.org. December is my favorite time of year for many reasons, one of which is getting to read this great series of 24 web-related articles from around the world, one each day starting Dec 1 every year. The first article this year is “Working… Read more »

Toward a comprehensive content strategy for web sites

Clients and Content Why does it take clients so long to put together content for their new web site? Because creating content is complex. More complex than it appears at first. Because everything takes longer than you think. Because we all get interrupted all the time and we don’t plan for it. Scenarios: Using copy… Read more »

Web browser testing: It doesn’t have to look the same

A trend is clear in the web design and development world: web sites do not need to look the same in all web browsers. An Event Apart Boston 2009 “the design conference for people who make web sites” just wrapped up today, and that was a strong message from no less than four of the… Read more »

CSS: Attaching style sheets

What are the differences between using @import vs. <link> when attaching an external style sheet to your HTML web page? i liked this article “What’s the Difference Between @import and link for CSS?” from About.com. It’s comprehensive and well written. Also has additional useful links to CSS topics at the end of the article.

What causes upslope snow

We are about to get a facefull of upslope snow tomorrow along the Front Range of Colorado including Fort Collins. What does this have to do with web development? Nothing, except maybe I’ll get to ski to work. Weather is one of my favorite topics, which is good for my health since I’m a pilot…. Read more »

Styling visited links in web sites

I don’t have a consistent approach to this yet… I’ve been hunting around today reading articles on different techniques for styling visited links on a web page. I agree with this comment on usability advantages of styling visited links differently from un-visited links, emphasis mine: “Visited links not only help users avoid pages they don’t… Read more »