Joshua Johnson

CSS / 3 Jan 2012

How to Build a Responsive Thumbnail Gallery

Recently I set out to build a responsive thumbnail gallery. I expected it to take me a few minutes, but in reality it took me a few hours to work through. We’ll walk through a similar process today to help you get your mind wrapped around how it works.

One major component of mastering responsive design is to figure out how to approach specific tasks and adjust to problems as they arise within the context of larger projects. One day you’ll be working on a project and will need a responsive gallery and you’ll remember this post on that very topic.

CSS / 2 Jan 2012

Mastering Mouse Enter and Exit Events With CSS Transitions

While working on a recent post that utilized CSS transitions, I stumbled upon some interesting revelations completely by accident. Switching up where you place the transition syntax can have a dramatic effect on how the transition is carried out.

Today we’re going to go over the various options for CSS transition syntax and how each affects the animation given whether your mouse is entering or exiting a hover.

Typography / 30 Dec 2011

60 Absolutely Stunning Typography Projects

One of the best ways to get pure, unadulterated design inspiration is to look at a great collection of typographical art. The techniques, craftsmanship and gamut of visual styles is always enough to kick in the creative side of your brain and lead you to some incredible new ideas.

Today we’ve got sixty mind-blowing examples typographical art handpicked from Behance. In this post you’ll find branding concepts, free fonts, handcrafted goods and more.

CSS / 29 Dec 2011

Journey Into Mordor With CSS

Today’s project is silly and fun, but it does have a real point and educational purpose. In a recent article, I explored five ways to use multiple CSS background images to create cool hover effects. I had one idea in that article that I didn’t get to simply because its complexity merited a standalone explanation.

This article then is an extension of that previous discussion. We’ll be using multiple backgrounds to create a cool cinematic effect where someone traverses a map while the vantage point zooms out. The best and most nerd-tastic way to show this off is of course to use the familiar tale of Frodo crossing Middle Earth to arrive at Mount Doom in Mordor. Let’s get started.

Software / 28 Dec 2011

The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Using Scatter Brushes in Photoshop

In web design we often focus on using Photoshop to create pixel perfect designs that are meticulously shaped and layered until they’re absolutely pristine. Repeated patterns, tiny strokes, complex gradients and reflections are trademarks of this design style.

But what if you’re going for something more organic? How can we use Photoshop to create complex and random particle arrangements that don’t look cheesy and contrived? The answer of course is to utilize scatter brushes. This awesome tool seems fairly simple on the surface but there’s a ton functionality and limitless possibilities to explore so even if you’re a Photoshop pro, read on to see some great ideas for how to use scatter brushes in your work.

Graphics / 26 Dec 2011

How to Use Synergy to Take Your Designs to the Next Level

“Synergy” – In business this is a term that has been so often abused that it has become a meaningless buzzword. Some of you may cringe just at the sound of it.

However, in design synergy is a powerful weapon that, when wielded properly, can make your designs much more interesting and creative. What is synergy? Where can we find some solid examples of synergy in design? How can you use synergy in your work? Read on to find out.

Bootstrap / 21 Dec 2011

5 Incredibly Useful Tools Built Into Twitter Bootstrap

Bootstrap is an interesting framework or “toolkit” offered up to developers completely free of charge by none other than Twitter.com. According to Twitter, Bootstrap is “designed to kickstart development of webapps and sites.”

Today we’re going to jump into Bootstrap and take a quick look at some of the things that it has to offer. This should help you decide whether this is just another bloated framework or an incredibly useful tool that you should use to kickstart your next project.

CSS / 20 Dec 2011

Make It Snow on Your Website With CSS Keyframe Animations

The holiday season is at its peak and for some lucky people in weather appropriate climates, winter is in full swing. I live in Phoenix so real winter, and consequently snow, is really just a distant dream. Thus I am forced to turn to nerdery to get my fix!

Today we’re going to go over a super simple CSS technique that you can use to make it snow on your website. It’ll only take you a few minutes at the most and it serves as a great introduction to using multiple background images and keyframe animations in CSS.

Graphics / 19 Dec 2011

Branding Lessons From the Guitar Gods: Taylor, Gibson, Fender and More

Today we’re going to discuss how design projects often require you to take a step back from who you are as a designer and forget your own personal taste while taking on the personality of a given brand.

The companies who hire you will have vastly different brands, strategies, and most importantly, customers. This principle is displayed quite prominently in the brands of major guitar manufacturers. Let’s dive in and see how Taylor, Fender, Dean, Gibson and more target the right customers through design.

Layouts / 15 Dec 2011

Tips and Ideas for Designing With Blurred Images

“The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play.”
– Arnold Toynbee

The topic of today’s discussion is blurry photos. No, not the kind that you accidentally take because your kids won’t sit still. The intentional kind, the use of which can serve several practical purposes in design.

We’ll learn all about how to use blur effects to help make text more legible, direct the viewer’s attention, and just make backgrounds more fun. We’ll also take a look at some different types of blurs and how to properly apply selective blurring.

CSS / 14 Dec 2011

Four Simple and Fun CSS Button Hover Effects for Beginners

Today we’re going to take a step back from advanced discussions about CSS preprocessors and return to some good old basics. We’ll work up four super simple CSS buttons, each with a unique animated hover effect.

Follow along with me and create your own fun button styles. Also feel free to grab my code and use it on your projects. If you’re a CSS newbie looking for a good way to make your buttons more interesting, this article is for you!

CSS / 13 Dec 2011

Extends and Control Directives: Two Crazy Things Sass Can Do That LESS Can’t

LESS and Sass are aimed at accomplishing the same thing, and are indeed so similar that you could easily confuse the two, but are they really created equal? Is there anything that one can do that the other can’t?

On a feature to feature basis, each syntax has one or two things that the other doesn’t. However, despite the fact that I was initially drawn to LESS’ simplicity, in the long run I couldn’t help but be sucked in by a few key features that make Sass really powerful. Follow along as I blow your mind with some of the amazing and unique features of Sass.