Search Results For: develop

CSS / 23 Jan 2012

Nailing Browser Support in CSS3 and HTML5: Invaluable Resources to Use Today

New technologies are making web development more exciting than ever before. HTML5 and CSS3 provide a double dose of modern practices that are absolutely refreshing and empowering. Unfortunately, utilizing these technologies can considerably complicate your quest for cross browser compatibility.

How can you know which techniques are safe to use now and which you should either provide alternatives to or avoid altogether? Join us as we take a look at a handful of our favorite resources that quickly and easily help you make informed decisions about real world HTML5 and CSS3 implementation.

CSS / 18 Jan 2012

Beating Borders: The Bane of Responsive Layout

Responsive design often requires setting your widths using percentages. This is easy enough to accomplish, that is until you start throwing borders into the mix. If your columns and total width are set using percentages, a static border size wreaks havoc on your layout.

Today we’re going to look at a couple of different ways to beat this problem. You’ll learn how to create a completely fluid layout that doesn’t mind extra borders or padding one bit.

Layouts / 27 Dec 2011

Utilizing Grids in Print Design

The basic organization of a design project typically begins with a simple concept – the grid. Whether you decide to work within its constraints or intentionally move away from it, deciding how to use a grid tends to be one of the first steps in the design process.

Print designers have been working on grids since the first newspapers rolled off the presses hundreds of years ago. Most magazines also employ a grid; books are put together using the grid format. The grid can be part of a publication’s identity and helps create a sense of space and organization. Understanding the basics of grid design – from how it originated, to developing your own grid and using it in your workflow processes – will make working within vertical and horizontal constraints a snap.

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.

CSS / 5 Dec 2011

10 LESS CSS Examples You Should Steal for Your Projects

LESS, Sass and other CSS preprocessors represent an awesome way to extend CSS to be everything a programmer ever wanted. Variables, mathematical operations, mixins and a lot more make these tools invaluable to coders who can appreciate the benefits of typing less while accomplishing more.

One of the most major hurdles to getting started with these tools is simply figuring out just what the heck you’re going to do with them. We’ll help you out in a big way today by hooking you up with ten incredibly useful LESS snippets that you can drop into your projects today.

CSS / 24 Oct 2011

What Is CSS? Back to Basics

This is the third article in our back to basics series where we’re taking a look at the absolute beginning concepts of web development. If you’re a designer with little to no knowledge of web programming, this series is for you.

In our first article, we went over what HTML is and in our second article we outlined the basic anatomy of an HTML document. Today we’ll jump to a new topic and answer a very important question: What is CSS?

HTML / 10 Oct 2011

What Is HTML? the Anatomy of an HTML5 Document

This is the second article in our series on the absolute fundamentals of web development. Our first article explained in detail what HTML is on a conceptual level. We looked at what a markup language is, what tags are and how HTML compares to other important pieces of the web development puzzle such as CSS.

Join us today as we move on and take a look at each basic piece of an HTML document. I’ll explain all that stuff at the top of an HTML file that confuses you and outline the basic structure that you’ll follow for creating your own HTML files.

HTML / 8 Oct 2011

What Is HTML? Back to Basics

Since I have a background in print, I’m always eager to help designers from other areas get a start in web design and basic development. I know from experience that the transition is an extremely intimidating one that many people simply don’t think they can manage.

Fortunately, I can also attest to the fact that it’s probably not as difficult as you might imagine. In the world of hardcore coding, HTML and CSS rank pretty low on the barrier to entry scale.

Today we’re going to start a series that examines the basic building blocks of web development. HTML, CSS, JavaScript; if you’re a complete and utter beginner who might not even have a basic grasp of what these technologies are much less how to wield them, then this series is for you.

CSS / 28 Sep 2011

CSS Button Tutorial: How to Code Buttons in 5 Simple Steps

Here at Design Shack we like to feature a full range of tutorials, from expert PHP projects to very simple CSS tips. Today’s tutorial is targeted at those still in the beginner stages of CSS.

One of the most frequent questions I get from CSS beginners is, “How do I create a button?” It’s a simple question with a complicated answer. There are quite a few ways to go about it and unfortunately there are also quite a few ways to go wrong. When I first started out in CSS, figuring out all the button syntax was one of the most persistent troubles I faced, it seemed like I was always doing it wrong. Today we’re going to walk through a very simple and flexible process that you can apply to any button you create. More important than the end result is the in-depth explanation at each point outlining why we do it that way.

Typography / 16 Aug 2011

5 Typography Do’s and Don’ts Everyone Should Know

So you love typography, who doesn’t these days? The question is, how sloppy are you when it comes to implementing type in your designs?

Today we’re dishing up some great and simple typography tips that everyone who works with type should know. Whether you’re an expert or a beginner, read on to see if you’re guilty of any of these pitfalls.

Graphics / 3 Aug 2011

Designers, Do You Really Know Anything About Design?

Does learning the requisite software make you a designer? Just because you know CSS and HTML, can you really call yourself a web designer?

Today we’re going to explore the idea that, while you may be a Photoshop wizard, you might lack in fundamental design training that could drastically help you in your every day career.