August 22, 2011 — For many of us, logging into websites is a part of our daily routine. In fact, we probably do it so often that we’ve stopped having to think about how it’s done… that is, until something goes wrong: we forget our password, our user name, the email address we signed up with, … Read More…

August 19, 2011 — In case you haven’t noticed, there is a growing excitement around mobile or device oriented web design. This excitement is fueled mostly by the high adoption rates of devices that come equipped with full scale browser capabilities but that’s not the only reason. A lot of … Read More…

August 18, 2011 — HTML email has a reputation for being a particularly tough design medium. So tough, in fact, that many designers regard coding and testing even the simplest email design to be almost as bad as fixing display quirks in Internet Explorer 6, and only slightly better than a … Read More…

August 17, 2011 — I read a lot of design articles about best practices for improving the flow of sign-up forms. Most of these articles offer great advice, such as minimizing the number of steps, asking for as little information up front as possible, and providing clear feedback on the status … Read More…

August 16, 2011 — By now, we all know that we should be using HTML5 to build websites. The discussion now is moving on to how to use HTML5 correctly. One important part of HTML5 that is still not widely understood is sectioning content: section, article, aside and nav. To understand … Read More…

August 15, 2011 — An understanding of typographic etiquette separates the master designers from the novices. A well-trained designer can tell within moments of viewing a design whether its creator knows how to work with typography. Typographic details aren’t just inside jokes among designers. … Read More…

August 12, 2011 — Layer Styles are nothing new. They’ve been used and abused again and again. Despite their ubiquity, or perhaps because of it, many designers do not yet realize the full potential of this handy menu. Its beauty lies in our ability to create an effect and then copy, … Read More…

August 11, 2011 — Are you fed up with hearing about yet another Silicon Valley Web application built with fairy dust and funded by magic pixies? If so, this post is for you. Most of us will never get to work on a Web application that is funded by venture capital and for which the business … Read More…

August 10, 2011 — Becoming an effective designer requires embracing universal design principles and best practices. Over the years, I have come to see that reaching maturity as a designer is a continual process of reassessment and letting go of potentially damaging baggage. This can include … Read More…

August 10, 2011 — Media queries are the third pillar in Ethan Marcotte’s implementation of responsive design. Without media queries, fluid layouts would struggle to adapt to the array of screen sizes on the hundreds of devices out there. Fluid layouts can appear cramped and unreadable on … Read More…