Gridless Boilerplate : This has all the right buzzwords in the sales pitch — responsive, HTML5/CSS3, vertical rhythm, CSS normalization, and the like. The only snafu I see is that the placeholder image on the demo page isn’t responsive. I’ll trust that isn’t indicative of the rest of the framework, though I admit I haven’t dived into the code too deeply. … Read the rest here
In my previous post I stated that while I didn’t think responsive design was the right approach for every mobile experience, it was appropriate for 90% of cases and should become the natural default option. Sadly the current default for most organisations is to build a suite of device specific mobile apps. While giving designers control over layout and companies the ability to make a bit of extra money through app store sales, this seems like an expensive, labour insensitive and somewhat wasteful approach. Especially when you consider the relatively small number of app consumers, compared to the number of people who access the web through mobile devices. For most online companies a mobile optimised website is going to be the smartest option in terms of reach and ROI. I think one of the big problems with responsive design is that it’s a relatively new and unproven concept. … Read the rest here
HTML Email Boilerplate : Tables for layout are lame, but they really are the only way to reliably craft HTML emails (currently). View source on the HTML email I sent recently and you’ll see markup similar to that of Sean Powell’s boilerplate. (I prefer only one td as a single wrapper rather than individual cells for the layout — div s can usually handle that just fine.) Update: Some of you have mentioned that the Authentic Jobs email I linked to doesn’t display nicely in Outlook 2007 or 2010 ( screenshot ). For the most part, I’m okay with those three items being stacked rather than in a row. However, if having your HTML email appear as similar as possible across all clients (which is still virtually impossible today), table cells are really the only way to go… Read the rest here
Agile vs. Agility : Hugo Rodger-Brown: Agile (big ‘A’) has become a bit of an albatross — it doesn’t really work, it doesn’t deliver the benefits it promised, and it inevitably involves a lot of arguing amongst the team about who should be doing what, and when. All of which distracts from the fact that agility (small ‘a’ this time) is a wonderful thing, that can be achieved, that does provide enormous benefits, and that should be encouraged in everything we (as an industry) do. Agile (small ‘a’) refers to team dynamics, delivery processes, the software itself (how easy is it to change), and operations. … Read the rest here
MotionCAPTCHA : Here’s an interesting take on CAPTCHA: MotionCAPTCHA is a jQuery CAPTCHA plugin, based on the HTML5 Canvas Harmony procedural drawing tool by Mr Doob and the $1 Unistroke Gesture Regonizer algorithm , requiring users to sketch the shape they see in the canvas in order to submit a form. At the moment, it’s just a proof-of-concept — it only uses client-side gesture recognition, and doesn’t really have IE support — but the next releases will feature progressive enhancement and the ability to use this in production environments as a serious CAPTCHA alternative. I’m not a fan of CAPTCHA in general, but this is an idea at least worth entertaining. … Read the rest here
EasySign : I set a goal at the start of 2011 to sign documents only digitally — no more scanning, emailing, etc. So far, so good. I’m a fan of EchoSign , but I’m convinced to give this app a try for my next document. Download the free app, watch the in-app tour, and you’ll probably be convinced to try it, too. /via @ swissmiss … Read the rest here
EasySign : I set a goal at the start of 2011 to sign documents only digitally — no more scanning, emailing, etc. So far, so good. I’m a fan of EchoSign , but I’m convinced to give this app a try for my next document. Download the free app, watch the in-app tour, and you’ll probably be convinced to try it, too. /via @ swissmiss … Read the rest here
Kickoff for Mac : This app’s mini-site has been making the rounds on Twitter today, and deservedly so. Try clicking some of the screens in the main slider, enjoy the well-crafted video, and have a peek at the HTML5 markup, too. And of course, download the app. … Read the rest here
Textify : This is pretty rad. Convert any image into HTML text. Maybe this is how I should do my next letterpress poster. … Read the rest here
PhotoSwipe, an Image Gallery for Mobiles Devices : HTML/CSS/JS-based image gallery specifically targeting mobile phones and tablets. I’ve just tested this on iPad 1, iPhone 4, BlackBerry PlayBook, Samsung Galaxy Tab, and HTC Aria. It works fine on all of them except the Aria (slow loading for some reason). … Read the rest here
CSS Mask-Image & Text : Here’s something I wasn’t aware of: Add a texture to HTML text using the CSS property mask-image and a transparent PNG. Currently works only in WebKit but degrades nicely for other browsers. Thanks, Trent. … Read the rest here
Responsive Web Design or Separate Mobile Site? Eh. It Depends. : Josh Clark, author of Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps , summarizes and opines on many of the debates circulating the community right now regarding responsive design and mobile-optimized content. It’s a good read. … Read the rest here
Hiring: Senior Software Developer at charity: water : Regular readers of this site are familiar with my partiality to charity: water . They’re seeking someone with experience developing with an MVC framework (CakePHP is a plus), database design and implementation (RDBMS or NoSQL) and working in test-driven development. Experience with PHP and Java is necessary, as well as HTML/CSS and JavaScript. It’s a tall order for an organization accustomed to crushing tall orders, i.e. helping nearly a billion people get access to clean drinking water. … Read the rest here
Responsive Web Design by Ethan Marcotte : I have an advance copy in hand, and I can’t wait for this to be released to the general public on June 7. Ten bucks says it outsells the first A Book Apart title, HTML5 for Web Designers , which I’m fairly certain did extremely well. … Read the rest here
Public Gothic : Really liking this typeface, and really loving how they presented it using vintage metal oil cans. /via Mark Wyner … Read the rest here
Adaptive Web Design by Aaron Gustafson : Practical ways that you can apply progressive enhancement principles using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Aaron is a fantastic writer and speaker (and just a pleasure to be with in person, I might add). Needless to say, I’ve purchased a copy. … Read the rest here
The HTML5 Switch : Summary: There’s really no reason to postpone switching all your sites — big or small, existing or new — to the HTML5 doctype at a minimum . I support this argument and began doing this months ago. Read the full article for reasoning. … Read the rest here
Webfont Services Chart : A nice round-up of the current options for webfont hosts. I’d like to see Part 3: Type vendors that don’t host your fonts but sell fonts approved for webfont embedding, e.g. MyFonts . /via swissmiss … Read the rest here
Over or Under? The Science of Toilet Paper Orientation : Solved. … Read the rest here
Determining a unit of measurement to size our text can be a topic of heated debate, even in this day and age. Unfortunately, there are still various pros and cons that make the various techniques less desirable. It’s just a matter of which less-desirable is most desirable. There are two main techniques that are extolled: Size with px Size with em Let’s review these two approaches before I reveal the magical third. Sizing with px In the early days of the web, we used pixels to size our text. … Read the rest here