Automated Front-end Development: A Critique
A compelling 120-word critique regarding automated front-end development, as provided by a class attribute.
Categories
Web
Warp and Weft
In thinking about the fabric of the web, I unpick a few threads and tie myself in knots.
Redesign Diary: Conundrum
Who is this website for?
Crisis
A two-week stay in Berlin not only gave me time to explore the city, but also space to question the direction of my career and address a growing sense of disillusionment with my profession.
Alternatives to Twitter
As people look to replace Twitter as their social network of choice, Mastadon and Micro.blog have emerged as early contenders.
A Peek Behind the Curtain
GDPR can’t come soon enough.
Getting to Grips with JavaScript
My relationship with JavaScript? It’s complicated.
Time for a Redesign
It’s that time again.
Moving Slowly and Fixing Things
Three aspects of my personality have proven pertinent.
Hostage Situation
Why do some designers choose to work for ‘evil’ corporations — and what happens to them when they get there?
Fixing my Feeds
Fiddling around with RSS.
Microblogging
Twitter is a place I visit to get annoyed. I need an alternative. That alternative could be my very own website.
Improving the Accessibility of 24 ways
Creating something new will always attract attention, but there’s an under celebrated nobility in improving what already exists.
Using Your Blog to Attract New Clients
Blogging is a great way to showcase your expertise and raise your profile. But can you achieve this without drawing on manipulative methods of generating traffic?
Questioning Container Queries
Container queries are always a popular topic when discussing the future of responsive design. But do we actually need them anymore?
Designing Systems, Part 3: Components and Composition
The final part of my three-part essay based on the talk I gave at Smashing Conference. I look at how we might build components and consider their wider composition.
Designing Systems, Part 2: Layers of Longevity
In this second part of my three-part essay based on the talk I gave at Smashing Conference, I propose a model for thinking about design systems.
Beyond the Style Guide
I run my finger along the seam between interface patterns and design systems, exploring how a visual design language can underpin and inform a web style guide, with judicious use of CSS preprocessing. Like a good Christmas jumper, sometimes you need to get creative with the rules.
CSS Flexbox Is Entirely Logical (Almost)
Because it uses logical values, Flexbox layouts will automatically align according to a document’s text-direction. Well, almost.
Responsive Answers Revisited
Justin Avery, who curates Responsive Design Weekly, asked me to revisit the four questions I answered as part of an interview series in 2013. Here are my answers.
Thinking Responsively: A Framework for Future Learning
Three years after the Web Aesthetic, comes my second article for A List Apart. Intended to inform a broader discussion about the principles that underline our work, I thought I would share some background as to how this article came about.
The Slow Web
Just as blogging began to democratise publishing, social media arrived to undermine it.
Thinking Responsively: A Framework for Future Learning
Responsive web design changed everything about how we think and work on the web. Five years on, we’re still exploring the best ways to approach our practice. If we want a web that is truly universal, we must consider our users, our medium, and our teams in new, adaptable ways. Looking at where we’ve come from and where we’re going, I propose a philosophical framework for our work on the responsive web.
Shipped!
In what has become a familiar pattern, having decided to embark on a redesign last February, I then spent the following 18 months iterating and iterating. Now, after many missed deadlines, I have finally launched my new site.
At IndieWebCamp, Playing With Webmentions
I’m attending my second IndieWebCamp this weekend, with the sole aim of implementing webmentions. This has meant prematurely launching my new Jekyll-based website. That this has been in development since last February, many would say this moment is long overdue.
Better CSS with Sass by Cole Henley
fivesimplesteps.com
UpFront Conference
Earlier this month I attended UpFront Conference, an event organised by Dan Donald and other members of Manchester’s digital community.
HTTPS + Compression Considered Harmful?
I recently learnt about a security exploit that can occur when pages served over HTTPS use HTTP compression. Secure or fast, pick one?
The Billionaire’s Typewriter
practicaltypography.com
Jake Archibald: Building SVGO’s Missing GUI
SVGOMG is a wonderful example of how to build a web app in a responsible and accessible way. I asked its creator, Jake Archibald, a few questions about how he designed and developed this native-feeling SVG optimisation app.
(Even More) Responsive Answers
Answers to questions about responsive design put to me by readers of net Magazine.
Naming Things
I perch my partridge in the CSS pear tree to discuss naming methodologies, ontologies and semantics. What’s in a name? That which we call a cherub by any other name would smell as sweet.
The Pursuit of Laziness: Thoughts from Responsive Day Out
Last Friday I attended Responsive Day Out 2. While the format was the same as last year, the tenor was a little different. Gone were the theoretical presentations, instead speakers focused on the work; getting into the nitty-gritty.
How Valuable Are CSS and HTML Skills Now Browsers Have Matured?
For this month’s net magazine, Martin Cooper asked me to provide some thoughts on this question prompted by a recent exchange between Jeff Croft and Jeffrey Zeldman.
net Awards 2014 Interview
In this interview for Creative Bloq, I talk about web native design and how Saul Bass inspires my work.
Landmark Olympic Websites, Where Art Thou?
Whereas the world’s foremost architects, graphic artists, typographers, iconographers and illustrators are asked to create their best work to celebrate each Olympic Games, still we wait for the Olympic movement to give equal consideration to the design of its websites.
net Awards 2014
The net Awards return for their fifteenth year, and I’m more than a little surprised to be nominated for Designer of the Year.
Classic Web Articles
Vasilis van Gemert asked me to curate a list of classic articles for the Daily Nerd, but what constitutes a classic?
Redesigning 24 ways
The tail end of this year has been rather hectic. If moving house and changing jobs weren’t enough to be getting on with, I was also busy redesigning 24 ways.
Works Well With Others
A brief thought about collaboration.
What I Want from a Web Font
Bradshaw’s Guide brings George Bradshaw’s 1866 descriptive railway handbook to the web. Today I’ll cover some of the typographic decisions I made, and how they lead me to believe that we still lack the necessary tools for web typography.
Visual Design Explorations
Since Mikey joined us in February, the number of designers working at Clearleft is at an all time high. As the company grows, we want to maintain the same level of knowledge sharing and collaboration that happened more spontaneously with a smaller team.
Trimming Even More Fat
The Christmas break provides the time to tie up loose ends and make much needed progress on personal projects. At least, that was the plan. Once again I find myself distracted by the task of making this website just that little bit faster.
A Field of Ponies
Earlier today, 24 Ways published an article in which I outlined five reasons why I believe two current proposed markup patterns for responsive images are largely redundant. Here I provide some follow-up, and hopefully clarification around the points I raised.
Responsive Images: What We Thought We Needed
I engage with the two main approaches to the matter of responsive images and finds them wanting. Could “Bah, humbug!” be a reasonable response to markup excess?
More Responsive Answers
Justin Avery, who curates the Responsive Design Weekly newsletter, asked me four questions as part of his December Interview Series. Here are my answers.
Exploring the Causeway Coast
After attending Build in Belfast last month, Chris Armstrong gave Ethan Marcotte, Chris Shifflet and myself a tour of the Causeway Coast which, as the name suggests, is home to the famed Giant’s Causeway.
Baseline Grids on the Web
jasonsantamaria.com
Trimming the Fat
Website optimisation can be a cruel game; everything has a number that begs to be reduced, but doing so requires a lot of experimentation, research and testing. And when you’re playing with the last hundred or so kilobytes, there’s little reward for your effort.
The Web Aesthetic
At the beginning of this year I was struck by a realisation, prompted in part by the discussions around responsive images but also the artistic ingenuity of the image optimisation techniques being used by Jeremy. How might the visual aesthetic of the web change if we were to acknowledge its nature and embrace its constraints?
Thoughts on Adobe Edge
Adobe recently announced a new suite a products and services for web developers, called Adobe Edge. .net Magazine asked me to provide some thoughts.
The Web Aesthetic
When every device begs to be connected, it has become easier — almost necessary — to accept the adaptable nature of the web. Responsive web design is an emerging best practice, and our layouts are becoming more flexible. But often, innovation is focused on technical implementations while the visual aesthetic remains ignored. To put it another way, we’re embracing “responsive” but neglecting the second part: “design.” Now is the time to seek out an aesthetic that is truer to the medium.
Usable yet Useless: Why Every Business Needs Product Discovery
alistapart.com
Material Thinking
Earlier this month, Team Clearleft headed up to London for a day of design related exhibitions: Bauhaus: Art as Life at the Barbican and (after a ride across the city on a ‘Boris Bike’) British Design 1948-2012 and Heatherwick Studio: Designing the Extraordinary at the V&A.
See How Bad Your Site Looks
twitter.com
The Slow Web
jackcheng.com
Sweep the Sleaze
ia.net
Highly Optimized Images for the Web in 3 Steps
pasz.nl
Kiwibank: Standing Up for Something New
Banks aren’t the most likeable organisations, but I’m developing a soft spot for Kiwibank, a New Zealand-based bank competing against larger Australian-based rivals. Their latest advertising campaign suggests they’re willing to stand up for something new “and even a bit crazy”, and in the world of banking, a responsive website is just that.
Barebones
barebones.paulrobertlloyd.com
Inspiring Nobody
Rather than showcase British interactive design talent, the biggest cultural event of our generation has been represented online by an uninspired mess that flies the flag for the status quo.
Build a Responsive Website in a Week
Since returning from San Francisco, much of my spare time has been spent writing a tutorial for .net magazine. Published as part of their Responsive Week, this is for developers who want to learn about responsive web design but don’t know where to start.
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Responsive Images
Last week I was invited to Responsive Summit, a face-to-face discussion about Responsive Web Design. We talked about what we’ve learnt so far, the problems we’re continuing to face and things we’d like to change.
Nip/Tuck
Following on from last July’s extensive redesign of this site, the last few weeks have seen me revisit the design and implementation. In light of today’s Responsive Summit, and with a few people asking about the changes, I thought I should provide a little more detail.
Facebook and the Future of the Web
.net Magazine asked a group of experts what they find most delightful and most despicable about the social networking giant Facebook. This was my full response. An excerpt can be found in the March 2012 issue.
Responsive Answers
Back in October, Ethan Marcotte asked me some questions about the design of my site. He was writing a round up of his twenty favourite responsive websites for .net Magazine and wanted quotes from each creator. In the spirit of blogging more I thought I’d share my answers here.
Collaborative Development for a Responsively Designed Web
I unfurl my seraph wings to proclaim peace on Earth and the importance of goodwill between designers and developers. It’s not the office Secret Santa that unites them, but constant contact and shared appreciation of different skills.
New & Improved
Unless you’re viewing this in your RSS reader, you may have noticed a few changes to the site. It’s been well over two years since the last redesign, but I’ve been working on this update on-and-off for the last 12 months. I could probably continue tweaking and refining, but as a wise man once said, “real artists ship”.
Two Years
Two years ago I joined Clearleft. Now with the responsive design movement in full swing, I look back over the last two years to see how much my approach to web design has changed.
Flatten up Those T’s
markdotto.com
Design Principles
I’ve been thinking about redesigning this website for the last six months, but haven’t been able to find a strategy for making these changes happen. To keep this project on course, I’ve defined a set of design principles.
End Hover Abuse Now
cennydd.com
Thoughts on the BBC News Redesign
There is often talk of there being no landmark design on the web, but I suggest it won’t be long before BBC News is considered one of the greatest design icons online today.
Reflecting on Hack The Planet
A follow-up on Hack The Planet, our hack day held in Birmingham last month.
Hack The Planet is Tomorrow!
Just a quick reminder that Hack The Planet takes place tomorrow, starting at 10am.
A New Visual Design Language for BBC Online
I’m a huge supporter of the BBC, yet for many years I was unimpressed with much of it’s online output, where inconsistent design and poor implementation reflected badly upon one of our country’s greatest institutions.
URLs Matter
The humble URL has been on my mind a lot recently.
The Multipack Presents…
Every year the Multipack — a community of web developers based in the Midlands — seems to undergo a renewal, finding confidence to try new things. This year is no different.
Entry Archives, Grouped by Month in Movable Type
I have been using Movable Type for a number of years, yet the template code required to present an archived list of entries, grouped by month has always evaded me.
The World Wide Web: A New Medium for Design
The development of graphic design on the Internet, the problems associated with designing for this medium and some of the solutions.