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24 ways to impress your friends

2010

In April, the iPad; in May, Ethan Marcotte’s “Responsive Web Design” was published by A List Apart, and A Book Apart published HTML5 for Web Designers by Jeremy Keith; and then in June, the iPhone 4’s Retina screen changed the web development landscape. 24 ways sprinkled its Christmas pudding with CSS3, including animations and transforms, a little light content strategy, and some thoughts about the web designer of tomorrow.

  1. Calculating Color Contrast

    Brian Suda

    Brian Suda ponders some techniques for maintaining correct color contrast whilst still offering your users the ability to customise their own color scheme. So put your slippers on, kick back with a sherry and let the algorithms do the work.

  2. Circles of Confusion

    Andy Clarke

    Andrew Clarke whittles his early photographic experience into an innovative approach to deciding what matters most in a user’s experience of a visual design – capture and order what needs to remain consistent, and share the process (and the port and stilton) with clients.

  3. A Contentmas Epiphany

    Relly Annett-Baker

    Relly Annett-Baker extends this year’s daily December dose of web goodness to encompass the Twelve Days of Christmas, all leading towards an epiphany of delight in your content. Whip your content into shape for the New Year! And watch out for a strategically placed tea tray…

  4. Put Yourself in a Corner

    Meagan Fisher

    Meagan Fisher mines her dissipated youth for ways of coping with procrastination and distractions, and gives us some advice for dealing with those times when concentrating on the task at hand is difficult. Just in time for your new year resolutions, perhaps?

  5. Sketching to Communicate

    Paul Annett

    Paul Annett illustrates the benefits of sketching to convey and record ideas for wireframes and other project objectives, with some useful techniques to raise your scribble from doodle to diagram. The reverse side of all that wrapping paper should become tempting…

  6. The Articulate Web Designer of Tomorrow

    Simon Collison

    Simon Collison transmutes established design vocabularies and principles into new patterns and methods for modern web design. By immersing ourselves in the language and uses of visual design, we can speak and think more eloquently about what we do. Even after a schooner of sherry.

  7. Good Ideas Grow on Paper

    The Standardistas

    The Standardistas (Christopher Murphy and Nicklas Persson) extol the virtues of getting away from the computer and (dare we say it?) abandoning the default use of Google and Wikipedia as conduits of inspiration, in favour of simple tools and lateral thinking to grease the runners of your creative sled.

  8. The Great Unveiling

    Cennydd Bowles

    Cennydd Bowles reveals his thoughts on the important moment when we present designs to others. With thoughtful decisions and a considered approach, showing and explaining your designs can be a gift to your clients that keeps on giving.

  9. Documentation-Driven Design for APIs

    Frances Berriman

    Frances Berriman puts the sled firmly behind the reindeer with her approach to documenting feature-rich APIs. Creating good documentation needn’t be a chore and it reaps benefits – you wouldn’t expect presents at Christmas without writing your list to Santa first, would you?

  10. Extreme Design

    Hannah Donovan

    Hannah Donovan recounts her recent retreat (with twelve other web geeks) to /dev/fort “to think up, build and finish something – without readily available internet access”. Usually there’s only one kind of cold turkey suitable around Christmas, but it paid dividends for the project’s outcome.

  11. Golden Spirals

    Drew Neil

    Drew Neil spins himself like a Christmas top to bring us HTML and CSS spirals, with a golden proportioned twist. Throw in some RGBA transparency and you’ll soon be throwing shapes at the office party.

  12. Finding Your Way with Static Maps

    Drew McLellan

    Drew McLellan opens our 2010 season by revisiting the way we implement maps to cater for all types of visitors. Should we be building all-or-nothing solutions when it comes to mapping, or can progressive enhancement play its part here, too?