Project 2 Overview
important due dates
- April 4: CSS Web site / Portfolio rough draft due
- April 18: CSS Web site / Portfolio final draft due; present to class
- March 27 through May 5: Twice weekly CSS Journal entries due no later than noon Friday each week posted to the CSS Journal discussion forum (only one posting due the weeks of March 21 and May 5).
adding to the course css journal
One of the fascinating things about designing with CSS is how readily designers place their new design ideas online -- usually in their blogs -- asking readers to try them out on their own sites. Readers can adjust the design in subtle or drastic ways and then respond to the designer informing the public of how they incorporated the design on their own sites. Its a great way for new design ideas to move quickly through the CSS design community. For our css journal, we'll be entering into this community, posting the design ideas we find to the course CSS Journal discussion forum.
Each journal entry you make should contain at least the following information:
- a summary of the technique
- the URL where you found the CSS tecnique
- the designer/creator of the idea
- who might have sent you to the site where you found the technique
- whether or not you plan on incorporating the technique into your site (not all journal entries need to go into your site)
Please post (at least) 2 journal entries to the course CSS Journal discussion forum per week starting the week of March 27 until May 5. If we all fulfill this assignment, we'll have at least 200 CSS design techniques at our disposal, making it an unique and incredible resource (one that can add to the knowledge of future CWRL students and web designers).
The entries can cover any kind of CSS topic, from the most basic to the most advanced. Whatever you think can be helpful for someone in the class is worthy of being posted. Here are two examples, on a basic technique and one more advanced:
Inknoise's Layout-o-matic creates CSS layouts that are flexible and work in all browsers. Its simple to use and a great way to start a new design.
URL: http://www.inknoise.com/experimental/layoutomatic.php
Found at: Zeldman
Yes, I'll be using the tool to create my next design.
"Faux Columns" by Dan Cederholm of SimpleBits discusses "[a] simple way to make CSS columns appear equal in length, regardless of the content that they contain." This technique requires a good amount of skill in positioning elements on a page and understanding the nuances of the background image.
URL: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/fauxcolumns/
Found at: Zeldman and A List Apart
I'd like to try it, but don't anticipate using it any time in the near future.
So, the question now is: Where do we start? There are several prominant designers listed under the Design heading in the list of links on every page of this site. I suggest starting with them, read what they have (especially in their archives), and then just follow the links that seem interesting to you. You can also go to W3C schools to see some quick how-to's that I find very useful. If you find a particularly useful site, please email it to the instructor and he will add it to the list of links.