Collecting amazing and interesting things on the web.
February 28, 2014
In doing research to update our course on Emerging Patterns in Web Design, we looked more closely at what’s happening with search boxes. Many designs are swapping the traditional button labeled “Search” with a magnifying-glass icon without any label. Some even drop the text field entirely, leaving only the icon. Which version is most usable today?
February 27, 2014
culture / evangelicalism / politics / theology / tony jones
So, the next time someone accuses you of not being evangelical, don’t get your undies in a bunch. Just realize that they’re using the word in a completely different way than you are.
February 27, 2014
Fish is a free terminal replacement for *nix based operating systems, and it is lovely. I’m fairly comfortable with most terminal commands these days, but having an autocomplete based on what I’ve done in the past is just nice.
February 27, 2014
a list apart / content management systems / content strategy / design / xml
Those kinds of decisions aren’t universal: they’re tailored to the peculiarities of a specific project’s content. Disabling all but the most basic HTML tags and adding one-click buttons for a site’s custom elements can turn a “stock” WYSIWYG editor into a structure-friendly tool. It’s also the best way to avoid the click-buttons-till-it-looks-right markup mess.
February 27, 2014
design / sass / typography
Good typography is the key to a successful web interface. It shapes the aesthetics and gives life to it’s content. This post is a overview of the typographic base… written in Sass and using Compass for it’s superb vertical rhythm mixins.
February 27, 2014
If we truly want gender equality, we need to challenge the assumption that more is always better, and the assumption that men don’t suffer as much as women when they’re exhausted and have no time for family or fun. And we need to challenge those assumptions wherever we find them, both in the workplace and in the family. Whether it’s one more meeting, one more memo, one more conference, one more play date, one more soccer game or one more flute lesson for the kids, sometimes we need to say, “Enough!”
February 25, 2014
We’ve made it from h6 to h1 making only modest adjustments to the type, all the while sticking with either the regular, italic, or bold versions of Chaparral. I feel like we’ve only barely scratched the surface of what’s possible here. Other modest ways to differentiate might be to use color, or you could even (gasp) employ a line.
February 25, 2014
a list apart / animation / design / user experience
When adding UI animations to your own work, prototyping and iteration are your secret weapons. Practice makes perfect, of course, but more importantly it really is impossible to know whether an animation fits in context without trying it out. The faster the prototyping method, the better. Knock out a quick and dirty example using whatever you’re most comfortable with—CSS, After Effects, Edge Animate, or another tool. Production-ready code, or even any code at all, isn’t important here.
February 25, 2014
agile / design / mark boulton / prototyping / user experience
One of my favorite things, especially since I’ve been involved in trying to help structure an internal agency, is finding out how other web companies I respect do their work. Here is a view from Mark Boulton Design:
I’ve had a few people ask me recently about how we work at Mark Boulton Design. And, the truth be told, it slightly differs from project to project, from client to client. But the main point is that we work in an iterative way with prototypes at the heart of our work every step of the way.
February 24, 2014
adaptive path / design / user experience
Adaptive Path talked with Lesley Motta, Executive VP of Product and Member Experience at Zipcar, about how “she’s evolved the team and the organization to passionately pursue great customer experiences, at scale” and in a complex service.