May 12, 2004
Standards compliant design 101
I have played around with CSS, but so far, even though i built entire sites with CSS layouts i haven't learned the nuts and bolts of it and i didn't really bother learning even the fundamental rules.
Today, after reading A Roadmap to Standards, i feel so much more motivated to stop hacking my way through and actually learn to do it right, standards compliant and responsibly. Just in time for the beginning of a new project i took on (more about that later)...
Also, through the comments to the above article, i found agreat CSS layout tool: layoutomatic I wish i knew about it before i tackled my first three column layout built from scratch using CSS (not this blog layout, another site).
March 04, 2004
Another color scheme picker - the best so far
Being a color junkie, I have been posting color scheme tools ever since i began this blog, but today i found the coolest one ever: Color scheme. You pick one color and it gives you several pallettes: contrasty, analogic and monochromatic.
February 27, 2004
Design and Weblogs
I am a design junkie as well as a weblog junkie, so i especially enjoyed reading and seeing the list of Well-Designed Weblogs. If you're more of a text junkie, take a look at Well-Written Weblogs.
15 Rules for a Better World
Should be required reading for all designers, architects, web designers, typographers, and anyone who creates something in this world that will be consumed visually: 15 Rules for Rebuilding the World by Christopher Alexander. His rules are so simple, seemingly self-evident, so parallel to what art history has taught mankind and yet, if you look at modern architecture, certain magazine layouts, billboard designs (to name just a few examples) they are so deviant from these simple basic guidelines. If more designers incorporate these rules into their thinking, the world will be a better place, i think.
(By the way, he just published these rules in a 2150 pages long book series. See
May 20, 2003
am i a good web designer?
Wow. There's a very cool site, where amateur web designers can post their URLs and have their site critiqued by the community. When i launched my business site about 2 years ago, i listed it to get some unbiased feedback on my design that i developed and coded all by myself. I got a couple of good critiques, and then forgot about the site.
A few weeks ago there was a new critique on the site, which made me go back and reexplore the community. Just for fun, i listed this blog as well and got very good critiques on it too. I am very proud! And most of them highlight the good usability of both sites, which is what i really care about most, design comes second.
And today i realized that my sites are listed in the top 10s of sitecritique.net: my other site is 5th in overall rankings, and 1st (!) in navigation and this blog is 3rd in load time.
PS / edited to add: I am not a pro web desinger and i'm not trying to pose as one. I just like designing sites for myself and learnt it all by myself. Although I did design and code a website for a company once for $$$. Just wanted to set thi straight after rereading the entry.
February 27, 2003
Illustrators from Hungary and Sweden
I just found the online gallery of my favourite Hungarian illustrator, Edua Szucs. She has charming line drawings, take a look at them (the site is in Hungarian - the links to the illustrations are in the three boxes at the bottom of the page)!
I love looking at illustrators' portfolios, because they are always brimming with colors, creativity, and interesting visual interpretations. Today's new find: swedish illustrators' gallery.
Speaking of interesting visual interpretations, i found an awesome Vasarely art book in the second hand bookstore today, but didn't have money with me, so i won't be able to dive into it until tomorrow (i reserved it). Oh, the agony!
February 21, 2003
New layout (not yet)
I finally sat down to work on the new layout for the blog, and i went back to the one i used while i was at Blogger, but i use new colors (spring!). For a sneak preview click here. (UPDATE: It's now up on this blog!) (And let me know how you like it, and first of all, whether the color sheme keeps things readable!) I have to work on the archive templates and then it will be done!
I spent quite a few hours trying to make a 3-column layout is CSS myself, but in the end i gave up and again hacked one that i used before to achieve the desired result. But it's still kind of cool to see it and know that I worked on it, and it's beautiful (i think!).
February 06, 2003
I decided it was time
I decided it was time for actually getting my own hands into CSS instead of cheating by using templates done by generous designers who let me use their work (see bottom of page for link to the site i got this layout from). If you're ever in doubt about whether CSS is the way to go for web design, take a look at Eric Meyer's Edge experiments in CSS, and you'll have no doubts any more. It's just amazing how smooth and beautiful pages CSS can produce (as opposed to using tables for layout).
February 04, 2003
Two funky design links today:
Two funky design links today: Pixeldecor (very funky retro) and IconFactory
January 19, 2003
Lots of good stuff at
Lots of good stuff at Feng Shui for web designers:
"Life and movement can be used to fill in stagnant areas or break up long, straight lines. In interior design terms this can mean putting plants in the corners of rooms, or fish tanks against boring walls. On the web, this might mean the addition of some pleasant, natural-looking graphics. It does not mean that you must add some really annoying animated GIFs that repeat their sequence forever. Take it from me, that is bad ch'i."
January 16, 2003
Heavenly site if you're into
Heavenly site if you're into color and color issues: C o l o r . M a t t e r s.
January 03, 2003
Yet another incredible color scheme
Yet another incredible color scheme picker tool: Web Color Theory
December 18, 2002
More reading material for when
More reading material for when i have more time - that is after 6pm tomorrow when i finish my two finals of the year! Wow Web Designs
December 05, 2002
Yikes, school is busy as
Yikes, school is busy as hell and my brain hurts. I hope i pass this stupid controlling class or i am in big trouble. Results on Tuesday.
Cool links for logo design critiques:
spiral logos
swoosh no more
swooshtika
and logo inspiration:
logoed
Interesting looking blogs and sites to check out when i have more time: textbased, veer.com, symbols.com
October 08, 2002
I have seen quite a
I have seen quite a few books and websites about web site color palettes, and creating color harmony, but nothing as cool as
ColorMatch 5K, where you can find 6 matching colors for your site in seconds. Incredibly cool!
