wg

• no comments made
• add comment
• Reported by Russ

A very clear and well illustrated explanation of margin collapse by Minz Meyer.

• 11 comments made
• view comments
• Reported by Nick

Ok, so by now everyone is familiar with the survey in question, right? Right... ok. One issue I am seeing here is that the sample data pool is inconsistent and thus the results seem to be inconclusive based on that.

view rest of article

• 5 comments made
• view comments
• Reported by Nate

This is what happens when code-think is applied to design problems: web design survey. It's an interesting concept - but I don't think the results have much value. Back during the w3mix contest, I used a similarly code-think based method for the judges voting page. The difference though is that I was collecting numerical data based on already formed subjective thoughts of the judges - whereas this survey contains objective data about web pages and assumes that conclusions about design can be gleaned from it. I would guess that many folks who read this site are code-thinkers, please feel free to disagree with me in the comments.

UPDATE Well lookie here! Our first double post at webgraphics. I think both Tony's perspective and mine can co-exist here - why not.

• 2 comments made
• view comments
• Reported by Tony

François Briatte has developed a very comprehensive and informative survey about how much web design is based on common practices. His original thought was to "quantify redundancy in web design techniques, layouts, and code".

I find this survey very interesting. I'm still digging through it, but I really like the comparisons drawn. Most excellent work François.

• 3 comments made
• view comments
• Reported by Nate

GD Graphics Library supports the GIF format again now that the LWZ patent is expired. (via)

• no comments made
• add comment
• Reported by Nate

Wired News: Changing the Face of Web Surfing (via)

• 1 comment made
• view comment
• Reported by Tony

Jogin.com has an interesting post up about document structure, and the lack of consensus about Hn tags to denote structure.

The document outlines he's posted, based upon the heading tags within the document, are quite interesting.

• 9 comments made
• view comments
• Reported by Nate

Christopher Simmons of AIGA San Francisco shares thoughts about design as a profession in comparison with other professions over at Speak Up - That Sound You Hear Sucking. Interesting points here, all sounding quite logical. It does seem like a hard sell though: the character aspects that inspire lots of folks to design full time seem to be in direct conflict with the suggested methods of improvement for the industry. Also, builders, lawyers, politicians and teachers all have a library of objective qualifications at various stages of their day to day work - while designers mostly swim a foggy path of subjectivity, taste, and whim. Of course that still sounds like an excuse.

• no comments made
• add comment
• Reported by Nate

Dunstan pulls together a great redesign, with superb attention to detail. Adding features and changes while actually making the interface simpler. Read notes about it on the Version 2 post.

• 2 comments made
• view comments
• Reported by Nate

Develop websites? Have an interest in keeping them valid? Use an RSS aggregator? If you meet these three criteria, you'll probably want to check out Ben Hammersley's XHTML Validator to RSS.

The w3c's XHTML validation service is tremendously useful, but it's a pain to be continually checking it for breakages, and then working through the errors when they occur. Their user interface leaves a bit to be desired as well.

Personally, I like nice to-do lists and automatic checking of my pages. So to combine the two, I've made a widget to create a XHTML Validation Results RSS feed from any page.

To use it, just append your URL to http://www.benhammersley.com/tools/validate.cgi?url= and subscribe to that in your nearest RSS reader.

You can also grab the Perl source code from his site. This really seems like one of those things that changes the landscape of our profession. What is the biggest hinderance towards more sites on the web validating? After ignorance, I'd say the number 2 reason is "ease of validation". This tool makes the number 2 reason quite a bit less of an issue.

• no comments made
• add comment
• Reported by Nate

Noted at Macromedia product manager Mike Chambers blog, here's a page listing all the new Macromedia Product RSS Feeds.

Each time Macromedia releases a TechNote, security bulletin, or information about a product update, the Macromedia Product RSS Feeds are updated accordingly. By using your favorite aggregator to watch for important Macromedia product news, you no longer have to worry about remembering to check the Macromedia support centers yourself. The news comes to you, instead!

I've mirrored the links here too for those looking to add them to their aggregator of choice right away.

view rest of article

• 2 comments made
• view comments
• Reported by Andreas

As I recently moved to Tokyo, I became the happy owner of a Sony Ericsson A5404S mobile phone, sporting an Openwave browser (6.2.0.5) and a QVGA color screen. After three months of surfing the web with a mobile browser, time for some thoughts and pointers to caveats...

view rest of article

• no comments made
• add comment
• Reported by Nate

The brand spanking first issue of Design In-Flight (DIF) is here. This quarterly publication is cram packed with articles useful to the designer and web developer. It can be purchased for $3 per issue or $10 for a four issue subscription. I'm proud to note that I played a small role in this first issue, authoring an article entitled "DIY Photography on the cheap", which is all about setting up a low budget photo studio, and understanding the key photography concepts in order to use it. It's written from the perspective of a non-photo-pro (me), with invaluable aid from my friend, and extensive photo blogger Reid Scott AKA Photodude. I've posted a little page that will serve as a repository of the original full interview with Reid, plus any corrections/updates to the article. The magazine as a whole is brilliant, a well orchestrated, co-ordinated, and designed effort by the talented Andy Arikawa, pick up a copy, it's well worth it!