Design+
Photo+
Create

Making notes in HTML and CSS

Code detail

Building web pages can be confusing. Working with other people’s code can be doubly so. A good habit to get into is to add notes to your work. This could be to break your CSS into logical groups (Header, Image, Copy , Footer) or perhaps to explain exactly what that complicated-looking piece of Javascript actually does.

Continue reading…

Removing the grey outline
that Firefox adds to Flash content

Firefox

I like Mozilla Firefox very much, but release 3.6 has started adding an outline to Flash content when it is clicked on. This is quite unsightly if you use Flash for contact forms, navigation, or even your whole site.

As a sidenote, I use swfobject for embedding Flash files, which keeps everything nice and valid.

The Fix

Simply add this to your CSS file

object {
outline:none
}

The CSS still validates with this rule and it solves the issue. I’d love to hear if there is a better way however.

Now if only there were a way to get rid of Opera’s double-click-on Flash content issue…

Circuit board study

Circuit board

I’ve recently discovered a fondness for the humble circuit board. Yes, that’s possibly one of the stranger statements you’ll read this year. But there’s something very interesting about these perfect lines connecting elements together in a uniform, functional manner.

I wanted to explore this a little further with my camera, so it was off to eBay to purchase a job lot of old boards…

Continue reading…

Elements of Design: Space

Lemons. Expensive.

Easily one of the most misunderstood aspects of layout design is white space (also known as negative space). The term refers to the parts of a composition left unmarked by text and graphics – including margins, gutters and space between lines of type. When used effectively, space can aid the hierarchy of information, push out elements, and simply give the eyes a break. White space needn’t actually be white – it can be any colour – as long as we subconsciously see it as the background.

Continue reading…