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Category: Web Development Page 26 of 31

How to Build and Redesign Websites

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On February 29, 2012

In CSS, Design, Web Development

Computer CodingBuilding a website is both an art and a science. There are new techniques and tricks to building web sites being created. You have to choose which techniques to learn and use. Not all techniques will work for every website. Here is a list of 5 articles to help you improve the way you build and redesign websites:

  1. Tom Milway explains How to Build a Modern Website. He suggests using a mobile first design strategy, making your client have content written first and applying responsive design.
  2. In Zen and the Art of Good Web Design, Pamela Wilson writes that minimalist web design doesn’t have to be boring. She provides tips on how to achieve minimalist design with personality.
  3. Web developers and designers are often asked to redesign a web site. The New Redesign Rules of the Web helps you to decide what you should keep and what you can afford to lose.
  4. Developers can make design mistakes in their web designs. Have you made one or more of these 7 design mistakes?

Photographing your own background patterns

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On February 20, 2012

In Photography, Web Development

For certain projects, you may want to use a texture. You have two options: buy one or create your own. When you buy, you take a chance that someone else has used it one of their projects. To ensure that your project is unique and interesting, you can photograph your own textures. Vandelay Design explains How to Photograph Your Own Textures.

After reading this article, I was inspired to take photos to use as textures. I used my Android Phone and Canon PowerShot to take the photos. I used the suggestions by Vandelay Design to experiment with photographing textures. Here are a few results from my experiment:

  1. Oil Parking Lot

    Oil on Pavement

  2. DrivewayCracks

    Driveway Cracks

  3. Salty Driveway

    Salty Driveway

  4. Orange Wall

    Orange Wall

  5. Industrial

    Industrial

HTML 5 Inspiration

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On February 4, 2012

In CSS, Design, Web Development

HTML5 BadgeHTML5 can be fun and challenging when you begin to learn how to use it to create your websites. You have new tags and selectors to learn. The way you build your website changes when you use tags like header, footer and aside. You have to build a few sites before you are comfortable with HTML5. Developers like to learn by doing and by reviewing what others have done. Design Modo wrote an article showing you 20+ Professional Examples of Websites Using HTML5. Use these examples to be inspired and to learn how you can use HTML 5 to build better websites and web apps.

Vintage Design

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On January 31, 2012

In CSS, Design, Web Development

Vintage Design What is vintage design? Vintage Design uses design elements that are “old-fashioned” or vintage. It focuses on design elements that were popular during the 1950s to 1980s or even older. You can create an old-fashioned motif by incorporating specific fonts, colors and graphics from a selected era. By using these specific design elements on your website, you can achieve a look that won’t be considered boring.

While researching Vintage Design for a client, I found the following articles:

  1. Retro and Vintage In Modern Web Design Smashing Magazine defines what retro and vintage design is. They show you the specific design elements that make up the look and provide examples so that you can create websites using Vintage Design.
  2. Vintage Design may use aged or Old-fashioned photos. You can achieve the Old fashioned Photo Effect with modern photos. Change your photos using Photoshop to look like vintage photographs.
  3. Another aspect of Vintage Design is how the backgrounds look. The backgrounds look aged, dark or stained. You can find some Vintage Retro Backgrounds to incorporate your designs.
  4. WebDesignShock has a collection of 175 Vintage and Retro Design Elements. Their collection includes icons, patterns, backgrounds, fonts and more. You can download them in PSD format for including in your websites.
  5. Vintage Design is not complete without fonts that help transport you to the past. WebDesignLedger has collected 30 Fonts Perfect for Vintage and Retro Style Design. Use these fonts to complete the old-fashioned look that you want.

For additional inspiration, check out 50 Retro and Vintage Web Designs to Inspire You.

CSS3 and Multiple Backgrounds

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On January 19, 2012

In CSS, Web Development

Crearegroup created a video that demonstrates Multiple Backgrounds using CSS3. This technique makes it easier to use background images that grow as your text expands. In CSS2, you needed to use multiple divs to create this effect. This video shows you how to use Multiple Background images using only one div. They also explain that this technique is not bullet proof or usable in multiple browsers. Only modern browsers seem to be able to render this technique. If you would like to use this technique, consider what browsers your visitors use before implementing it on your website.

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