My “A Ha!” Moment with CSS
You would be surprised to know how many emails and private messages on the various discussion boards I visit asking me questions like “How did you learn web design?” and “How can I create a design like yours?”. So many are interested to know how to create clean and attractive designs. I am, too! You don’t have to be a graphic artist, in my opinion, to develop a nice-looking website.
On the right, you’ll see a short list (which will grow in time) of websites that I like to use for design inspiration. When I look through those sites, I’m focusing on three different aspects that help me in planning my own website design.
- Object Placement. Does the page feel even or lopsided in any way? That’s my un-technical way of saying that I want to see websites where the blocks of content are positioned throughout the page in a way that makes sense to my eyes.
- Color Usage. Do the colors on the page evoke feelings related to the website’s subject? Do they flow naturally together or do they feel thrown together?
- Typography. Some really pleasing effects can be achieved by carefully mixing fonts, sizes, and styles for the text itself.
To fully achieve these 3 things, it is vital that a web designer employ the latest in CSS standards to style each website. Having a strong grasp on what CSS is and the power behind what it does is what enables me to create the designs you see in my portfolio.
CSS is not always easy to understand, though. But it’s sooo worth learning. So, when people ask me how I do it, one of the first things I do is recommend that they check out the book called The CSS Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks, & Hacks by Rachel Andrew. This is the book that gave me my “A Ha!” moment with CSS. I’d been reading and learning on different message boards and I understood some of it, but it wasn’t until I read this book that I began to really grasp the concepts to which I was being exposed.
You do have to be careful about books — sometimes the information in them can become obsolete or inaccurate as web browsers and web standards change over time. Also, you do have to be careful about the “hacks” recommended in this book. Hacks are never a good tool to use in designing a website because when browsers change, the hacks may not work anymore and your site will be broken. So, it’s always better to use conditional comments.
Besides those two things, I wholeheartedly recommend reading this book if you’re new to CSS and want to learn how to design websites properly from the very beginning.
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