HTML5 and The Future of the Web

“Some have embraced it, some have discarded it as too far in the future, and some have abandoned a misused friend in favor of an old flame in preparation. Whatever side of the debate you’re on, you’ve most likely heard all the blogging chatter surrounding the “new hotness” that is HTML5. It’s everywhere, it’s coming, and you want to know everything you can before it’s old news.”

An Unofficial Q&A about the Discontinuation of the XHTML2 WG

“So the W3C finally announced that the XHTML2 WG will be taken off life support at the end of 2009.”

How to Spot Quality within Web Design: Examples & Tips

“Quality is a word that a lot of people like to use when describing their web design services. But what is quality, how do you know if a design is quality or not. Well, I think that there’s quite a few ways to spot quality within web designs. Once you can see just what goes into making a quality web design, you can use the techniques to perfect your own style.”

Is Google Chrome The New IE 6 For Web Designers?

“ust when you thought you were done with IE 6 and its hacks and exceptions, now you’ve got a new browser to consider: Google’s Chrome.

The good news is that Chrome is a lot more compatible with web standards than IE 5 and 6. However, Chrome has its own idiosyncrasies and bugs.”

Colors In Corporate Branding And Design

“Color is a major consideration in any Web design. Whether for an individual, small company, or major corporation, color scheme is one of the most significant factors in the overall look and appearance of a website. In some cases, the designer may have the sole discretion in making color choices, but many times a color scheme has already been established and needs to be followed. In situations where a company already has a strong brand, color usage for the website can either build or take away from this.”

More Details About IE8, Web Standards and Performance

“Several members from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer team took part in a public “Ask The Experts” web chat Thursday morning.

Most of the questions from the 40-or-so attendees were related to specific issues relating to the latest builds of the Internet Explorer 8 web browser, which is currently in public beta. A release candidate for IE8 is right around the corner, with the final version expected in a few months. IE8 will also be the default browser on the Windows 7 desktop when the OS ships.”

“State of the Web” Survey of Professional Web Designers and Developers

“Welcome to this detailed report from our first “State of the Web” survey of professional web designers and developers. It includes details and analysis of all the responses to over 50 questions covering technologies, techniques, philosophies and practices that today’s web professionals employ.”

Fonts and the Web

“The web, and consequently its visual appearance, is dynamic by nature. For one, browsers interpret pages and show them accordingly. In a standards-compliant world every browser would adhere to the standards as set out by the W3C so pages look the same in any browser, but we all know the actual state of affairs. Granted, things have significantly changed over the last couple of years. ‘Bad’ browsers are phasing out (albeit slowly), handing over control to the designers by means of CSS. Which doesn’t mean total control, though. Especially when (enviously) looking at the area of print, there is one facet in particular we would love to be able to borrow: typography in all its glory”

6 Reasons Why Designers Should Code

“Doing development is something for those programming grunts, those code jockeys, those geeks.

Skeptical? Read on and discover 6 reasons why designers should code…”

Jeffrey Zeldman: Understanding Web Design

“Author and Happy Cog founder Jeffrey Zeldman answers the question: what does a web designer need most? Skills and knowledge of software, of course, but empathy—the ability to think about and empathize with your user—is by far the most important. Good useful education is hard to find, and within companies there is often no departmental standardization. Good graphic design is not the same as good user experience design, he explains. In fact, “good web design is invisible”—it feels simple and authentic because it’s about the character of the content, not the character of the designer.”