ifoh designs - Web Design That Is Neat.

This is yet another thing that has been bothering me for quite some time now, that I just haven’t had the will power to address it. Well, I think it has pushed me over the edge. Why are people using Transitional DOCTYPES for new projects?

Stop and think about the title for a minute, would you please!

T-R-A-N-S-I-T-I-O-N-A-L It does not say “use this DOCTYPE if you are lazy“. No. This clearly states that it should be used for, wait for it, transitioning from legacy content that probably did not have a DOCTYPE to begin with, and now does to help give some order to the confusion. They are also there to say “hey, we have some presentational elements mixed within the markup”.

Taken from w3.org

This is the HTML 4.01 Transitional DTD, which includes
presentation attributes and elements that W3C expects to phase out
as support for style sheets matures. Authors should use the Strict
DTD when possible, but may use the Transitional DTD when support
for presentation attribute and elements is required.

When is this required you may ask? As stated above, when you are dealing with legacy content that is out of your control for the most part, as far as formatting goes. This definition clearly tells you out right to use a Strict DOCTYPE when at all possible. Still not convinced?
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• Posted at 9:49 am in web design |
• 17 Comments »

Just the other day I read an article that the good folks over at 37signals wrote about their lack of Photoshop use for designing sites. I’ll just let them explain this article for you to get up you up to speed:

When designing a UI we usually go right from a quick paper sketch to HTML/CSS. We skip the static Photoshop mockup.
- Taken from http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1061-why-we-skip-photoshop

It was a great article, one though I did not agree with completely, but insightful none the less, definitely worth a read.
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• Posted at 11:55 am in web design |
• 11 Comments »

It is human nature to be part of a group, or to not be left out, so it is only natural to see trends in pretty much everything in society. You see it when you go to the mall, the “goth, emo, ghetto, punk, dirty, scary” kids who without a second glance are usually surrounded by their like. On Halloween, you see a group of kids who are not dressed up, because they heard one of their friends say they weren’t going to dress, then later on another one chimed in the same, and before you know it you are being harassed for candy by some stupid teenage bastard in front of your family for fear of a broken window. So, if we are human and we see this on a day to day basis, it is no wonder that there will be Web trends as well.
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• Posted at 8:09 pm in web design |
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This is a, if not the most important question you can ask yourself while designing, or developing. By asking yourself “What can I do better?”, you are basically stepping back from your own little world, and kind of looking at the project from above.
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• Posted at 11:23 am in web design |
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A lot of you might be slamming your hand to your forehead because this is just another “(x)+ Amazing tools, tips and other awesomeness” post, but I assure your, it is. Not only though is it another one of those posts, but hopefully in this one, there is something for everyone, but not too much of the same crap. Take a gander and be sure to post some of your favorite links so that we can all benefit.

Enjoy!
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• Posted at 2:18 pm in web design |
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Just a short little post I wanted to share. How many of you get excited to see that little sweet green check-mark appear in the bottom right hand corner of your browser when either testing your own site, or viewing another interesting site? I know I do for certain. In fact I wonder just how many times a day I click the icons down there to see what the problem is, or if none just to look at some hopefully clean markup in all it’s glory.

So here’s to you kid!

• Posted at 3:44 pm in web design |
• 2 Comments »

This past March 26th and 27th my boss and I attended “An Event Apart” in Boston. For those of you who are not familiar with what goes on there or what it even is, then I will let them say it best:

Gain a deeper understanding of web standards and emerging best practices. Be inspired by fresh ideas and new directions. Join the greatest minds and hottest talents in web design today.

It was a great experience being fortunate enough to hear some of the greatest minds in the Web Design community speak and present to us all. I wanted to focus however on one particular presentation that was directed by Jason Santa Maria entitled “Designing Your Way Out of a Paper Bag”, because I think that he touched on a lot of key points and helped me become better at what I do so often and I am sure most of you do as well, that being website redesigns.
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• Posted at 12:45 pm in web design |
• 1 Comment »

It might be safe to say at this point in time most designers are aware of what the term semantic markup means. Some of you might even go as far as practicing good descriptive and structurally sound programming habits already, if so give yourself a pat on the back. I hope what you are doing is because you understand the value behind it and not just copying code you saw on your favorite site that is standards compliant.
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• Posted at 11:25 am in web design |
• 3 Comments »