Musings on the state of web design from Tyler Dawson.
Imageless CSS3 Warp Shadows
Posted July 6th, 2010 by Tyler Dawson in Web Design
I do not believe the future of CSS is to replace all traces of images from websites. That being said, here’s a CSS3 technique that takes us a step closer to replacing all traces of images from websites. Using this technique designers can achieve a variety of drop shadows to add depth and nuance to a web design. This technique should work on all browsers that support box-shadows and rounded corners. Other browsers won’t show the shadow.
Continue Reading »What to do With Unused Designs?
Posted June 8th, 2010 by Tyler Dawson in Web Design
The other day I was browsing through some folders from past designs and realized how many unused designs I had. Many of these were half-baked concepts, but some of them were nearly full websites. I imagine most freelance web designers have unused designs. Maybe a client backed out on you. Perhaps there was nothing wrong with the design itself, but it just wasn’t right for the situation. So what should be done with these designs?
Content is King, Design is Queen
Posted June 4th, 2010 by Tyler Dawson in Web Design
The phrase “content is king” has just surpassed “IE6 is the devil” to become the preferred mantra of web designers. It’s easier than ever to add hideous gradients, crazy text effects, and obscenely-rounded-rectangles to your website. Those fearing a return to web 2.0 styles should at least be grateful there isn’t a “glossiness” or “beta” property (yet).
Design remains an essential part for any website, which is why I suggest the following amendment to everyone’s favorite phrase: content is King, design is Queen. Now lets take the metaphor to absolutely ridiculously lengths.
Continue Reading »Random thoughts on my redesign, web design portfolios, and blogging
Posted June 2nd, 2010 by Tyler Dawson in Web Design
I recently redesigned my portfolio website and added this blog. In this first post, I’ll walk through a few whys and whats of my changes. I discuss my experience of using a single-page vs. a multi-page web design portfolio. I’ll add more posts to my blog often – a nice and ambiguous term – with posts of marginal usefulness. (If you read it in Internet Explorer 6 they’ll be double-marginally useful!)
Web Design & Content © Tyler Dawson 2010