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Soul Book

CSS techniques I use all the time - 0 views

www.christianmontoya.com/...-techniques-i-use-all-the-time

blog css tools webdesign typography design fonts text layout web layouts webdev reference code coding

shared by Soul Book on 01 Apr 10 - Cached
  • EM calculations Sizing text is always an important part of making a usable design. I start all my CSS files with the following rules: html { font-size:100.01%; } body { font-size:1em; } The explanation for this comes from "CSS: Getting Into Good Coding Habits:" This odd 100.01% value for the font size compensates for several browser bugs. First, setting a default body font size in percent (instead of em) eliminates an IE/Win problem with growing or shrinking fonts out of proportion if they are later set in ems in other elements. Additionally, some versions of Opera will draw a default font-size of 100% too small compared to other browsers. Safari, on the other hand, has a problem with a font-size of 101%. The current "best" suggestion is to use the 100.01% value for this property.
  • I used the following calculation: 14px/16px = .875, 18px/16px = 1.125. So my default text at 1 em would translate to 16px for most users, and my small text I sized at .875em which I can trust to result in 14px for most users, while my large text I sized at 1.125em which I can trust to result in 18px
  • Safe Fluid-width Columns I work with hybrid fluid layouts all the time, usually with max-width set at anywhere from 900 to 1000px. I usually have floated columns with percentage widths, and browsers will calculate these percentage widths to whole pixel values when rendering the columns.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • A typical problem is the following: when a user has the viewport at a size that makes the outer container 999 pixels wide, if the first column is 60% and the second is 40%, IE 6 will always calculate the two columns as 600 and 400 pixels and as a result, the two will not fit (600+400 = 1 more than 999) and it will drop the second column. This is obviously not intended behavior, and in a world where we still have to use floats for columns (I can't wait for display:table support across all browsers), it's important to work around this problem. I used to give my last column 1 less percent (in this example, it would have 39% instead of 40%, but this would usually result in columns that don't quite fill up the container. Of late I have been giving the last column .4 less percent (in this example, 39.6%), which seems to work perfectly. Browsers will calculate this width and round up, but it will still fit even with an odd container width like 999px and I won't have to worry about dropped columns.
  • Filtering for Old Browsers To be honest, I barely support IE 6 nowadays. If there is something special about my layout that doesn't work in IE 6, I will simply filter it out of the CSS that IE 6 understands
  • Because old browsers like IE 6 don't support the "first child" selector (right caret >), I can do the following to make sure that IE 6 only gets the basic setting and all the new-fangled browsers get the right result: div#container { width:900px; } html>body div#container { width:auto; max-width:900px; } /* This overrides the previous declaration in new browsers only, IE 6 simply ignores it. */
  • Soul Book on 01 Apr 10
     
    Excellent simple collection of CSS tips that are easy to remember and implement. It's an old article, but i think everything is still relevant
Soul Book

The 100% Easy-2-Read Standard - 0 views

informationarchitects.jp/100e2r

blog css tools webdesign typography design fonts text layout web layouts usability

shared by Soul Book on 01 Apr 10 - Cached
  • 1. Standard font size for long texts
  • 2. Active white space
  • The basic rule is: 10һ15 words per line. For liquid layouts, at 100% font size, 50% column width (in relation to window size) is a good benchmark for most screen resolutions.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • 3. Reader friendly line height
  • The default HTML line height is too small. If you increase the line height, the text becomes more readable. 140% leading is a good benchmark.
  • 4. Clear color contrast
Soul Book

The Incredible Em & Elastic Layouts with CSS - 0 views

jontangerine.com/...m-and-elastic-layouts-with-css

blog css tools webdesign typography design fonts text layout web framework layouts em elastic

shared by Soul Book on 01 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Elastic design uses em values for all elements. Ems are a relative size, written like this: 1em, 0.5em, 1.5em etc. Ems can be specified to three decimal places like so: 1.063em. “Relative” means: They are calculated based on the font size of the parent element. E.g. If a <div> has a computed font size of 16px then any element inside that layer —a child— inherits the same font size unless it is changed. If the child font size is changed to 0.75em then the computed size would be 0.75 × 16px = 12px. If the user increases (or decreases) text size in their browser, the whole interface stretches (or shrinks.)
  • All popular browsers have a default font size of 16px. Therefore, at the default browser setting, 1em = 16px.
  • The <body> inherits it unless styled otherwise using CSS. Therefore 1em = 16px, 0.5em = 8px, 10em = 160px and so on. We can now specify any element size we need to using ems!
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • However, (gasp) IE has a problem with ems. Resizing text from medium (default) to large in IE5/6 would lead to a huge increase in font size rather than the gradual one expected. So another selector is needed to get IE to behave: html{ font-size:100%; }
  • Let’s give our <body> some more style, and center everything in the viewport (this will be important later for our content wrapper.) Our initial CSS ends up like this: html{ font-size: 100%; } body{ font-size: 1em; font-family: georgia, serif; text-align: center; color: #444; background: #e6e6e6; padding: 0; margin: 0; }
  • 1 ÷ 16 × 740 = 46.25em (1 ÷ parent font-size × required pixel value = em value)
  • While we're here, we might as well add some typographic goodness by selecting a basic leading and adding some vertical rhythm, with everything expressed in ems.
  • Set a 12px font size with 18px line height and margin for paragraphs
  • Dividing the desired line height (18px) by the element font size (12px) gives us the em value for line height. In this example, the line height is 1 and a half times the font size: 1.5em. Add line height and margin properties to the CSS: p{ font-size: 0.750em; line-height: 1.5em; margin: 1.5em; } Now the browser will say to itself, “Oh, line height and margin is set to 1.5em, so that should be 1.5 times the font size. What’s the font size, again? 12px? OK, cool, make line height and margin 1.5 times that, so 18px.”
  • To retain our vertical rhythm we want to set an 18px line height and margin. Easy: If the font size is 18px then 18px in ems is 1em! Let’s add the properties to the CSS (and make the font weight light:) h1{ font-size: 1.125em; line-height: 1em; margin: 1em; font-weight: 300; }
  • Jon, good article and very useful chartm but your text sizing method has one major drawback. If elements with font-sizes set in em’s are nested, i.e with lists, these elements inherit the font size. Therefore each child element will be 0.75em (or 75%) of the previous one: See an example here. (Would have posted the code put it was coming out really ugly!) I would recommend against using that method and setting the global font size in the body tag i.e. 'font-size:75%' for 12px. Then only setting different font-sizes where necessary.
  • Thanks Will, interesting point, but that is solved with a simple font-size:1em on the first child. Retaining the default ensures that even images are sized correctly in ems. IE (surprise) will compute incorrectly against a parent length equivalent to 12px. My preference born out by some minor but painful computed size errors in complex layouts is not to adjust the body, and only set font size where necessary for specific elements.
  • Soul Book on 01 Apr 10
     
    A nice and simple explanation of using EMs to make elastic layouts
Soul Book

A List Apart: Articles: How to Size Text in CSS - 0 views

www.alistapart.com/...howtosizetextincss

reference fonts text font typography layout tutorial blog css webdesign design web tools html webdev

shared by Soul Book on 31 Mar 10 - Cached
  • Soul Book on 31 Mar 10
     
    "When pixels failed before, we turned to ems. Repeating the logic gives us the following styles: body { font-size:100%; line-height:1.125em; /* 16×1.125=18 */ } .bodytext p { font-size:0.875em; } .sidenote { font-size:0.75em; }"
Soul Book

Color Theory For Designers, Part 2: Understanding Concepts And Terminology - Smashing M... - 0 views

www.smashingmagazine.com/...nding-concepts-and-terminology

color design webdesign theory colors graphic tutorial tutorials learn inspiration

shared by Soul Book on 16 Feb 10 - Cached
  • ChromaChroma refers to the purity of a color. A hue with high chroma has no black, white or gray in it. Adding white, black or gray reduces its chroma. It’s similar to saturation but not quite the same. Chroma can be thought of as the brightness of a color in comparison to white.In design, avoid using hues that have a very similar chroma. Opt instead for hues with chromas that are the same or a few steps away from each other.
  • SaturationSaturation refers to how a hue appears under particular lighting conditions. Think of saturation in terms of weak vs. strong or pale vs. pure hues.In design, colors with similar saturation levels make for more cohesive-looking designs. As with chroma, colors with similar but not identical saturations can have a jarring effect on visitors.
  • using a hue with a high saturation against a background with low saturation can make the former really stand out.
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • ValueValue could also be called “lightness.” It refers to how light or dark a color is. Ligher colors have higher values. For example, orange has a higher value than navy blue or dark purple. Black has the lowest value of any hue, and white the highest.When applying color values to your designs, favor colors with different values, especially ones with high chroma. High contrast values generally result in more aesthetically pleasing designs.
  • This website combines blue hues with two different values. Because the different values have enough contrast, the overall look is visually appealing.
  • Combining colors with similar muted saturation levels creates a soft design, which is emphasized by the watercolor effects.
  • Colors with very high chroma are best used in moderation
  • Cyan has a high chroma and so really stands out against black and white
  • TonesTones are created when gray is added to a hue. Tones are generally duller or softer-looking than pure hues.Tones are sometimes easier to use in designs. Tones with more gray can lend a certain vintage feel to websites. Depending on the hues, they can also add a sophisticated or elegant look.
  • Tones can be intensified by adding gray around them
  • ShadesA shade is created when black is added to a hue, making it darker. The word is often incorrectly used to describe tint or tone, but shade only applies to hues made darker by the addition of black.In design, very dark shades are sometimes used instead of black and can serve as neutrals. Combining shades with tints is best to avoid too dark and heavy a look.
  • TintsA tint is formed when white is added to a hue, lightening it. Very light tints are sometimes called pastels, but any pure hue with white added to it is a tint.Tints are often used to create feminine or lighter designs. Pastel tints are especially used to make designs more feminine. They also work well in vintage designs and are popular on websites targeted at parents of babies and toddlers.
  • While you don’t necessarily have to remember all of these technical terms, you should be familiar with the actual concepts, especially if you want to master part 3 of this series (in which we create our own color schemes). To that end, here’s a cheat sheet to jog your memory:Hue is color (blue, green, red, etc.).Chroma is the purity of a color (a high chroma has no added black, white or gray).Saturation refers to how strong or weak a color is (high saturation being strong).Value refers to how light or dark a color is (light having a high value).Tones are created by adding gray to a color, making it duller than the original.Shades are created by adding black to a color, making it darker than the original.Tints are created by adding white to a color, making it lighter than the original.
Soul Book

Color Theory for Designers, Part 1: The Meaning of Color - 0 views

www.smashingmagazine.com/...rs-part-1-the-meaning-of-color

web design graphic color colour colors tutorial tutorials learn blog

shared by Soul Book on 10 Feb 10 - Cached
  • Soul Book on 10 Feb 10
     
    A great and detailed roundup of different colour uses in web design - most importantly, with lots of examples.
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