six03 » CSS

CSS3 For Web Designers

Todd — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 06:03:02 +0000

Yet another book read, this time, the 2nd in a series of books from A Book Apart called CSS3 For Web Designers, by Dan Cederholm. This book, is great. Dan explains everything that seems to be a little confusing or daunting, and simplifies it and makes it understandable. Case in point, CSS3 multiple backgrounds (for myself anyhow). 120 pages of knowledge from one of the experts. Dan’s simple approach to “web craftsmanship” is refreshing. It’s not one of those 700-page technical manuals or like reading the w3.org specs. It’s broken down, easily understood and simply explained.

If you don’t have this book and want a great read, buy it. If you don’t have it and are learning CSS3, purchase it. If you have it and love it, share your thoughts on the book, and tell a friend to buy it. Top notch effort by a true web craftsman, Dan Cederholm. One of my favorites, whom I have followed for a long time now since I set eyes on Simplebits.

New Project – Caypen Magazine

Todd — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:08:48 +0000

Just released is a joint venture by six03 Studios and Web 7 Media for Caypen Magazine. Featuring CSS3 tomfoolery, handcrafted HTML and a lot of backend oil, Caypen runs off the WordPress publishing platform and features lots of nifty plugins for MailChimp newsletter signups, ad sponsors, social networking with the magazine, and much more.

Head on over and check it out or go to the “Portfolio” section of this site to read more.

Handcrafted CSS

Todd — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 04:55:09 +0000

Finally getting around to my review of Handcrafted CSS by Dan Cederholm (@simplebits).

This isn’t the book for the hardcore coder, it’s not the book for the elitist programmer. This IS the book for the developer that wants to pick apart at things and take themselves through a refresher course in some CSS and HTML “lessons.”

The book covers a sample site that Dan made, called “Tugboat.” Taking you, the reader, through the series of steps he took to get the CSS and HTML looking so sharp. Using some methods and explaining them extremely well in the time that he had to do it in, Dan takes you through the steps it took to achieve such CSS3 prestidigitation as rounded corner and transitions, among others.

Guest author, Ethan Marcotte (@beep) takes you through a little bit of responsive web design, fluid grids and fluid images.

The companion video is also very helpful, informative and entertaining, as we get to see Dan play the ukulele at the end.

Overall, the book was a fantastic refresher into new ways of bulletproof web design from one of the masters in the industry, along with a master of fluid grids, images and typography as a guest author. If you’re a seasoned veteran of programming and are looking for a hardcore programming book, this is not your cup of tea.

If you’re always looking to keep up-to-date and get back to basics once in a while, this book is for you, like it was for me.