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Stefano’s Linotype: Why Programmers Suck at CSS Design (CSS Guide)

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Re: Stefano’s Linotype: Why Programmers Suck at CSS Design (CSS Guide)

#11

Post by run4yourlives »

orib wrote: post #8

From the article: My suggestion for you is to do the following: start your CSS stylesheet with html { font-size: 62.5%; } NO, NO, AND NO! I set my font size to what it is for a reason. Web designers need to learn to deal with it. If you're manually tweaking font sizes, you're doing it wrong. Please, leave them at the default values; they're that way for a reason. I want a website that doesn't cause eye strain. Make s…

You know, if you use a user style sheet with !important you can keep your precious font sizes just the way you want them.

The rest of us want a webpage that is pleasing to look at.

Re: Stefano’s Linotype: Why Programmers Suck at CSS Design (CSS Guide)

#12

Post by run4yourlives »

cschneid wrote: post #10
orib wrote: post #8

From the article: My suggestion for you is to do the following: start your CSS stylesheet with html { font-size: 62.5%; } NO, NO, AND NO! I set my font size to what it is for a reason. Web designers need to learn to deal with it. If you're manually tweaking font sizes, you're doing it wrong. Please, leave them at the default values; they're that way for a reason. I want a website that doesn't cause eye strain. Make s…

But, since it then allows the developer to use em measurements everywhere, doesn't that allow your override font size to look better on the page?

The only reason he uses em and not px is because IE won't let the user resize the text if the size is specified in pixels.

Every other browser handles font sizes specified in pixels just fine.

Re: Stefano’s Linotype: Why Programmers Suck at CSS Design (CSS Guide)

#13

Post by run4yourlives »

I think the first bit is overly complicated. For example, the first @import statement loads a good chunk of code from a third party site for no good reason, really. A simple * {border:0; padding:0; margin:0;} will suffice for most sites.

The rest of the article is excellent, and the way he handles IE is by far the best way to do things, avoiding corrupting your css with mishmash and hacks.

A great resource.

Re: Stefano’s Linotype: Why Programmers Suck at CSS Design (CSS Guide)

#15

Post by tlrobinson »

"There is a general tendency to believe that programmers can’t style things because they have no style themselves. Yet, all of them will be able to tell you very quickly which one of two designs they like the best, even if they generally can’t verbalize why."

There's a huge difference between being able to tell if something looks good and being able to design something that looks good.

I think for most programmers that difference isn't a technical one. The basic idea behind CSS is pretty trivial compared to even a moderate programming task.

Personally, even if I knew CSS inside and out I doubt I would be a very good designer.

Re: Stefano’s Linotype: Why Programmers Suck at CSS Design (CSS Guide)

#17

Post by tel »

tjpick wrote: post #7
kwamenum86 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with using dummy text? How else can you ensure that as the content expands the page will not break?

It's ok, but I find it too "sunny day" to really be meaningful. You end up thinking your site looks awesome, and then when you get real, quirky, half filled in, random content in there the site looks broken anyway. You're better off to get some real content in there first and then design around that.

In general there are several different textual elements to consider in a design. If you're waiting on someone to type an essay (or 5 full blog entries) before you've even set up your font grids, then you'll be in trouble.

If you're working with specific copy, attention-grabbing copy, then the exact wording of that is on every bit the same level of detail as the rest of the design and it's pretty necessary to have a good rough draft of the wording before you start crafting the appearance.

At the end of the day though, I find myself using Lipsum all the time to very good effect.

Re: Stefano’s Linotype: Why Programmers Suck at CSS Design (CSS Guide)

#19

Post by aristus »

tlrobinson wrote: post #15

"There is a general tendency to believe that programmers can’t style things because they have no style themselves. Yet, all of them will be able to tell you very quickly which one of two designs they like the best, even if they generally can’t verbalize why." There's a huge difference between being able to tell if something looks good and being able to design something that looks good. I think for most programmers th…

Any halfway intelligent human being can teach themselves a very wide variety of trades. Are you saying you are not intelligent? Or just lazy?

If you practice a bit and learn some simple rules of composition, typesetting, and color, you can be a competent designer. Beyond that level you need native talent and drive but there is no excuse to be ignorant about related fields.

Re: Stefano’s Linotype: Why Programmers Suck at CSS Design (CSS Guide)

#20

Post by orib »

run4yourlives wrote: post #11
orib wrote: post #8

From the article: My suggestion for you is to do the following: start your CSS stylesheet with html { font-size: 62.5%; } NO, NO, AND NO! I set my font size to what it is for a reason. Web designers need to learn to deal with it. If you're manually tweaking font sizes, you're doing it wrong. Please, leave them at the default values; they're that way for a reason. I want a website that doesn't cause eye strain. Make s…

You know, if you use a user style sheet with !important you can keep your precious font sizes just the way you want them. The rest of us want a webpage that is pleasing to look at.

What part of respecting a user's settings makes a website ugly?

If a website is properly designed, it should scale just fine no matter what the font size is. If you need a fixed pixel size for a font to make your design work, you're doing it wrong. And to top it off, a fixed pixel size requirement means it'll break anyways on different systems with different fonts, kerning and hinting options, and other settings.b

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