BlogmyQuery – BMQ

It’s that time of year again. It’s time to start thinking about what gifts to pick up for your family and friends (and maybe even yourself) for the holidays. And if you happen to be buying for a web designer this year, we happen to have 10 awesome holiday gift ideas that web designers will cherish.

1. Adobe Photoshop CS5

Adobe Photoshop CS5

You all knew this was coming first, right? What’s a top 10 list without Adobe Photoshop? With the release of Creative Suite 5, Adobe has boosted Photoshop’s features and delivered more flexibility and design options. And web designers know that a powerful graphic and image editor is essential to be effective at work. With holiday season discounts from Adobe, you can snag a copy of Photoshop CS5 starting around just $600.

2. Apple iPad

Apple iPad

Not only are Apple iPad’s the hottest item since sliced bread, but they’re less than half the cost of a quality laptop. They’re essential to have around if you’re designing for mobile devices, applications and varied device resolutions, and not to mention (we drool over how cool they are). If you really want to make a web designer happy this season, surprise them with an iPad (starting at just $499).

3. SanDisk Ultra® Backup 16GB USB Flash Drive

SanDisk Ultra Backup 16GB USB Flash Drive

SanDisk has introduced the SanDisk Ultra® Backup USB Flash Drive which is the first USB flash drive with a backup button. With three models available: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB, web designers can store lots of files, images, drafts, proposals and more. Buy online from Staples.com starting at $89.99!

4. CSS3 For Web Designers

CSS3 For Web Designers

A Book Apart continues its web design book series ‘…for people who make websites’ with Dan Cederholm’s masterfully written “CSS3 For Web Designers”. With the emergence of new methodologies like HTML5 and CSS3, it’s always important for us designers to study up on the semantics so we can stay ahead of the game. Purchase “CSS3 For Web Designers” as paperback, ebook or a bundle of both.

5. Basecamp

Basecamp | 37Signals.com

Basecamp is a robust project management software solution for managing almost any type of web project. Millions of people already use Basecamp, and it’s the preferred project management tool of several multi-million dollar brands. Don’t have a large organization? That’s okay too. Basecamp starts with a “Small Group” plan that costs only $49/month.

6. Apple Magic Mouse

Apple Magic Mouse

The Apple Magic Mouse is a must-have for Mac-lovers. It’s a wireless, bluetooth-dependent multi-touch mouse that allows for seamless operation. Make sure you have the required hardware and software before buying the Magic Mouse. Details can be found on the Apple website or by clicking the link above.

7. Typekit Portfolio Plan

Typekit Portfolio Plan

Typekit is a really cool web service that allows web designers to use a large library of stylish fonts that were previously unavailable for use on websites. For web designers who have started using CSS3 on a regular basis know that in order to use a large variety of fonts on their projects, they must adhere to license agreements for font usage on the web. Typekit makes the “licensing agreements” a non-issue, allowing designers to stick to what they do best — using great typography. Purchase a “Portfolio” plan for a friend and spend only $49.99/year.

8. The Smashing Book

The Smashing Book

The Smashing Book is a byproduct of Smashing Magazine which is an awesome read for designers. It’s a printed book that covers best practices in modern web design. And as a treat, The Smashing Book also shares some exclusive information about the background of Smashing Magazine. This is a must-have gift for web designers!

9. Custom Laptop Skins

Laptop Skins

Surprise someone with a custom or pre-made laptop skin from Schtickers.com. Schtickers gives you total flexibility; allowing you to add custom graphics, text and backgrounds to their removable and reusable laptop skins. Create a custom laptop skin to fit the dimensions of your specific laptop! Very affordable, thoughtful gift for a web designer.

10. Quality Headphones

Headphones

Last but not least of the great gifts for web designers are a set of quality headphones. Lots of web designers enjoy listening to music while working. However, a set of half-broken headphones that barely work anymore aren’t going to get the job done. Do someone a favor and get them a quality pair of headphones that will last the test of time. The Amazon.com Headphone Department has a great selection. Get shopping!

There are plenty more great gifts for web designers that could have been included in this entry, but I decided to narrow the list down to the top 10. Any web designer would be lucky to receive any of the above. I know I would be. Happy holidays and happy shopping!

A really interesting question was asked recently on Answers, discussing the importance and relevance of CSS validation. It would be interesting to discover how much stock developers actually do put in to it, or, is it more important to focus on the actual page being able to function? We would love to hear from you.

You can leave your thoughts, tips and insights in the comment section below, or you can leave your answer on the original question on Answers here: CSS validation, How Important Is It

This question was originally asked by Ben G.

Here is the best answer, as voted by our users, so far:

So, what do you think, how important is CSS validation?

Thanks to everyone who asked a question, but most importantly thanks to everyone that took the time and effort to offer helpful and useful answers.

CSS Frameworks are those marvelous and innovative tools that will speed up your web development process by taking care of the multitude of repetitive processes you would have to cover for every project, and on top of that, they (mostly) take care of any cross-browser compatibility issues. They have also never been as popular, with new frameworks cropping out from week-to-week. As such, in this design news round-up we have selected our favorites from recent months.

The Square Grid

The Square Grid is a simple CSS framework for designers and developers, based on 35 equal-width columns. The grid is equiped with a 28px baseline-grid for a smooth vertical rhythm with each block (DIV) defined with a margin of 1 square (28px) from the next block.
The Square Grid

FEM CSS Framework

The FEM CSS Framework is a 960px width 12 column grid system. It is based on the 960 Grid System, but with a twist in its philosophy, making it more flexible and faster to play with boxes.
FEM CSS Framework

Formalize CSS

Formalize CSS is a useful framework for giving your forms a cross-browser uniformity.
Formalize CSS

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboyand speckyboy@twitter).

In today’s news round-up we feature four powerful and new jQuery plugins that will add plenty of cool functionalties to your sites or applications.

Phono – jQuery Phone Plugin

Phono is a simple JQuery plugin and JavaScript library that turns any web browser into a phone; capable of making phone calls and sending instant messages. You can even connect to SIP clients; all with a simple unified API.
Phono – jQuery Phone Plugin

Wijmo – jQuery UI Widgets

Wijmo is a complete kit of over 30 jQuery UI Widgets. It is an extremely dangerous mixture of jQuery, CSS3, SVG, and HTML5 that when combined become an unstoppable force on the web.
Wijmo – jQuery UI Widgets

SlideNote – A jQuery Plugin For Sliding Notifications

SlideNote is a customizable, flexible jQuery plugin that makes it easy to display sliding notifications on your website or in your web application.
SlideNote – A jQuery Plugin For Sliding Notifications

IMGr – jQuery Image Rounder

IMGr is a jQuery plugin for rounding image corners. The script utilizes CSS3 in modern web browsers, and VML in Internet Explorer 8 and below.
IMGr – jQuery Image Rounder

By Paul Andrew (Speckyboyand speckyboy@twitter).

In this modern era you can very well stumble across quality animated slideshow scripts, but how can we design a good slideshow interface to use these scripts on?

In this article we’ll analyze the current design trend when it comes to slideshows. We’ll start by taking a look at common uses of slideshows but also alternative and creative solutions. As you probably know, we can define a slideshow as a collection of items that can slide within a container. The content of every slide will be revealed for a fixed amount of time within the container.

A slideshow is a great solution to save space in a web layout and to catch the user’s eye with animations. Since slideshow scripts for popular javascript libraries are everywhere, this technique is becoming a little bit overused. This is the reason why, we would like to show you how you can still use a slideshow to make your website stand out without falling into mediocrity.

The Standard Slideshow

The first example is dedicated to the standard slideshow pattern. As you can see from the picture, it’s an animated slideshow with a non numbered navigation. Although this is the most utilized slideshow pattern of all, let’s try to understand why this example stands above the rest. First off, the animation is not a common fade or slide. It’s a slide with a subtle easing, that gives to the animation a personal look.

There’s a lot of space around the slideshow and the controls that creates a very elegant and subtle feel. The last important detail is the number of slides. By using a small amount of slides you’ll be able to ensure that all the slides will be viewed. If you use too many slides the user will be probably be repelled.

The Left/Right Slideshow

This is another very common slideshow pattern in web design. The container shows a fixed number of slides and the left and right controls make it possible to scroll left or right and reveal the next slides. Apart from the websites great design, there’s a detail in this example that makes this slideshow uncommon: the image at the center will never slide.

Your users are not expecting it and it’s a detail that you’ll never forget. Basically when you scroll left or right, in a normal slideshow all the three images will scroll in the selected direction. In this case the featured project in the center will remain in the same position, and the three slides will scroll behind it. If you take a look at the website you can delve into it and understand why it’s so different.

Another stand-alone detail is the slide up effect that every project name has. If you click on a project name, the description will slide up, without the necessity to go to the actual project page. It’s a slideshow with a different approach and an internal slide up effect. This is a great example of how it’s possible to use a common design pattern and take it to another level.

Different Location Slideshow

This pattern was very common when the first version of Flash became readily available. When you click on an element, something changes in another part of the website. In these days it seems to be less popular, but it could be useful in some cases. If you take a look at our example, when you click on the thumbnail images at the bottom of the page, the main image will be revealed in the iPhone illustration.

This is a clever slideshow example. The designer probably needed to show some screenshots of the iPhone app, and instead of using an overused lightbox effect (that is what the user probably expects) found the solution to show the screenshots directly in the iPhone illustration.

This approach has two main goals: avoiding images overlay and showing the screenshots in their real environment, an iPhone. When you click on the thumbnails you get the feeling that you’re currently seeing the real application on the iPhone, and you can better understand how the application works. When you use a screenshot outside the context (the iPhone in this case), it’s not so immediate for the user to understand it.

The Hover Slideshow Effect

This is another really common slideshow pattern that uses a small amount of space withiin the area of design. It can also relay quite a bit of information if you hover over the labels. In this particular example from Threadless, hovering over the labels will show an image related to that specific label.

If you click on the label you’ll be redirected to the right section of the website. It’s like a navigation menu with more information associated to the menu item. There’s a big debate on the Internet these days on subject matter of hover effects and hiding information beneath hovering.

The reason why these techniques are so discussed is that in touchscreen devices like the iPad or the iPhone there are no hover states. If this is true, it’s also true when you tap on an element containing a hover effect, the information will be shown on devices such as the iPad. And at the second tap you’ll be taken to the link specified. Point being, you shouldn’t avoid hover effects because you believe mobile devices do not have the capability of supporting them, as this is untrue.

The Full Screen Slideshow

Now we’re entering to the top chart zone. This is an example of one of the best full screen slideshow ever designed. You have two arrows at the top right corner of the website and when you click on one of them, the entire product page will shift and slide, revealing yet another product. This is beautifully designed and it gives the feeling as though you’re purchasing the product from a live store.

If you don’t immediately warm to the slideshow idea, there’s always a normal menu at the top left corner that will let you navigate between products within the slideshow. The combination of a great slideshow and a menu fallback is a state of the art full screen slideshow.

Numbered Slideshows

We’re closing this article with a great example of all previous patterns combined in one slideshow. Take a look at the screenshot to understand the power and simplicity of this approach. The slideshow on this page is the entire website. You have multiple controls, the left/right arrows and the numbered controls at the bottom.

After the numbered controls you have the website menu items, that will show the content of every section directly in the slideshow viewport. It’s the perfect slideshow. You can’t miss a section of the website, the navigation is clear, you’ll be totally captured by the slideshow and after navigating through it you visited the entire website.