adobe max 2008: html/css + fireworks
DESCRIPTION
This was the presentation I gave at Adobe MAX 2008 in San Francisco.TRANSCRIPT
Adobe MAX Conference - San Francisco, CA - November 18, 2008
Designing EffectiveCSS & HTMLWebsites in Fireworks
Hi. I’m Nathan Smith, a designer andfront-end developer at Viewzi.com
Today I’d like to talk to you about using Fireworks to design HTML and CSS sites.
But first, let me ask you this...
Do standardsreally ma"er?
Apple’s Me.com
What is the de!nition ofa standard?
Standard: “Something considered by an authority or by general consent as a basis of comparison; an approved model.”
— Dictionary.com
Ajaxian.com word frequency
(via Wordle.net)
“Standards exist for the benefit of the web worker almost more so than the end user, and by following the best practices set forth by the best people in our industry, we ensure we are equipping ourselves with a versatile skill-set which we can take into any environment.
— Mike Davidson Newsvine founder
http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/archive/2004/06/march-to-your-own-standard
When it comes to standards,it’s all about the distribution.
(non-metric countries)
United States - Liberia - Myanmar
Mozilla holds a Guinness World Record for the most
software downloaded in 24 hours. On June 17, 2008
approximately 8 million people downloaded Firefox 3.
“In July 2008, successful downloads averaged about 33 million per day, and successful installs averaged around 18 million per day.”
— Emmy Huang Adobe Product Mgr
Flash is a de facto standard
http://tinyurl.com/flash-stats
Macro vs. Micro Semantics
http://flickr.com/photos/leoffreitas/332360959/ http://flickr.com/photos/kennysarmy/2493464978/
– ID, class names– Microformats– Machine code– HTML / XHTML
– Correct tags– Accessibility– Attribute usage– Search Engines
Web DesignWork-!ow
Enterprise Corporations
Agencies & Small Teams
Freelance Web Designers
– Stakeholders preview centralized PNGs
– Smaller file-size, storage goes further
– Maintain lower total cost of ownership
– Rapidly move from prototype to design
– Test out FW PNGs directly in a browser
– Easily export PDF overviews for clients
– Integrate with multiple document types
– Display PNG comps via HTML mockups
– Less time spent switching between apps
“As a general rule of thumb, anything that can read JPG or GIF files will usually support PNG as well. Unlike the PSD format used by Photoshop, PNG files are readable by a variety of freely available applications, including the most important: web browsers.
— Nathan Smith Front-End Developer
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/fireworks/articles/enterprise_it.html
http://www.bartelme.at/journal/archive/flow_wallpaper
Rough Wireframes
High Detail Design
App Integration
FW now looks akin to its CS4 siblings
CS3 CS4
Cra"ingInterfaces
CorporateBranding
Visual StyleGuidelines
HTMLCSS
Prototype form elements in Win/Mac
Create a vector based drawing
9-slicing Example
Convert vector group to symbol
Use 9-slicing on symbol
Preserves the outer corners and edges
Resize element without distortion
Widescreen!
The align panel is useful for all sorts of shapes
Especially for doinganimated “Web 2.0” Ajax GIFs
CSSSprites
#rating_widget_hate,#rating_widget_dislike,#rating_widget_ok,#rating_widget_like,#rating_widget_love { background: url(../img/faces.gif) no-repeat;}
#rating_widget_hate { background-position: -250px 5px;}
#rating_widget_hate:hover { background-position: 0 5px;}
#rating_widget_dislike { background-position: -300px 5px;}
#rating_widget_dislike:hover { background-position: -50px 5px;}
#rating_widget_ok { background-position: -350px 5px;}
#rating_widget_ok:hover { background-position: -100px 5px;}
#rating_widget_like { background-position: -400px 5px;}
#rating_widget_like:hover { background-position: -150px 5px;}
#rating_widget_love { background-position: -450px 5px;}
#rating_widget_love:hover { background-position: -200px 5px;}
Use grid guides to keepitems arranged properly
Slice + optimizeall your images
Image export is a time saver
More efficient than cropping
PDF export is quite handy
Great for client feedback
Prototyping, not production
Export code with caution
Code automation is okay, in moderation
http://flickr.com/photos/polvero/2656367141/
Front–EndFrameworks
•Consistent coding style.
•Increases maintainability.
•Rapidly prototype ideas.
•Improvements made to core.
•Not re-inventing the wheel.
Bene#ts of Frameworks
“Embrace Constraints”– Mark Kraemer
All modern monitors support at
least 1024×768 pixel resolution.
960 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 32,
40, 48, 60, 64, 80, 96, 120, 160,
192, 240, 320 and 480.
css
The 960 Grid System is an effort to streamline
web development by providing commonly used
dimensions, based on a width of 960 pixels.
There are two variants: 12 and 16 columns,
which can be used separately or in tandem.
The basis of the grid is ideally suited to rapid
prototyping, but it would work equally well
for workflow in a production environment.
There are printable sketch sheets, Photoshop
and Fireworks templates, and a CSS framework
that contain identical column measurements.
Inspiration: Khoi Vinh
Inspiration: Cameron Moll
Inspiration: Olav Bjørkøy
Inspiration: Brandon Schauer
The 12 column grid is divided into portions
that are 60 pixels wide, whereas the 16
column grid consists 40 pixel increments.
Each column has 10 pixels of margin to either
side, which stack to create gutters that are
20 pixels wide between each of the columns.
<div class="container_12"> <div class="grid_7 prefix_1"> <div class="grid_2 alpha"> ... </div> <div class="grid_3"> ... </div> <div class="grid_2 omega"> ... </div> </div> <div class="grid_3 suffix_1"> ... </div></div>
12 column grid measurements
16 column grid measurements
If today’s topic was JavaScript, I’d push...
•FW = ideal for web design.
•Plays well with Adobe apps.
•Great for rapid prototyping.
•Efficiently export images.
•Write good code by hand.
•Homework: check out jQuery.
Summation of Presentation
sonspring.comtwitter.com/nathansmith
That’s a wrap. Keep in touch!