SpyreStudios

Web-Design and Development Magazine

Case Study into CSS3 Effects on Popular Websites

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It doesn’t seem like the many CSS3 standards are so “new” anymore. Web designers have been implementing these properties into most of the new layouts I run into. Rounded corners and text shadows are commonplace for the modern web.

I want to use this article as a small case study into CSS3 effects. I’ll be examining some big-name websites and how they are building unique web interfaces. The techniques are not exclusive to any single entity – and it’s actually simple to put together some code of your own. But it is my hope these examples can spur new ideas in budding developers.

Filed Under: CSS

How to Design a Dribbble-Style Homepage Layout

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The popular design network Dribbble has grown substantially in just a few short years. Graphics designers and illustrators from all over the world have flocked onto the web seeking invites. But aside from the exclusivity their layout design has become a prominent factor of the entire branding.

I love the simplistic nature of their gallery-style photo boxes. It matches well with a community of designers excited to share their latest pixels with the world. In this tutorial I’ll go over techniques for constructing a similar design in HTML5 and CSS3. You can build a very similar page structure with just bare-bones essential CSS. Yet when we can utilize new browser-supported properties like box shadows the process becomes much more captivating.

Dribbble home page design layout

Live Demo – Download Source Code

Design a Full HTML5/CSS3 Template Replica of Digg v3

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Social media junkies on the turn of the year 2004 surely remember Digg. It was the powerhouse of social news, all the techies would flock to Digg on a daily basis. And it’s been through quite a few changes recently with the v4 redesign. However I fondly remember Digg’s classic appeal running under v3 as the most accepted web interface.

Thus I’ve taken the liberty to re-code the entire front page template into HTML5/CSS3! And in this short tutorial I’ll be introducing you to some of my techniques. Additionally I’ve offered the source code completely free to download for your own usage. Much of the design I’ve had to piece together through the Wayback Machine Internet archives.

Digg v3 Template hand-coded into HTML5/CSS3

Applying a Clean & Imageless Design to an Article – Part I

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For Christmas this year, my beautiful wife gave me a copy of The Web Designer’s Idea Book, Volume 2. Obviously, I have been perusing the book, and I am finding that there are tons of awesome web designs to take in. I’m super happy with the gift and I expect that it will prove to be a highly valuable resource throughout 2011, and beyond.

Yet, even just a quick perusal of the book reveals the prevailing influence of Photoshop (or other graphics programs) on the industry at large. Today, the web is full of beautiful, rich and colourful graphics that continuously amaze and impress us in all manner of very legitimate ways. But just because we can include all of this incredible imagery, it doesn’t necessarily follow that we have to. Sometimes, the simple use of colour, shape and typography can create an attractive and elegant design all on its own.

Brilliante Blog Layout – Coding The PSD File Into CSS and HTML

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In this tutorial, we’ll be revisiting the Brillante blog design, covering the PSD slicing, HTML/CSS coding, custom fonts embedding and some handy cool tips to improve your website performance.

This is Part 2 of 3 of the Photoshop blog design called Brilliante, published some time ago on SpyreStudios and designed by Mahmoud Khaled Deiab.

In this second part, I’m gonna walk you through the PSD to HTML/CSS coding process. Third part will be about creating a WordPress theme. Let’s begin!

How To Create a Sweet CSS3 Vertical Navigation

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Today we’ll be creating a beautiful vertical CSS3 navigation, without the use of images. Basically we’ll display a circle with an icon in the center. When the user hovers over the circle, it expands and shows a short description.

Now you may be wondering: how are we going to display an icon without images? Well, Drew Wilson’s (fabulous) Pictos font makes this quite simple. Unfortunately (but understandably) it’s not free, you can purchase is for $49 here. Luckily, there are other icon fonts out there like iconic, which you can use for free.

I should also mention that this has been tested using Webkit browsers only (Safari, Chrome). It may work in other browsers but probably with limited support. Check out the demo here!