Inspect Element

Web Design & Development Blog

The Key Ingredients of a Great Single Page Website

November 26th, 2009 — 18 Comments

Every now and then Inspect Element will be looking at a specific style of web design and picking out the best examples in that field and what makes them so great so you can learn from them and improve your own work.

The first one we’re looking at is one page website designs. By far the most common use of single page websites are portfolios but they can be suitable to just about any business type. However, there are a few things to take note of before going down the single page route.

The Funny and Bizarre World of Client Requests

November 23rd, 2009 — 157 Comments

For some, odd client requests are a source of frustration but for others it can serve as nice distraction. We’ve all had to deal with requests from clients that are either plain daft or simply hilarious but chances are, you haven’t seen anything until you see the vast array of demands other web designers have faced.

So with a little help from Smashing Magazine, who asked for funny client requests on Twitter and Facebook, here is a collection of the funniest and most bizarre.

10 Useful Bookmarklets for Web Designers and Developers

November 19th, 2009 — 46 Comments

You may not be aware of bookmarklets which are an underused tool in web designer or developer’s toolbox. A bookmarklet is a a term that merges bookmark and applet to add functionality to a web browser. They can be stored in the bookmark bar of any browser and used from there to perform useful tasks and consist primarily of Javascript code.

As Javascript is synonymous with web development, some clever developers have created some extremely helpful bookmarklets that can improve your day to day work. Here are ten of the best available.

The Unwritten Rules of Web Design

November 16th, 2009 — 39 Comments

In the relative short time that websites have been around, compared to other media, much has been learnt about web design. There aren’t any ‘rules’ beyond web standards and even then, they’re only guidelines. There are a number of other guidelines or rules that you should be adhering to when designing for the web. There isn’t a manual or paper or anything to refer to except people’s findings and common sense, mainly because the web is constantly changing and also because there is often more than one way of doing something, suiting different contexts. Here are a few rules that you definitely should be taking note of.