Jeffrey Zeldman Presents The Daily Report
Happy Cog 3.0 (Creme)
Presenting Happy Cog 3.0, code-named “creme.”
We’ve restructured the site to highlight our projects, services, and publications, and to welcome aboard lead information therapist Adam Greenfield of v-2.org and Moblogging Conference fame.
Risotto and liquid non-dairy creamers inspired the color scheme. The logo is set in Opti Craw Clarendon, the themeline and selected subheads in Franklin Gothic Demi. Because 3.0 is an evolution, elements of the 2.0 design remain — chiefly, the pixel-edged, TV shaped thumbnails.
The feeling is “Distressed Lite.” Think tea stains and sun damage. It’s as if the site is wearing Armani to a client meeting, and the outfit got wrinkled in the suitcase during the flight. Think bed hair but nice haircut. The site says business but in an entrepreneurial manner, not an uptight corporate one.
In other words, the look and feel matches the company culture.
The site is authored in minimal XHTML 1.0 Strict; the layout relies on a number of CSS methods, some tried and true, some way new. Known problems, which may or may not get fixed:
- In IE5.0/Windows, the vertical subnav (About, Contact, Clients) does not properly indicate “you are here” when you visit the site sections to which it links. It works correctly in IE5.5 and higher. IE5.0 is probably choking on descendant selectors.
- IE5.x/Mac does not respect the top padding of the primary content section, so there is insufficient vertical whitespace between the navigation area and the content. The site is usable, it just doesn’t look quite right.
- Also in IE5.x/Mac, the thumbnail rollovers do not in fact roll over; the bleached-out “rollover” state loads instead of the full-color default state; and the thumbnails are not clickable. Fortunately, the thumbnail links are duplicated in the text, so IE5/Mac users can navigate to the same pages as anyone else. They just can’t do it by clicking thumbnails.
More could be said about these CSS problems and their likely causes, but it would be dull and technical, and Happy Cog 3.0 celebrates life. Creme on!
Highlights from recent Daily Reports
- Reinventing the Wheel
- CSS layout is a big pain in the neck. Why we put up with it.
- A List Apart No. 174
- Accessible Pop-up Links by Caio Chassot.
- Changing the world, one tag at a time
- Amnesty International USA is looking for one good web designer.
- Production for use
- Are developers reading the right books?
- Rome, Madrid, Iraq, New York
- Last week, The Wife and I took a belated honeymoon in the fantastical city of Rome — a town filled with so many naked statues, a thousand John Ashcrofts could not cover them all. On the last day of our trip, terrorists in Madrid blew up commuter trains packed with workers and students....
There is more
More highlights and back orders may be found in our Essentials Department.