Slides for the presentation I gave at Blog Better Boston 2012. A little lack of context without my narration, but some may find useful…

1. Monday, March 26, 12

2. Stylish Content
by Eric D. Fields / UX Director at HipHost
Monday, March 26, 12

3. Goals
• reevaluate the design of our site as it
relates to our content
• empower you to start customizing your
own content
Monday, March 26, 12

4. When we talk about good web
design…
• we empathize with the user…
• … to make informed decisions…
• … that lead to the best possible user
experience
• we educate the client about the design
process
Monday, March 26, 12

5. The Rules of Good Web Design
• present information clearly
• provide intuitive navigation
• make it easy on the eyes
Monday, March 26, 12

6. The Results of Good Web Design
• site becomes a destination
• keeps the user on the site
• increased virality
• helps establish trust & authority
Monday, March 26, 12

7. The Results of Stylish Web Design
• get noticed
• builds or reinforces a brand
• creates an emotional response
Monday, March 26, 12

8. What should we style?
• banner?
• background?
• sidebar?
• images?
Monday, March 26, 12

9. What did the users come for?
CONTENT
Monday, March 26, 12

10. CONTENT
=
TYPOGRAPHY
Monday, March 26, 12

11. What is typography? And why should I care?
The style and
appearance of text.
Monday, March 26, 12

12. What is typography? And why should I care?
The style and
appearance of text.
composition, attitude, look, feel
Monday, March 26, 12

13. What is typography? And why should I care?
The style and
appearance of text.
shape, color, bare attributes
Monday, March 26, 12

14. Typographic Elements
Letterforms
Sans serif, Serif, Slab serif, Script, Blackletter, Monospaced, Hand,
Decorative
Weight
Width
Monday, March 26, 12

15. Typographic Elements
Words
Monday, March 26, 12

16. Typographic Elements
Words & Phrases
Monday, March 26, 12

17. Typographic Elements
Words & Phrases Come
Together (At Long Last!)
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do
eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut
enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris
nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in
reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla
pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in
culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Monday, March 26, 12

18. Words & Phrases Come
Together (At Long Last!)
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do
eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut
enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris
nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor
in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat
nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident,
sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem
accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque
ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae
vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia
voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur
magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt.
Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit
amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius
modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam
quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum
exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid
ex ea commodi consequatur?
Monday, March 26, 12

19. Words & Phrases Come
Together (At Long Last!)
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed
do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna
aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation
ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis
aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum
dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat
cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt
mollit anim id est laborum.
Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem
accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam,
eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto
“Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia
voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit,
sed quia consequuntur magni eos qui”
beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Neque porro quisquam est,
qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci
velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut
labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut
enim ad…
Monday, March 26, 12

20. Words & Phrases Come
Together (At Long Last!)
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do
eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut
enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi
ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum
dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat
non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est
laborum.
Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste
natus error sit
Voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem
aperiam. Eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi
architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam
voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia
consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi
nesciunt.
Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet,
consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi
tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam…
Monday, March 26, 12

21. Words & Phrases Come
Together (At Long Last!)
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do
eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut
enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris
nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse
cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat
cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit
anim id est laborum.
Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem
accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, Quis nostrum exercitationem
ullam corporis suscipit
eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex
beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. ea commodi consequatur?
Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut
odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui
ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt.
Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit
amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius
modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam…
Monday, March 26, 12

22. Good typography is readable
• high contrast
• line-height: 1.5
• left-aligned (never justified)
• ~ 80 characters per line
• 16px font size
Monday, March 26, 12

23. Stylish typography is emotional
• Strict color palette
• Mix serif headlines w/ sans-serif copy
• Headlines ~ 2x body copy size
• Embrace whitespace
• Custom fonts?!
Monday, March 26, 12

24. Web font services
• TypeKit (http://typekit.com)
• Google Web Fonts (http://www.google.com/webfonts)
• Fonts.com (http://webfonts.fonts.com/en-US)
• H&FJ (http://www.typography.com/ — soon… $$$)
Monday, March 26, 12

25. kottke.org barackobama.com
Monday, March 26, 12

26. So how do we style our blog?
CSS
Monday, March 26, 12

27. CASCADING
STYLE
SHEETS
Monday, March 26, 12

28. CSS is 1/3 of your (or most)
websites
• HTML – content
• JavaScript – behavior
• CSS – presentation
Monday, March 26, 12

29. How CSS Works
• Every page of your blog links back to one or many stylesheets
(*.CSS files)
• Within the CSS file, selectors describe elements in the
HTML
• Properties are defined within selectors that describe
the presentation elements
• The browser matches elements based on CSS selectors
and renders them according to defined properties
Monday, March 26, 12

30. CSS Selectors Look Like
• h1 (tag-based selector)
• strong (tag-based selector)
• .gallery (class-based selector)
• .post p (class-based selector)
• #footer (id-based selector)
• #main-content li a (id-based selector)
Monday, March 26, 12

31. CSS Properties Look Like
• font-size: 24px;
• margin-top: 12px;
• padding-left: 80px;
• color: #9988ac;
• text-decoration: underline;
• font-weight: bold;
Monday, March 26, 12

32. CSS Looks Like…
h1 { .entry-header .comments-link a {
font-size: 24px; background: #EEE url(images/comment-bubble.
font-weight: bold; color: #666;
color: red; font-size: 13px;
margin-bottom: 11px; font-weight: normal;
} line-height: 35px;
overflow: hidden;
padding: 0 0 0;
position: absolute;
.special-paragraph {
top: 1.5em;
font-style: italic
right: 0;
border-top: 1px solid #9999AC;
text-align: center;
padding-top: 10px;
text-decoration: none;
padding-bottom: 10px;
width: 43px;
}
height: 36px;
}
Monday, March 26, 12

33. Here we go!
Monday, March 26, 12

34. Thank You! Any questions?
Monday, March 26, 12