Writing about design
Eight write-ups on why the values are what they are: what HSL lets you do that HEX does not, where the 4.5:1 contrast ratio comes from, when rem beats px, how an aspect ratio survives a resize. For anyone who has been copying numbers without knowing what they control.
What Contrast Ratio Do You Need for Readable Text?
Four numbers cover every case, and the one most people get wrong is what counts as "large text".
Read Designpx vs rem vs em: Which CSS Unit to Use When
They all resolve to the same kind of length. The difference is who controls the number they get multiplied by.
Read DesignHow to Choose a Colour Palette That Actually Works
A colour wheel hands you five hexes in ten seconds. The other 90% of a palette is neutrals, states and contrast.
Read DesignHEX, RGB and HSL: Which Colour Format to Use
They describe the same colours. The difference is that one of them you can edit by hand and the other two you cannot.
Read DesignWhy Your CSS Gradient Goes Grey in the Middle
Blue to yellow passes through dead grey because of arithmetic, not because your browser is broken. Here is the arithmetic, and the two fixes.
Read DesignHow CSS box-shadow Works (and Why Yours Looks Fake)
Four lengths and a colour, and almost everyone misreads the third one. What blur, spread and inset really do.
Read DesignHow CSS border-radius Works, Corner by Corner
Every corner is a quarter ellipse with two radii. Once you know that, the shorthand and its odd clamping rule stop being mysterious.
Read DesignWhat Is Aspect Ratio? 16:9, 4:3 and the Rest
A ratio is one division: width over height. Here is how to read the notation, work out a missing dimension, and see why the answer keeps coming out as a fraction of a pixel.
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