I have spent some time today thinking about CSS reset sheets and their usefulness. I can see why they would be a great idea, reset everything and start again, from the ground up and that all browsers produce similar looking code. I can also see the other side of the argument, pixel perfect websites are not obtainable, cross browser and building from the ground up means overwriting elements of the CSS reset sheet.

Here is one of the better reset sheets, and here is an interesting argument against using them. I can see a definite use for them but not to the extent of Meyer’s reset sheet. Margin and Padding are normally my bugs, so I think developing your own CSS reset sheet based on your own needs is much better than using someones creation, although looking at Meyer’s gives you a great insight on what elements could be reset.

Sources;

Eric Meyer’sCSS reset sheet

Snook.ca - No CSS Reset

Recently me and a friend have been working on a small web design/development project. We came up with a design and the client was very happy with it. We signed off on the design and began working on the coding. We both have jobs and this was more of a favour so I didn’t feel the need for a contract to be signed.

We finish and we are paid our small fee. A week after live deployment and the client wants the site to be re-arranged, lowering the usability of the design and making it generally confusing. We spent a while on the design in terms of “flow” and how the user will go from one piece of information to the next. We supplied what we believed to be the most accessible way to get a potential customer of our client from start to finish of their set goal, i.e. Come to the site and then end with them emailing our client for potential work.

That flow has just had a dam slotted in the way and the flow is being disrupted with large amounts of text and bad re-design re-positioning.

Not that I care, they can do what they like, it is their site now, but the time taken to make those changes weren’t short and they were for free, all because we hadn’t agreed on a contract that stated that any subsequent changes would be charged for. Feel a little robbed.

In my honest opinion there are three very good reasons for keeping a web portfolio;

1. You get to show off a wide range of your skills to a larger audience than you would with a hard copy portfolio. Having a hard copy portfolio means that you have to send it and normally you would only do that if someone has requested it, i.e. job application. On the web anyone could stumble onto your site and see your work. Who knows where that could lead. It’s no guarantee of success but sure beats sending out lots of paper or CDs.

2. It’s your own personal record of development. See where you started and where you are now can be quite enjoyable and educational. Who knows, on one of your first websites may have used a piece of code that you thought was amazing, but you haven’t used it in a while and it has been forgotten. Your work is there to be seen not just by others but by yourself. Use it as inspriration for newer pieces.

3. It can be easily updated and put out for all to see at no real extra cost. Imagine printing 10 hard copy portfolios which at least have 10 A3 full colour pages, and then doing another piece of work that would really wow someone who saw it? how annoying would that be?

I am not saying that the web portfolio is the best choice for all situations but it can be very useful for a lot of people, and showing people a clear, accessible and frequently updated web portfolio could win you a job. Just dont forgot your portfolio is design work too.

Wow, I was told that 2009 would be a busier period for me but I have been taken back by just how much and I have hardly had time to update the site. Lots of things that I need to do here. I still have to update my portfolio.

Well I have learnt a huge amount of PHP, huge for me, not for a developer but I have made good headway with it, connecting with a MYSQL database, tables, reading, writing, and updating. I am at the level of being able to write my own basic CMS system, which I am pretty proud of.

Almost finished off a site design which I calloborated with a Junior web designer, that’s almost done but finding the time to take it from 95% to 100% is few and far between.

Oh well i’ll plod along, still waiting to get picked for a great design website…haha! I can but dream

Times are pretty hard right now, with all this credit crunch business and recession going on. I was thinking of writing a few short tips that I stuck to when I was looking for a job and what I did during interviews.

There was a report on the BBC that graduates this year will find it harder to find jobs upon graduating compared with past years.

In fact the uptake for new post graduates will be the worst for “two decades”.

So I am going to try and help those leaving this year as I know that some students have found my site through one of Mez’s links.

BBC Report: Q&A: All gloom for graduates?