Stuff & Nonsense product and website design

Blogging and all that malarkey

Kerfuffle on the Planet of the Apes

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is out and I decided to update one of my responsive easter egg headers—Kerfuffle on the Planet of the Apes—with more efficient, modern code.

CSS Specisithity

Originally published in 2005 and updated in 2024, CSS Specisithity explains how to master specificity using Star Wars metaphors. It’s been credited with helping web designers and developers understand what’s often considered a complex subject.

The popular Contract Killer template

Clarify what’s expected on both sides to help build great relationships between you and your clients. Contract Killer is plain and simple and there’s no legal jargon. It’s customisable to suit your business and has been used on countless web projects since 2008.

Killer Privacy

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) templates can cost hundreds of Pounds, so I thought I’d turn my hand to writing a GDPR data protection and privacy policy in the spirit of Contract Killer. Be compliant without bamboozling customers.

Layout Love

I wanted a simple set of layout modules I could call on for design projects, so I developed my own. I call them Layout Love and rather than keep them to myself, I’m offering them to everyone to use which I hope will encourage people to make layouts which are more interesting.

Transcending CSS Revisited

I wrote my first book, Transcending CSS: The Fine Art of Web design, way back in 2006. It became a success and since then I’ve had countless people tell me it was influential in their careers. Transcending CSS Revisited is available to read online for free, with a new foreword by Rachel Andrew.

Video: Karl Gerstner inspired web design

In this new video, I discuss the influential Swiss graphic designer Karl Gerstner’s work. I love Gerstner’s mastery of grid and how he used them to create consistent yet creative layouts.

Video: Willy Fleckhaus inspired web design

In this new video, I want to discuss Willy Fleckhaus’ work. His name isn’t often mentioned in the context of product and website design. I love Willy Fleckhaus’ mastery of layouts, his use of scale, and the ways he integrated images and text into compelling compositions.

Video: All Labour’s election websites and the missing 1997 version

Since, I suppose, the late nineties, every time a General Election comes around, the political parties roll out new websites. Having spent time studying Labour’s 2024 campaign website, I wondered what their previous election websites looked like. There’s barely anything left of Labour’s website from its victory in 1997 so I imagined what it might’ve looked like.

Video: Otto Storch inspired web design

In this new video, I discuss editorial designer Otto Storch whose work I discovered while flicking through a new addition to my design library. I love how Storch playfully combines images and typography to create designs which are full of energy and movement.

Video: The Labour Party’s website could’ve done better

In this new video, I look at what was up with Labour’s 2024 election website design, the absence of typographic or visual hierarchy, inconsistent use of colour, lack of focus, and a clear identity. How would I fix this?

The curious case of the cloning of my website

I don’t check my analytics terribly often, but I did this week, and there was something strange in there: referrals from a domain I didn’t recognise that was using my website’s favicon. Curious, I went to the URL and saw something familiar—my design.

I listened to every version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, so you don’t have to

While debating the greatest guitar solos ever with Alex and Sue last week, I suggested that the absolute best is Prince’s one-off live performance of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Prince played alongside George Harrison’s son Dhani, ELO’s Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, and more. This set me down a rabbit hole to find the best-ever version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

Why you need a killer web design proposal and how to write one

Whether you’re a designer, developer, or another type of web professional, successful client projects all begin with a killer proposal. While web design project proposals have no set format, effective proposals all outline the brief, deliverables and scope, timelines, and costs.

Work I’d like to do in the year ahead

This time last year, I wrapped up my Director of Product Design contract at Nozomi Networks. That was a big change but also an opportunity to evaluate what I’d enjoyed about the role and what I missed from more varied design projects.

Podcast: One Footer in the Grave Episode 15: Vote for me or the baby gets it

It’s UK General Election time and the chaps have gathered to discuss it, but without mentioning politics. What would their top policies be if they were running for office? What do they think of novelty candidates like Count Binface? Plus, why are political party websites so terrible? Andy tells his story about being in the audience for BBC Question Time and the strange tale of designing for an intergalactic space warrior.

Labour’s 1997 election website is lost to history, so I imagined how it might’ve looked

The 2024 General Election is just days away, and opinion polls suggest Labour will win with a majority bigger than 1997. Even though I’m not as excited about Labour’s vision as I was then, I still keep my fingers tightly crossed. As I found a few weeks ago, there’s barely anything left of Labour’s labourwin97.org.uk campaign website from its victory in 1997 under Tony Blair. It wasn’t archived by the Wayback Machine, so I imagined what it might’ve looked like.

The Green Party website could be better at promoting their policies, so I imagined how that could be done

There are less than two weeks before election day, and most of the headlines have come about from things the party leaders have said on the various TV debates. Out of nowhere, Prime Minister Rish! told young people he might take away their driving licences if they refused his national service. Keir Starmer was pushed on his supporting Jeremy Corbyn but not Arsenal, which is an even bigger character flaw. Ed Davey said, well, actually, I can’t remember anything Ed Davey said. But the person I’ve been most impressed with is Carla Denyer, the teeny-tiny confident co-leader of the Green Party.

How I designed a new website for comedy candidate Count Binface

“All water company bosses to take a dip in British rivers to see how they like it.” “National service to be introduced for all former prime ministers.” “European countries to be invited to join the UK, creating a new ‘Union of Europe.’” Who would disagree with policies like these?


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About Andy

Hello. I’m Andy Clarke, an internationally recognised product and website designer and writer on art direction for products the web. I help product and website owners captivate customers by delivering distinctive digital designs.


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