Blogging and all that Malarkey

The Reform UK conference is happening this weekend. While they aim to portray themselves as an alternative to mainstream parties, their intolerance, racism, and xenophobia are not far from the surface. So I designed “ Far Right. So Wrong ” shirts with profits going to support Hope not hate.

In this episode of Unfinished Business, Andy and Rich are joined by accessibility consultant, co-founder, and bundle of enthusiasm, Léonie Watson.

I’m sickened by the rise in support for Far Right politics, especially Reform UK, especially in Wales. So I designed a set of “Far Right. So Wrong” shirts with all profits going to support Hope not hate.

Yours truly over at CSS Tricks: “When you picture placing images in long-form content — like articles, case studies, or reports — the standard approach is inline rectangles, breaking up blocks of text. Functional? Sure. Inspiring? Hardly. So, how do you use images to add personality, rhythm, and even surprise someone along the way? Here’s how I do it.”

Andy, Jon, Marcus, and Paul are back for another silly episode. They talk about Paul’s new caravan, Andy’s semi-retirement, and Marcus giving up beer. But the episode is interrupted in a dramatic fashion when Jon is involved in a serious logo emergency. If you haven’t listened for a while, this one’s a belter!

Yours truly over at CSS Tricks: “How do you design block quotes and pull quotes to reflect a brand’s visual identity and help tell its story? Here’s how I do it by styling the HTML blockquote element using borders, decorative quote marks, custom shapes, and a few unexpected properties.”

In this episode of Unfinished Business, with Andy on holiday in France, Andy and Rich talk about whether they take work with them when they go “en vacance.” Then, they discuss Andy’s fake website company experiment and why he did it.

Over the past two years, I’ve noticed a significant drop-off in the number of enquiries from local(ish) businesses coming through Google. I wondered whether that might be down to the fact that the opinionated design isn’t to everyone’s taste, so I tried something. A year ago, I set up a fake web design company.

This workshop is for designers who want to break free from the gridlock and create layouts that feel bold, expressive, and uniquely theirs, without losing clarity or usability.

Yours truly over at the Envato blog: “What if we thought of web design more like a comic book? Comic book nerd and web design pioneer Andy Clarke shows you how the structure of comic book layouts—panels, gutters, and rhythm—can inspire more expressive and narrative-driven web designs.”