I’m struggling to believe it quite frankly, but The CSS Zen Garden was planted ten years ago today. I don’t think we should underestimate the importance of The CSS Zen Garden in the history of the web. Its influence still resonates today. Now it’s back accepting submissions and making some of us feel very old.
Looking back at my submission from December 2004, I feel equal measures of pride and embarrassment. It was ambition fulfilled to be entry number 142 in the gallery but my poor typography and over reliance on image replacement says a lot about how I designed back then.
I was even more proud to have my 3D graphic representation of the CSS Zen Garden’s XHTML structure printed in Dave and Molly’s book. I still keep a (signed) copy of that book on my bookcase next to the Transcending CSS it inspired.
I can’t tell you how pleased I am to see the The CSS Zen Garden make a comeback. I hope it inspires this generation of designers and developers like it inspired me.
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