How much thought have you put into your primary input device? Ever considered how much better your interface with your computer might be? For decades, keyboards have been the primary mechanisms by which we interact with our computers. In this article, Ben Frain is going to dive into the possibilities of mechanical keyboards. The different layouts, switch types and even keycap material. Strap yourself in — this will be a deep dive!
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The cat is out of the bag! Meet SmashingConf Live (Aug 20–21), our very first online conference. For SmashingConf Live, our new online conference, we don’t want to replicate in-person experiences online. Instead, we’ve designed an entirely new conference experience, focusing around interactive live sessions and discussion zones where you actively shape what happens next, and learn along the way.
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In this episode of the Smashing Podcast, we’re talking about building apps on a tight timeline. How can you quickly turn around a project to respond to an emerging situation like COVID-19? Drew McLellan talks to Phil Smith to find out.
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Mobile app development using hybrid frameworks has come a long way since initial release in 2008. With the improvements being made to the JavaScript engine and improved processing power available to mobile phones, the major concern people had when they considered developing their apps using the hybrid approach — namely, performance — has all but been eliminated, and cross-platform frameworks have seen a surge in popularity.
We’re going to build a mobile application that pulls data from the Marvel Comics API; the data will show Marvel comics and you’ll be able to choose your favorites. At the end, we’ll create a native build of the project on Android.
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In recent years a slew of ‘readability’ programs have appeared to help us tidy up the things we write. Used everywhere from newsrooms to browser plugins, these systems offer automated feedback on how writing can be clearer, neater, and less contrived. Sounds good right? Well, up to a point. Readability programs may seem like a godsend, but the worst thing writers can do is write to please them above all others. Finding your voice is hard enough without also trying to sound like everyone else.
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As we have now formalized our workshop process, we thought we’d share a little more about how these events run. Unlike in-person workshops where we keep you in a room for an eight hour day, we realized than many of you have a lot of other commitments right now. Our initial online workshops went so well, we have scheduled many more. Find out how what we learned from those first workshops and what we have coming up over the next two months.
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Mirage JS borrowed some terms and concepts which are very much familiar to back-end developers, however, since the library would be used mostly by front-end teams, it’s appropriate to learn what these terms and concepts are. In this first part of the Mirage JS Deep Dive series, Kelvin Omereshone will be looking at Mirage JS models and associations. He’ll take a closer look at what they are and the roles they play in crafting out production-ready frontend without an actual backend with Mirage JS.
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As designers, we usually turn to different sources of inspiration, and, well, as a matter of fact, we’ve discovered the best one: wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd. In this collection, Cosima Mielke brings you wallpapers for May 2020. They come in versions with and without a calendar and can be downloaded for free. As a bonus goodie, we also added some favorites from our archives at the end of the post — because, well, some things are just too good to be forgotten. A big thank-you to everyone who participated this time around! Enjoy!
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Today, as designers, we are lucky as never before because there are dozens of tools available for us to design wireframes and also smoothly integrate this activity in our general design process. In this article, Anton Suprunenko will take a deeper look at one of the most simple yet quite often underrated activities in web development: the design of wireframes. You’ll learn what wireframes are, why we need to design them, how to get the most out of the designs, and how to take it to the next level.
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Light mode is a convention in most web and mobile apps. However, in modern development, we have seen how dark mode, which displays light text and interface elements on a dark background, is quickly becoming a user preference. In this article, Blessing Krofegha will show you how to efficiently implement dark mode in a React app on a simple web page, using the styled-components library and leveraging some React features like hooks. We will also discuss the pros and cons of dark mode and why it should be adopted.
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