Góðan dag Smashing Friends,

A new year is always a reminder to rethink, review and reimagine. In this newsletter we explore some of the new opportunities and challenges ahead of us — from new CSS and JavaScript features to state of AI, UX, email design and graphic design in 2024.

Most importantly, we hope that 2024 will bring peace and stability, small and big achievements, memorable and remarkable experiences to you, your friends, loved ones and total strangers.

Sending a lot of optimism, love and hope your way, everyone — for the rest of the year and the year ahead. Stay kind, stay curious, and stay smashing.

— Vitaly

1. CSS Wrapped 2023

2023 was an exciting year for CSS, with many new landings that enable developers to do things once thought impossible on the web platform. To celebrate these milestones and acknowledge the hard work of browser developers and the web community who made it all possible, the Chrome UI DevRel Team published CSS Wrapped 2023.

From container queries, subgrid, and the :has() selector to new color spaces, view transitions, CSS nesting, and scoped styles, CSS Wrapped 2023 summarizes the CSS highlights of the year. Each feature is presented with a short description, info on browser support, and a live demo. A fantastic overview to get you up-to-date on the latest advancements in CSS. (cm)

2. State Of CSS And State Of JavaScript

What can we expect from CSS in the next few years? And what features and tools to learn next? That’s exactly what the State of CSS wants to find out. For their 2023 report, they surveyed more than 9,100 developers worldwide to identify upcoming trends and help developers make technological choices. Browser vendors also use the survey data to prioritize features.

The State of JavaScript follows the same goal for JavaScript. Since 2016, more than 20,000 developers have taken the survey each year, delivering insights into which libraries they want to learn next, which have the best retention ratings, and much more. The 2023 survey is still open, so there’s still time to participate if you haven’t already. (cm)

3. State Of UX In 2024

We live in a time of late-stage UX, characterized by its market saturation, heavy focus on financial growth, commoditization, automation, and increased financialization. How can designers navigate this landscape in 2024? The State of UX in 2024 by the UX Collective offers a critical look at how UX is changing and highlights opportunities for how designers can evolve to find and keep their place in the field.

Among other things, the report explores what AI means for the work of designers, how they can spark excitement about their craft despite layoffs and market instability, what value designers can bring to the table when designs are all componentized, and how to not lose users’ interests out of sight as shareholders’ interests need to be appeased. A must-read for every UX professional. (cm)

4. SmashingConfs 2024

You plan to boost your design or development skills next year? With three SmashingConfs on the schedule for 2024, we’ve got your back. They are the perfect opportunity to get even better at your craft — and meet friendly, like-minded people.

The Smashing conference season kicks off in September 2024 with our 12th SmashingConf Freiburg 🥨 (Sept. 9–11, 2023) dedicated to all things front-end, UX, and design.

We also can’t wait to be back in New York for a new edition of SmashingConf NY 🇺🇸 from Oct. 7–10, 2024. Focusing on front-end and UX, topics range from UX design and web performance to AI and advanced CSS tips and tricks.

And we are already looking forward to return to lovely Belgium for SmashingConf Design & UX @ Antwerp 🍫. The conference takes place Oct. 28–31, 2024 and is perfect for designers and UX folks who love the web. We’d be absolutely delighted to welcome you. (cm)

5. The State Of AI 2023

2023 was the year that made AI mainstream, and seemingly everyone has played around with large language models, notably ChatGPT. But how are tech professionals actually using and building with AI these days? Retools’ State of AI 2023 report wanted to find out and surveyed over 1,500 tech people in a variety of industries to learn more about how they think about AI and how they put AI to work.

Interestingly, survey respondents generally considered AI a bit overrated but they were also convinced that AI will change their job and industry significantly over the next five years. One thing AI has already changed, is how respondents learn and work: More than 57% say they’ve been using StackOverflow less since 2022, including more than 10% who are no longer using it all. Another interesting finding: Companies are still mostly consumers of AI applications. If they are building something on their own, chances are it’s an internal use case using GPT-4, as the survey found out. (cm)

6. Email Design Trends 2024

Sticking to tried-and-tested approaches can be tempting, but it also means you might miss out on opportunities. Email marketing is a field where leaving the beaten tracks can help make your brand more appealing and give you a competitive advantage. In their Email Design Trends 2024 report, Nataly Birch and Andrian Valeanu take a closer look at upcoming email design trends to help you stay ahead of the curve.

So what can we expect from email next year? Sustainable practices and accessibility, interactive email, hyperpersonalization, gamified experiences, dark mode, and nostalgia are some topics the report expects will play a major role in email in 2024. The predictions are based on technological advancements, market studies, and tendencies in the economic sphere, as well as professional insights from leading experts in the field. (cm)

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7. Graphic Design Trends 2024

Good graphic design stands out, connects you to your audience, and creates brand loyalty. And that becomes more important than ever in the current global turmoil with businesses battling to survive. To keep you on top of what’s currently happening in graphic design, Creative Boom consulted with leaders in the industry to predict the graphic design trends for 2024.

The predictions cover everything from new business models to new production methods and big developments in how graphic designs are created. Subscription-based agency work, moving type, and a backlash against AI are just some of the trends we might see next year. (cm)

4. Upcoming Online Workshops in 2024

We’ve been busy planning for online workshops in 2024, be it accessibility, performance, or design patterns. We’ve recently announced new ones on behavioral design, CSS, UX strategy and Figma workflow.

With online workshops, we aim to give you the same experience and access to experts as in an in-person workshop from wherever you are.

As always, here’s a quick overview:

• Deep Dive On Accessibility Testing Dev
  with Manuel Matuzović. Jan 8–22
• UX Strategy Masterclass UX
  with Vitaly Friedman. Jan 23 – Feb 6
• Live UX Training + Certification (Spring 2024) UX
  with Vitaly Friedman. Mar 8 – Apr 5
• Resilient & Maintainable CSS Dev
  with Miriam Suzanne. Feb 26 – Mar 12
• Scalable CSS Masterclass Dev
  with Andy Bell. May 9–23
• Smart Interface Design Patterns (9h video) UX
  9h-video + Live UX Training with Vitaly Friedman
• Jump to all workshops →

9. Smashing Books 📚

Promoting best practices and providing you with practical tips to master your daily coding and design challenges has always been at the core of everything we do at Smashing.

In the past few years, we were very lucky to have worked together with some talented, caring people from the web community to publish their wealth of experience as printed books. Have you checked them out already?

• Understanding Privacy by Heather Burns
• Touch Design for Mobile Interfaces by Steven Hoober
• Image Optimization by Addy Osmani
• Jump to all books →

… and we’re currently working on a new book: Success At Scale, shipping in February. Pre-order your copy or browse the complete library.

10. Recent Smashing Articles

• Building Components For Consumption, Not Complexity (Part 2)
• CSS Scroll Snapping Aligned With Global Page Layout: A Full-Width Slider Case Study
• Building Components For Consumption, Not Complexity (Part 1)
• Preparing For Interaction To Next Paint, A New Web Core Vital
• Read more on Smashing Magazine →

That’s All, Folks!

Thank you so much for reading and for your support in helping us keep the web dev and design community strong with our newsletter. See you next time!

This newsletter issue was written and edited by Cosima Mielke (cm), Vitaly Friedman (vf) and Iris Lješnjanin (il).

Sent to truly smashing readers via Mailchimp.
We sincerely appreciate your kind support. You rock.

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