📝 Issue #460: Become a Self-Taught Designer, One Step Closer to Container Queries, Quarkly, Tackling Redesigns, and more…

In the ongoing push to perfect responsive design, frontend developers have been asking for container queries — media queries based on elements, not the browser window — for years. Mathias Hülsbusch introduces the Raven Technique: one step closer to finally achieving component-based responsive design.

Human beings are wired to complete tasks, once the task is begun all we need to do is embrace the fact that something that is finished, must at some point be unfinished. Adrian Zumbrunnen explores the power of unfinished, the benefits to your career, and the ways a sense of unfinished can be used to drive UX.

Picking up the pieces when another designer or developer has dropped the ball is an essential skill for any web professional. In this in-depth guide to transitioning the design and build of a website, we look at the pitfalls of the process and detail the solutions, so you can take over sites with ease.

Quarkly is a modern web design and development tool for professionals. You can use it for design with the simple GUI, or as a developer’s cloud-based code editor. Log in using Google or GitHub and you’ll be able to create a site or app in minutes, then export the React code to GitHub or download the source.

In the first of a series, Dee Reddy and Anna Murphy look at the changes in physical retail and ecommerce that are driving more businesses to treat their real life stores as brand experiences for driving sales on their digital shops. The hour-long podcast is supplemented by this must-read post for ecommerce professionals.

In this excellent overview of the challenges and opportunities of product design Amilton L. Paglia presents six lessons learnt from 12 years in the industry; from establishing a clear purpose when starting, to the difference between hard and self-imposed constraints, to shaping friction into a positive force for your project.

Do you want to be a professional designer, but lack the art school education? No problem! It’s never been easier to make the leap into a creative career. This inspiring post by Renee Fleck will point you in the right direction with six easy to follow steps for transforming your career and entering the design sphere.

Xpression Camera is an astounding app that integrates with video conferencing tools like Zoom to give you a live augmented makeover. Choose any image you like and others will see the image move and speak when you do. Attend meetings as a celebrity, your boss, or in a suit and tie when actually in your pyjamas.

Are you missing the stomach churning anxiety of the US presidential election? While some states are still counting, you can recapture the extraordinary highs and worrying lows of election fever by visiting President-Elect Biden’s official transition website. It’s a model of accessibility, fine typography, and copywriting.