Suggested Solution : Rather than replacing the start menu with the Metro UI interface, implement it as an enhancement to the desktop.

As it stands right now in Windows 8, the primary point of integration between the desktop application (as Microsoft is now calling it) and the new Metro UI is the “Start” button. If a user is working within the desktop interface, clicking the “Start” button brings he or she back to the Metro UI. I think this decision will prove to cause some major headaches for power-users that rely on searching and quickly accessing multiple applications at a time. It puts too much necessity on the somewhat limited taskbar as an full application manager. In any case.. lets get to the point:

I suggest keeping the task bar and start menu interface accessible at all times while replacing what is currently used as the desktop with the Metro UI interface. The following are a few reasons why I think this would be a good idea, along with some functional possibilities of the implementation:

• The desktop is a place where users store things they want to access quickly. The tiles in the Metro UI serve the exact same purpose. So, why not combine these two areas into one, rather than having the Metro UI AND a desktop in separate locations?
• The Metro UI / Desktop Application would be contained in one interface. Thus, there would be no uncomfortable and drastic switches between operating environments.
• Dragging items to the “desktop”, which would be the Metro UI, could create new live tiles rather than desktop icons.
• Applications could run on the desktop / full screen or in a windowed format. Users could be given options of where to open each application.
• Tablet users and power users would BOTH benefit from the Metro UI without sacrificing any productivity. Tablet users can easily Ignore the non finger-friendly explorer windows and power users would have the option to use the Metro UI or not to manage applications and search for files.
• No-one really cares about getting a good view of their desktop background. Desktop backgrounds exist because the desktop serves no other functionality than an easily accessible folder.
• Explorer windows can be themed to match nicely with the Metro UI… No ribbon please (personal preference).

Disclaimer: This is not the opinion of a software developer.

I am not a software developer. I have no idea if this is technically feasible, but I think the concept would work great! My assumption is that there are reasons this would be a technical challenge since early facts about Windows 8 suggest that the two Uis run very differently at the core. I am still interested to find out what people think about this concept.

Design goals

The goal with this new design was to develop a simple, responsive layout that provided flexibility for creative expression through graphic design work. I am a big fan of the idea of providing customized page design based on the subject matter of the content. The layout and HTML structure for each section of the site is identical but the presentation around it can be easily customized through CSS, by targeting classes that have been applied to the body tag. For the most part, this type of custom design is seen primarily in print media. On the Web, the idea is typically ignored so that development can be streamlined. Jason Santa Maria’s personal website is a stunning example of this concept and an inspiration for this site.

Responsive Web Desgin

A feature of this website that I payed particular attention to is was the concept of “responsive website design”. For a majority of my personal work, I make my Websites that utilize “liquid”layouts. The same is true for this website, but with the help of some CSS3 media queries and some jQuery, the layout also adjusts itself to the screen size to provide a pleasant user experience on large and small screen sizes.

Example:

About page: 1680px wide

About page: 1024px wide

I am working on applying this concept to a mobile platform as well. Although not completely finished, I have been experimenting with adapting the same set of code to a mobile version of my website while optimizing it to run smooth on much much less powerful devices.

Up and coming

With the framework in place, I will continue to make updates and adjust the “Themes” of the many blog posts and pages of site to keep things fresh and explore different ways to utilize the web as an artistic medium.

Comments / Suggestions?

If you’ve stopped by my site to take a look at my work or read a blog post, let me know what you think by leaving a comment!

Download RMSforms-v0.5.css
View Examples / Reference Sheet

RMSforms v0.5 was tested in IE6 – 7, Firefox 3 & Google Chrome. More testing is to come.

It is validated using XHTML STRICT doctype

The HTML

“RMSforms”, CSS forms framework is based off a very simple HTML structure:

<fieldset>
  <legend></legend>
    <ul class="form [modifier]">
      <li><label class="[label modifier]"></label><input/></li>
    </ul>
</fieldset>

The Beauty of the Un-ordered List

Un-ordered lists are a great tool for grouping form elements together because they make sense semantically and provide for the level of flexibility needed to style a form effectively.

In essence, a web-based form is a LIST of form fields with coresponding labels that are grouped together visualy based on their association to each other. In the HTML structure of RMSforms, the <ul> provides a container for the list of all related labels / form fields and the <li> provides a container for the grouping of the individual <label> / form field combinations. In more complex forms, a <label> can often times be used to distinguish not only just one <input>, but a "nested form" that has a series of labels / form fields. With the the <ul><li> structure, nesting a form is very easy.

Other CSS form techniques use <p> tags, <div> tags, and line breaks to group individual labels & form field combinations together. I think these grouping methods leave a lot to be desired as far as flexibility and semantics. In my opinion, line breaks should be avoided whenever possible, <p> tags should only be used when presenting a paragraph, and although <div> tags would work, your html code would get real sloppy in an advanced form.

The CSS

In every web-based form there are two layout orientations that can be used to display the relationship between a <label> and it’s corresponding form field; horizontal or vertical. The same is true for the visual orientation of the <label> / form field groupings to one another. This simple concept is the basis for the class names being used within the “RMSforms” framework.

The allmighty “form” class

Each top-level form <ul> in the "RMSforms" html structure has a base class of “form” applied to it. This class establishes a basic visual relationship between the elements within the form, sets a background-color and provides some outer padding.

<ul class=”form”></ul>

The Modifier Classes

The most important classes defined in the "RMSforms" stylesheet are the “form modifiers”. These are 3 letter classes that modify the visual relationship between the <li>, <label>, and <input> elements respectively.

The first letter in the modifier class names describes the orientation of the <LI> tags in the form <ul>, the second letter describes the orientation of the <LABEL> tags in he form <ul> and the third letter describes the orientation of the form fields within the form <ul>. The 3 letters that make up the modifier class names are “H”, “V” and “I”

• H = Horizonal Block
• V = Vertical Block
• I = Inline

A list of all the form modifier classes:

• vvv – Vertical <li>, Vertical <label>, Vertical form fields
• hvv – Horizontal <li>, Vertical <label>, Vertical form fields
• hii – Horizontal <li>, Inline <label>, Inline form fields
• hhh – Horizontal <li>, Horizontal <label>, Horizontal form fields
• vii – Vertical <li>, Inline <label>, Inline form fields
• vhh – Vertical <li>, Horizontal <label>, Horizontal form fields

Usage Example…

The class “hvv” describes a form with <li> tags that are layed out horizontally and <label> tags which are vertical block elements that sit on top of vertical block form field tags.

<ul class=”form (default form class) hvv (form modifier)“></ul>

To view this example in html, take a look at the RMSforms example page

Label Modifiers

Often times, you may want the visual orientation between a <label> and form field tags to vary within a form. For example, if one of your labels in a “VHH” form has a lot of text in it, you may want it to sit on top of it’s corresponding form field rather than to the left of it. This is where the label modifiers come into play. Label modifiers are used to override the classes placed on the form <ul> and should be applied to <label> elements within a form. The exiting label modifiers are classes:“v” or “h”.

Form Nesting

One of the advantages to this form framework is the ability to nest form <ul> tags without a problem. In many advanced forms, problems pop up when needing to incorporate multiple <label> / form field combinations within one grouping. Using the form modifier classes, simply nest a form <ul> with the appropriate modifier applied to it within an <li> and you’re all set.

Why Not Just Use Tables?

Ah, the great question. Why not just use tables? Wouldn’t be a lot easier? Yes it would, but, being a semantic Web design nut, I believe tables should only be used in html to describe tabular data. If your not too concerned with html semantics, it is a very plausible solution for the laying out forms.

Comments, Suggestions and Modifications Are More Than Welcome.

"RMSforms" CSS Forms framework is a work in progress. The goal of this project is to make form styling as simple as possible. There are probably many scenarios in that I didn’t account for, or bugs that I have not come across. If you have any questions, comments or ways to improve this framework please post them up or contact me directly. I look forward to hearing from you!

Updates: 6/16/2011

• Added “list-item modifier: inline” (line 125): Adding class=”inline” to any <li> in a form will convert all inputs and labels contained in that list-item to inline elements. This is helpful when you have a form where a group of form elements needs to be displayed horizontally within one list item of a form laid out vertically.
• Separated “theme styles” from the framework styles in the Examples / Reference Sheet : This was done so that no generic font or layout styles are contained in the framework, making it easier to implement.

I am no movie critic but I am a huge fan of Pixar movies and 3D animation in general. I have to say, after seeing every Pixar movie multiple times over, that Wall-E ranks #1 out of them all, in front of Andrew Stanton’s last Pixar film: “Finding Nemo”. I was extremely impressed and pleasantly surprised by the the depth and emotion that was packed into a movie with such a seemingly simple “sci-fi” love story that had relatively, very little dialogue. I have not seen an animated movie to date that exudes such powerful emotion and incredible character development purely through meticulously executed animation.

From very shortly into the movie you know, understand, and have immediate sympathy for Wall-E. Pixar took the challenge of limited dialogue and turned it into the movies overwhelming strength, and an element of the movie that was irreplaceable. At no point in the movie did I think: “I wish the characters talked more”. The limited dialog in Wall-E has the same effect of reading a book, then seeing the movie for that same book afterward. The movie is never as good as the book because when reading a book your imagination creates the story the way you want it to be told and how you think it should look. The same is true in Wall-E with regard to the character’s dialogue. You were able to make up your own version of the story using any internal dialogue you wanted with the support of the incredible amount of detail and subtleties in the animation. Thinking about it now, I wish there was less dialogue!

Wall-E provided some of the best Pixar scenes to date

Wall-E’s character was a lovable, insecure and clumsy robot which provided for the seamless combination of comic relief and sympathy to create some of the greatest Pixar movie scene’s yet:

A couple Memorable Wall-E moments:

• The shots that combined to make the scene when EVE enters into “shutdown mode” waiting to be picked up by the Axiom after finding life on earth were very emotional and combined extremely well to simultaneously establish the amount love and extreme loneliness Wall-E had in him. If you didn’t feel bad for Wall-E at this point in the movie, you had no heart. Wall-E getting struck by lightening multiple times while shielding EVE from the storm was hilarious and filled in any voids left, if, while watching you still didn’t understand the depths of Wall-E’s desire for a loving relationship.
• The Scene when EVE and Wall-E are flying around in space after Wall-E ejected himself from the self-destructing pod using a fire extinguisher was visually stunning and beautifully done to capture the joy Wall-E and EVE provided each other. It also was a very well thought out visual demonstration of the differences in the two characters personalities. It further enhanced the power of their on-screen relationship and, as with most scenes it has some well placed comic relief.

Wall-E is more than a love story…

In addition to a nice simple love story with mis-haps and adventure, Wall-E presents a powerful, and hilarious social commentary as to the future of human existence that is far fetched but definitely opens your eyes to the sad possibilities of life and technology in 800 years. Pixar presents this commentary in a way that is used primarily to enhance the importance and power of Wall-E and Eve’s love for one another. the social commentary does not get in the way of the fun of movie and Pixar makes sure you don’t leave the theater feeling like “one of those terrible human creatures”.

For all the good there was one disappointment…

One thing that I was disappointed in, and surprised with in Wall-E was the use of actual human actors in the movie. As I can recall it was the first time this has been done in a Pixar movie and it didn’t seem necessary in this context. I’m sure there was a reason for it, as there usually is a reason for everything in the creation of a Pixar movie, but I really didn’t understand it. I thought the movie would have been just as good, if not better without the presence of human actors, especially the very recognizable Fred Willard. The combination of about 99% 3D animation and 1% actual human characters seemed to cheapen the movie a bit. I felt the same way about happy feet.

“I don’t really like it. Overall, this is really not the direction I wanted to go in with the site. Do you think we could try something new?”

The client is not always right… we just have to make them think they are always right

The initial response to this situation, post anger and aggression, is: “wow this client stinks!” What does “he / she” know about the direction they SHOULD go in! I’m the designer!

For the most part, theses comments are all valid. The client is not a designer, if they responded like the above quote they probably do stink, and no, they don’t know what direction they SHOULD go in.

What the client does know is what they WANT and how they want it to look. Unfortunately it is up to you to give them what they want. I believe every client has a basic mental picture of what they want from their website. “Good clients” are people who are willing to alter that image based on your input. Bad clients are the ones that stick to that image and don’t want to make any alterations to their beautiful imagination.

So in other words…

In order to go anywhere with clients, you need to understand your client and try to grasp their imaginary website. Being able to do this takes time and understanding of your client’s personality, site examples, and listening to how they talk about their website. If you do this, it is easier to do what the client wants. You have to use their imagination as a starting point for your comp.

The key is to both satisfy their mental image while demonstrating good design principles at the same time. Take advantage of the client’s hazy mental picture. Modernize it. Make it work. Unfortunately, a lot of the time client’s mental images of their site are based off badly designed web sites so you may have to sacrifice some cool web 2.0 design trends and styles in order to achieve a good balance.

The Setup…

Fortunately the ‘06- ‘08 Honda Civic has an unintentionally “great” design feature that can eliminate the problems and inconveniences that portable navigation systems offer. It provides for probably the most seamless portable navigation setup I’ve seen in a car.

Mounting

The “ceiling” of the storage compartment under the radio in the center console is sloped at about the exact same angle as the windshield which makes for a perfect surface to mount a portable navigation system on. Obviously all mounting devices are different; some may fit with this setup and others may not, but the one I used that came with the Mio C520 is one the more bulky mounting bracket’s I’ve seen for a portable navigation system, so hopefully my setup is sort of a worst case scenario.

A suction cup will not stick to the “ceiling” of the center console storage compartment but the Mio C520 Mounting bracket came with a adhesive mounting plate that sticks to non smooth surfaces. The mounting plate is what is stuck to the sloped “ceiling” of the storage compartment and the bracket is suctioned to that plate so the whole setup is completely removable. (SEE IMAGE 4)

The adhesive on the back of the mounting plate is very strong. I have had no problems with it falling off, but I will have to see if it holds up to the heat of summer. If it doesn’t, I would even consider permanently mounting the plate to the “ceiling” of the storage compartment because it is completely hidden from view.

Wires

Another beautiful thing about this setup is that the power outlet is located right beside the navigation system and the other center console storage tray is perfect for housing the excess wires of the power cord.

These words have been heard by probably every web designer when consulting with a client. It is a comment that is very limited in its ability to give a designer any sort of useful feedback toward the visual design of a website because “bigger and bolder” needs to be applied to elements of a site very carefully to be effective. “Bigger and bolder” is usually only a small part of a solution to the problem of emphasizing important information. Big red and blue text in 32pt Arial font does not sell or even emphasize unless it is displayed in a way that is consistent with the site design but provides adequate contrast from the less important content. Not everything can be big and bold or else nothing is, and everything that is big and bold must be consistent with the rest of the site.

Eye Tracking Studies

It was proven through eye tracking studies performed by Jacob Neilson and others that, on the web, people ignore sections of a web page that look like ads. A similar study was conducted by Neilson when testing the effectiveness of large graphics on homepages. The findings were similar. According to eye tracking software, users spent very little time at all looking at the large graphical sections on a page. What these studies imply is that users ignore content which is inconsistent with the site design and seem irrelevant to the the content of a page. Ads are distinguished by their inconsistency with the design of a given site while many large graphical images on a page come off as irrelevant unless accompanied by areas of text.

Proper Emphasis

When emphasizing specific content on a page it is important to make use of contrast in combination with elegance to avoid the above mentioned situations. High contrast draws attention, and differentiates the important information from the less important information while elegance presents the information in a way that will not detract users from viewing it. Elegant displays of important information will emphasize the content you want but will not seem to demand attention of the user due to it’s inherit ability to “fit in” with the rest of the site content.

Bigger is only bigger if there is contrast and bolder is only bold if the layout presents the information elegantly. Other than that, you have what comes off as an advertisment and people will ignore it.

Examples…

The Iphone informational pages, or any of apple’s promotional product pages display high contrast, elegant graphical sections in ways that are very consistent with the page design and lead into to important, and relevant content.

There are many places out there where the use of a cell phone works very effectively in pointing out a pompous, low class asshole. These are all places that, by default, you should NOT talk on a cell phone.
Here’s a list of 10 of those places (in no specific order)…

1. The Gym

If you have ever even picked up a cell phone to make or take a call at the gym you are a self centered tool with a small “male extremity”. No excuses, it’s just a fact. Those steroids probably aren’t helping the situation either because now, not only is your “third leg” small but your testes are shrinking rapidly. If you are a girl, and are talking on the phone at the gym, then you are just lazy, and not even worth talking about. Chances are, if you even have a cell phone at the gym you are actually using it to sneak photos of girls, or guys you wish you could attract by pretending to talk on your cell phone at the gym. Save your time, save your money, stop going to the gym… you’re not working out, and you look like a fool that no one wants to associate with. I hope those “skull crushers” you are doing live up to their name!

2. In a Business Meeting

This one is just sad… It’s been done to me on various occasions. The disrespect and amazing rudeness that goes into answering a cell phone call in a business meeting is beyond comprehension. I don’t understand how someone can even start to consider this to be OK. Here I am, in a stupid meeting YOU called to order, wasting my time, while you are answering nonsense phone calls for the sake of looking more important than you really are. Get off the phone and listen, or I’ll take that blackberry of yours, run it under the water cooler and spike your freshly poured water with a laxative so you can have sometime alone in the bathroom and talk on the phone all you want without wasting my time.

3. The Dinner Table

If a pending conversation with your “buddy” or your “bro” or your “bff” is more important than eating, family, and your survival, then OK, take that call at the dinner table, otherwise, save it for after you eat, asshole. There are millions of hungry children in this world who would LOVE to take your spot at that table then stab you in the chest with a spear they made from sticks off the foundation of their shanty when you try to sit back down. With blood pouring out of your spear wound, at least then you might start thinking about the important things in life.

4. A Restaurant

If you don’t have anyone to talk to while sitting down to eat at a restaurant, do the rest of us a favor and stop trying to make it seem like you do. And stop trying to make it seem like you have a purpose. Go home to your lonely pathetic life. Maybe then a phone call will be warranted if anyone is willing to go through the pain of talking to you. No one cares about you, or your phone. Your disrupting everyone’s dinner and making an ass out of yourself. You are probably the type of person who doesn’t tip and complains about how cold your food is even if it’s fresh out of the oven. Hopefully you get third degree burns on your tongue from that burning hot soup that you just had warmed up for no reason. You won’t be talking much on the phone then.

5. During the Checkout process at a store

OK, you’ve talked on your cell phone in the line… FINE, that’s somewhat acceptable, But when you get to the checkout counter, PUT THE PHONE DOWN! You are annoying everyone around you with your arrogance and failed attempt at demonstrating self importance. Everyone now just hates you even more than they did when they first noticed your arrogant strut through the isles of the Dollar Store. You’re not kidding us. We all know your real story: You don’t talk to your mother anymore because she called you a bad name once and your father hates the fact that he created a pompous asshole so he has chosen not to talk to you.

By the way, that conversation you are having with your whore girlfriend about her latest STD (that you now have), or your felon brother in prison can wait until after you finish buying that YO YO for one of your 8 children from a previous marriage.

Meanwhile, on the receiving end of your arrogance, your cashier would have loved to stab you in the eye with the pen she gave you to sign for your overcharged credit card, you minimum paying bastard.

6. Anywhere in public while using a Bluetooth device

OK… You look like schizophrenic from outer space. Hold the phone with your hands (You are not driving and that’s what hands were made for) and take that stupid little futuristic laser looking device off your ear. You are flashing, and everyone is worried about your health because you’re talking to yourself. NO, it doesn’t make you look cool… just weird. I hope that stupid little device is attracting radio waves that cause a terminal form of a fast growing cancer.

7. Crowded Public Transportation

No one wants to hear you, or your “partner” on the other end of the line talk intimately to each other, and especially, no one wants your fat elbows in their face while your doing so. You smell like you just ran through a sewer and it’s obvious a swamp is in your pants. Put the phone, and your arms down. It’s too crowded for that. No one likes you. No one likes your significant other on the line. No one thinks you look “cool”, and if we weren’t living in a civil society you would be the first pushed off this train onto the rails.

8. A Car

This one deserves a little explanation… we all talk on the phones in the car and for the most part that is fine. It is HOW you talk on the phone in your car ,and what types of conversations you have in a car that make you look like a ass. The people I’m talking about are the people who ONLY talk on their cell phone while in their car and go out of their way to make the most important phone calls in their car. We see it all the time. Over animated assholes “driving, while talking on their cell”. Most of the time they have glossy black hair and if you look long enough at them you will see they often times check if anyone one is watching their disgusting display of self importance. Hey you! get out of the left-center lane, stop flailing your arms around in your car and pay attention to the fact a semi is about to merge into you and push you off the bridge that you deserve to die on. If your cell phone conversation is that important, wait until you get off the damn road and help save a life… your own.

9. A Place of worship

Come on! Have a little faith! Kneel, stand, sit, sit then stand, kneel then stand… do whatever you gotta do to be accepted in your faith, just don’t sit, then stand up to answer your phone. It’s unholy. God should send a lighting bolt though your spine because you so rudely interrupted his or her speech for no good reason.

10. A movie theater

These phone conversation although often times brief and quiet are just unnecessary and rude performed by low class individuals. There can be no other reason for having such phone conversations than to promote the fact that you are having such phone conversations. That or you want people to see you as a wild rebel who blatantly disregards the rules… No, actually the truth is that your just seen as an ass to everyone. It amazes me that someone would think that answering his or her phone in the theater is appropriate regardless of how short or brief the conversation is. These are also the people that are constantly whispering to each other or snickering at nothing related to the movie. I hope they fall down the stairs and break a leg the next time they go to the bathroom because they were looking at their cell phone screen for too long.

In defense, some will say…

But what if it’s an emergency!?!? If an emergency happened elsewhere in any of these situations you shouldn’t know about it because you shouldn’t be talking on your phone. If there is an emergency that you are waiting for an update on, you shouldn’t be in any of these places or situations in the first place. Last, if an emergency just happened in one of these places, you shouldn’t and wouldn’t be the one to respond to it because you suck and you are selfish. So no, it doesn’t matter if there is an emergency.

In the term “liquid layout”, I’m not referring to web sites where only the background colors / background images extend to the bounds of the browser window but the content and page layout is not affected.

Why you may not want to use a liquid layout.

• Dificulty
• Aesthetics
• Usability

Difficulty

Simply put, liquid layout are more difficult to construct than static layouts. For each element of the layout / design you must take into account the ability to extend it vertically as well as horizontally. In terms of CSS Layouts, this factor can be a nightmare, especially if you have, for example, one static column and one “liquid” column. CSS was obviously not developed to handle the “pixel / Percentage” combination very well because the only efficient means of succeeding in this are basically work arounds. I found a great site titled Layout gala that helps out a lot with this technique, and I actually used as a basis for the layout of this site.

Aesthetics

Aesthetics and design principals sort of have to go out the window when it comes to creating a liquid layout especially since you have to compensate for an individuals with high screen resolutions. Design and “visual harmony” on the web, or in any media for that matter is based very much on proportions and when a liquid layout is used, these proportional rules need to be extended to a point where they just don’t work anymore. This is especially the case when trying to get a layout to “look nice” stretched out horizontally on a 30″ monitor.

Usability

The optimum readable width for a section of text on the web has been proven to be about 450px 65-85 characters (source) . This width is almost always exceeded on large monitors with high screen resolutions when a liquid layout is implemented, unless of course the content section is a static width.

Why you should consider using liquid layouts.

• Extensibilty
• Usability
• Taking advantage of the medium

Extensibilty

With a liquid layout, there is no need for a re-design when a larger screen resolution has become the most popular… your site will conform to any size browser window size.

Usability

Websites that fit your browser are often easier to read and interact because all the content is always visible and there is rarely any need for the horizontal scroll bar regardless of the browser window size. There is an obvious exception to this if you implement a minimum width on your containing element.

Taking advantage of the medium

I read this article by Thomas Baekdal where he writes about the redundant debate between liquid vs. static layouts. His response is:

“There is an amazing amount of articles on the net on how to make the overall layout. But, none of these gets it right. They are all trying to solve the wrong problem.

These articles define the problem as either having too much space – i.e. large empty areas outside your content – or too little space that forces horizontal scrolling and lack of whitespace.

I understand why this is a problem, and why people want to eliminate it. But, you are not solving the right one. The real problem is; how do you optimize the visual presentation of your website? How do you make your content look amazing? How do you make it easy to see – to read?”

He is correct, and this article is probably another one of those articles about the debate between liquid and static layouts but I think reasons for using liquid layouts extend beyond the bounds of making sure content looks great. What I want to bring to attention with this article is the question of whether or not, as WEB designers, we should develop websites to cohere to ALL of the unique aspects of our medium. Should we make a point to implement all the tools and techniques available to us so that each of our web-sites takes into account the fact that the size of our medium is not static at all? With a static layout, for the most part, we are basically replicating design techniques seen on print and television media but that is not our medium.

In television, there are two aspect rations, thats basically it 4×3 and 16×9, so designing for television is easy when it comes to choosing a size. The same is true for print. In the web, there are different screen resolutions, screen sizes, and then the window size. By ignoring this aspect of our medium are we are taking the easy way out? Should we be taking the easy way out? If we ignored the size of the medium in any other application, things would look awkward and would not be received correctly. This is the same situation in the web and is also the reason why I think there is so much debate about this topic.

Some nicely implemented liquid layout sites: (more to come)

• w3.org.
  This site has been adapted with a liquid layout and manages never to become “awkward”. With that said, it isn’t to high on the “flashy design” totem poll
• vivabit.com
• smashingmagazine.com