So, I’ve just finished designing and developing a new website and I tried something different this time. Normally I design a site in Photoshop and then cut and code from a finished design. This time, however, the focus was much more on the content and information flow than anything else. So I wanted to get to work writing the content in the context of a simple webpage (because those CEO’s need to see something beyond a Word document, don’t you know it). I looked around for a few minutes and found Blueprint CSS, a CSS framework to make your shit sparkle fast… or just give you a nice, standards based set of tools to get started with a site immediately. A few benefits of Blueprint CSS:
<ul>
<li>A CSS reset that eliminates the discrepancies across browsers.
</li>
<li>A solid grid that can support the most complex of layouts.
</li>
<li>Good typography and forms out of the box. I mean, simple, but really good.
</li>
</ul>
<h3>So, I Really Liked</h3>
It In 15 minutes I was getting used to the way the grid works had a few columns and headlines setup. I loved all the built in typography and classes that gave me healthy variation with, basically, ZERO work at all. The help on the wiki is a bit sparse, but there are some resources out there to help you get used to Blueprint. I just found <a href="http://www.blueprintcss.org/media/BlueprintV0.8byGJMS.pdf">this PDF cheatsheet on Blueprint CSS</a>, which would have been a huge help early on.... you're welcome.
It was nice to focus pretty much solely on the content... though I did go on a few tangents trying to familiarize myself with the framework. Mostly, however, it was black ink on a white page and I was forced to put together the good words and info flow before adding any pretty pictures and drop shadows.
<h3>Just A Helpful Note...</h3>
To let you know that Blueprint CSS is a pretty friggen quick way to get something up and running for prototyping and even full on designing a site.
I'll let you know when the new site is launched. For now, expect great things from the Blueprint CSS framework... To get started, just go to the <a href="http://www.blueprintcss.org/">Blueprint CSS website</a> and download the goods. A few links to the style sheets and you're up and running.
There are some <a href="http://wiki.github.com/joshuaclayton/blueprint-css/themes-and-frameworks">themes and framework for Blueprint</a> that will get you started using Blueprint with WordPress, Drupal and more.
