Creme de la Creme - June 2009

In no particular order (except the alphabetical one), here is our top 10 selection for the month of June 2009. Enjoy.

CSSMania Jobs

We are proud to announce the launch of CSSMania Jobs, the recruitment site dedicated to the web designers and web developers, created by CSS Mania, the most visited and updated css showcase all over the globe.

Since 2004 we have been updating CSS Mania to include the best designs all over the globe for CSS technology. To promote it, you will be able to post your jobs for free (we might charge something in the future).

CSSMania Jobs :)

Creme de la Creme - May 2009

In no particular order (except the alphabetical one), here is our top 10 selection for the month of May 2009. Enjoy.

Finally, the redesign!

Refresh your browsers cause the new design is here. All credits go to Vitor Lourenço.

We know it took too much time. Time we never had. But, it is finally here. We will make a more detailed post when we finish tuning everything. Our server cache has to deal with the new design also, so don´t expect things to go superfast right now.

As you read this, we are fixing issues. So they might be fixed in the next hours. In any case, if you have problems, drop us an e-mail.

Creme de la Creme - April 2009

In no particular order (except the alphabetical one), here is our top 10 selection for the month of April 2009. Enjoy.

Balmain Tigers - Up With The Play

So subtle, yet so prominent. I'm talking about the background image chosen by the designer of Tigers, Balmain.

For those of you who aren't quite up with the play, The Balmain Tigers (formally known as the Sydney Tigers) were one of the original rugby league football clubs in New South Wales, Australia. So, they are right on the ball (excuse the pun) with the choice of their leathered textured background. The website is based around the clubs services - dining, entertainment and functions. Every aspect of the site, from font selection through to the choice of images, just emphasizes relaxed fun, don't you think?

By now you must have picked up that I am a rugby league fan - it's what we enjoy down here, I am a Kiwi after all (and we're not part of Australia ;-).

Putting aside the "fun" aspect of the site, the website seems to develop quite a classy feel to it. Being able to "Refine" your search on the Entertainment page without the page having to reload is excellent. The information is clear, precise and can easily be targeted. What more could you want? The navigation is replicated at the footer of the site (including sub-pages) which increases the websites usability ten-fold, the headings are clear, all content is legible and to top it off the websites eye flow is great, constantly leading the users eye to the desired content.

Images throughout the site (as mentioned earlier) have been used extremely well. The scale and quality is superb and they definitely add the "wow" factor to the Tigers Balmain site. The use of a JavaScript library has given the site a polished look and feel. In their case, jQuery has been utilized across many of the pages.

However, there was something that was bugging me the whole time I was on the site. The entertainment boxes that seem to appear on each page.
I have no problem with boxes being there, but the colours that are used in them could have been chosen a little more wisely. They don't seem to fit terribly well with the rest of the site. They are, after all, almost their own advertisements for other sections of their website. They have full control over them.

Enough of that, time for the weekend.
Till next time.

Matt Evans

Creme de la Creme - March 2009

In no particular order (except the alphabetical one), here is our top 10 selection for the month of March 2009. Enjoy.

Your IP has been banned from our server

Back to the ddos thingie. We are still being hit.

Since it started, it hasn´t stopped a single day.

We know what this means for some users that might not be the ones involved in the attack, going out to the internet with a single IP that belongs to their "in-house", "in-office" gateway; but be sure that if it is not your computer hitting us, it is some of your colleagues computer inside your LAN. We know some of you may not be even aware that your computer is hitting us, we also know about dynamic IPs and what this means in terms of banning an IP in our server. But that's how it is going to stay until you contact us.

We did a 403 template at least to explain all this and the way of contacting us.

Sorry for the problems this may cause... but that's the way it is today.We'll see tomorrow.

Fish, Beer & Blogging.

Fish Brewing? What an interesting name. I love fishing, not to mention beer - this website is already sounding good!

And so it started. I moved my way through this intriguing site, my eye being caught instantly on the 'painted' effect of the background. If you dive deeper into the site you will notice a few snapshots of the store here and there. The website and the outside look of the 'physical' store are very similar. The branding is keep very consistent. Top marks there boys.

The Fish Brewing Company (FBC) has put thought into the navigation titles. "Fish Finder" will present you with a list of distributors who sell the ale and the "Brewers Notebook" throws a beer blog on screen (a blog about beer - now we're talking!). The designer has done well keeping the three different labels the company promotes very separate. He/She has achieved this by changing the site's colour scheme slightly depending on the beverage of choice. At no point will the user loose 'trust' of the website or become lost (unless they've had a few too many obviously!). Logos are positioned consistently; navigation, site navigation and the overall design style stays the same. Well Done FBC!

The choice of font ties in well with the style of the website, logos and colours. Content is easily accessible and very legible and I've just noticed they provide FREE Wi-Fi at their pub (how convenient for all those boozing bloggers). The clean layout, large headings and distinctive footer provide distinctive elements for the eye to follow and provide the user with a first-rate user experience. (I wonder if their beer tastes as good as their website is pleasing to the user?)

With not a table in sight (in the website code - not at the pub) the FBC website was looking like I have nothing bad to mention, but all good things come to an end and as I cracked open a 'coldie' from the fridge and sat down for a further inspection. I then noticed the website has a missing "<body>" tag. Whoops.

The FBC website gets a pat-on-the-back from me - CSS Mania (Crème de la Crème) and I'm sure many thirsty bloggers.

Time for another bevy.

Speak Soon.

Matt Evans

Creme de la Creme - February 2009

In no particular order (except the alphabetical one), here is our top 10 selection for the month of February 2009. Enjoy.