Time to read: under 3 minutes
#526
April 23, 2025
Read on the web
Hey Designers! 👋
This week we have:
* AI tools
* keyboard navigable website * font psychology * design layouts * thin fonts * and more…
DESIGN
🎥 The ONLY 4 AI Tools I Actually Use As A Web Designer
There is no shortage of AI tools promising to make our lives easier as web designers. However, only a handful can make made a difference to our workflow. Here are the four that Ran Segall uses regularly.
RAN SEGALL
♿ What Does It Really Mean For A Site To Be Keyboard Navigable
Keyboard navigation is a vital aspect of accessible web design, and a detail-oriented approach is crucial. Prioritizing keyboard navigation prioritizes the user experience for a diverse audience, extending your reach while simultaneously fostering a more inclusive web environment.
ELEANOR HECKS
The Psychology of Fonts: How Typography Shapes Brand Perception
Fonts do more than convey words—they tell stories, trigger emotions, and help shape how people perceive a brand. In this article, Jenifer explores how different types of fonts affect perception and how to use them effectively in brand design.
JENIFER DAVIES
🎥 Don’t Know How to Design Layouts? Just do This
Layouts can be tricky. Where do you even start? And why don’t your designs have the same impact as the ones you admire? Matt Brunton shares one approach that once you understand, you will see everywhere.
MATT BRUNTON
Thin Fonts Are a Usability Nightmare—And Finally, Designers Are Waking Up
Thin fonts may look sleek, but they’re a usability nightmare—hard to read, inaccessible, and especially frustrating on mobile. Thankfully, some brands and websites are finally ditching them in favor of thicker, more readable typography that actually puts users first.
NOAH DAVIS
MISC
🏎 41 racing fonts that will give you a “Rush”
👁 What is bold minimalism, the new trend sweeping the design world?
DEV
🎥 How to Set Max-Columns Using Auto-Fit or Auto-Fill
It takes a little bit of work, but we can relatively easily take control of CSS Grid’s auto-fit (or auto-fill) by using a `calc()` to help set an upper limit on how many columns it creates.
KEVIN POWELL
5 Ways to Reduce HTML File Size on Your Website
Here is how you can reduce HTML file size to improve web performance and Core Web Vitals on your website
ANNA MONUS
Minimal CSS-only blurry image placeholders
Here’s a CSS technique that produces blurry image placeholders (LQIPs) without cluttering up your markup — Only a single custom property needed!
LEAN RADA
CSS Bursts with Conic Gradients
Using hard color stops with `repeating-conic-gradient()` and the double-stop syntax, we can pretty easily create a burst background. Then get fancier.
CHRIS COYIER
The Post-Developer Era
When OpenAI released GPT-4 back in March 2023, they kickstarted the AI revolution. The consensus online was that front-end development jobs would be totally eliminated within a year or two. In this blog post, Josh takes a fresh look at the current landscape, to see how things have changed, and to see if we can anticipate how things will continue to evolve.
JOSH COMEAU
Comments or feedback?
Want to submit an article?
Hit reply to this email!
Never want to hear from us again? Break our hearts and unsubscribe.
#526
April 23, 2025
Read on the web
Hey Designers! 👋
This week we have:
* AI tools
* keyboard navigable website * font psychology * design layouts * thin fonts * and more…
DESIGN
🎥 The ONLY 4 AI Tools I Actually Use As A Web Designer
There is no shortage of AI tools promising to make our lives easier as web designers. However, only a handful can make made a difference to our workflow. Here are the four that Ran Segall uses regularly.
RAN SEGALL
♿ What Does It Really Mean For A Site To Be Keyboard Navigable
Keyboard navigation is a vital aspect of accessible web design, and a detail-oriented approach is crucial. Prioritizing keyboard navigation prioritizes the user experience for a diverse audience, extending your reach while simultaneously fostering a more inclusive web environment.
ELEANOR HECKS
The Psychology of Fonts: How Typography Shapes Brand Perception
Fonts do more than convey words—they tell stories, trigger emotions, and help shape how people perceive a brand. In this article, Jenifer explores how different types of fonts affect perception and how to use them effectively in brand design.
JENIFER DAVIES
🎥 Don’t Know How to Design Layouts? Just do This
Layouts can be tricky. Where do you even start? And why don’t your designs have the same impact as the ones you admire? Matt Brunton shares one approach that once you understand, you will see everywhere.
MATT BRUNTON
Thin Fonts Are a Usability Nightmare—And Finally, Designers Are Waking Up
Thin fonts may look sleek, but they’re a usability nightmare—hard to read, inaccessible, and especially frustrating on mobile. Thankfully, some brands and websites are finally ditching them in favor of thicker, more readable typography that actually puts users first.
NOAH DAVIS
MISC
🏎 41 racing fonts that will give you a “Rush”
👁 What is bold minimalism, the new trend sweeping the design world?
DEV
🎥 How to Set Max-Columns Using Auto-Fit or Auto-Fill
It takes a little bit of work, but we can relatively easily take control of CSS Grid’s auto-fit (or auto-fill) by using a `calc()` to help set an upper limit on how many columns it creates.
KEVIN POWELL
5 Ways to Reduce HTML File Size on Your Website
Here is how you can reduce HTML file size to improve web performance and Core Web Vitals on your website
ANNA MONUS
Minimal CSS-only blurry image placeholders
Here’s a CSS technique that produces blurry image placeholders (LQIPs) without cluttering up your markup — Only a single custom property needed!
LEAN RADA
CSS Bursts with Conic Gradients
Using hard color stops with `repeating-conic-gradient()` and the double-stop syntax, we can pretty easily create a burst background. Then get fancier.
CHRIS COYIER
The Post-Developer Era
When OpenAI released GPT-4 back in March 2023, they kickstarted the AI revolution. The consensus online was that front-end development jobs would be totally eliminated within a year or two. In this blog post, Josh takes a fresh look at the current landscape, to see how things have changed, and to see if we can anticipate how things will continue to evolve.
JOSH COMEAU
Comments or feedback?
Want to submit an article?
Hit reply to this email!
Never want to hear from us again? Break our hearts and unsubscribe.