Geoff Graham

Brad frost picks up the ongoing conversation about design systems. Where many posts seem to center on how to create one and how to enforce it, the big takeaway here is that design systems are not synonymous with constraints. They're only as strict as we make them and new CSS features like custom properties actually open up new creative possibilities—something Andres Galante and Cliff Pyles recently pitched right here on CSS-Tricks.

Brad:

The aesthetic layer is often the most malleable

The Edge team put together a thorough demo of variable fonts, showcasing them in all of their shape-shifting and adaptive glory. Equally interesting as the demo itself is a history of web typography and where variable fonts fit in the grand scheme of things.

This demo pairs well with v-fonts.com, which is an interactive collection of variable fonts that allows you to play around with the variable features each font provides.… Read article

This is by far the biggest deep dive I've seen on CSS Variables posted to the web and it's merely Chapter One of complete e-book on the topic.

Truth is, I'm still on the thick of reading through this myself, but had to stop somewhere in the middle to write this up and share it because it's just that gosh-darned useful. For example, the post goes into great detail on three specific use cases for CSS Variables and breaks the … Read article

The second iteration of CSS Grid is already in the works and the public editor's draft was released last week! While it is by no means the final W3C recommendation, this draft is the start of discussions around big concepts many of us have been wanting to see since the first level was released, including subgrids:

In some cases it might be necessary for the contents of multiple grid items to align to each other. A grid container that

MDN released a comprehensive guide to Flexbox with new and updated materials by Rachel Andrew. The guide includes 11 posts demonstrating layouts, use cases and everything you could possibly want or need to know on the topic. All of the related Flexbox properties are nicely and conveniently attached to the table of contents, making this extremely easy to use.… Read article

The W3C has completed its second round of HTML5 recommendations for implementation. The entire announcement is worth a read because there are interesting tidbits that provide more context and personnel changes within W3C, but the highlights of this recommendation are nicely summed up:

Many of the features added integrate other work done in W3C. The Payment Request API promises to make commerce on the Web far easier, reducing the risks of making a mistake or being caught by an unscrupulous