Hello Reader,

I'm writing this while sitting at the airport waiting for my flight back home, after having an amazing time at Smashing Conference!

Just like when I was at CSS Day, there were a few names that I was like "wait, I'm sharing a stage with them?!"

One of those was Brad Frost, who I'm going to assume a lot of people reading this are aware of (he's the guy behind the concept of Atomic Design).

The other was Jessica Hische, who isn't as well known in the dev space anymore since she's a lettering artist, though for a while she did have some web projects going too.

I was a big fan of Jessica's before I even got into web development, though, so it was amazing to have had the chance to meet and hang out with her a little bit.

Of course, it's not just about meeting people I've looked up to for years, but everyone I got to chat with, whether it was a quick hello or a deeper conversation, it was fantastic meeting so many awesome people 🙂.

It was such a pleasure to talk to people who watch my videos and have learned things from them, and to get into nerdy conversations about all sorts of topics over a few too many drinks during the after-party.

I don't plan to do a lot of conferences. It takes a lot of work to prepare for them, and it also puts a bit of stress on the family back home.

But I do plan to continue doing them from time to time because there is so much value in getting out into the real world and meeting people face-to-face.

I'll be waiting a little before I start worrying about my future in public speaking, though, for now, I'll be focusing on my courses and YouTube for a little while.

One last thing before we get to the other sections of this newsletter is that if you ever have the chance to attend a Smashing Conference, I'd strongly suggest that you do.

I don't have much experience attending conferences but I thought it was fantastic, and many more experienced talkers told me it's one of the better ones as well.

🙋‍♂️ What I’ve been up to this week

Please, don’t use viewport units for font sizes

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When people first discover viewport units, one of the first things they do with them is to use them for font sizing.

If you did this too, don't fret, so did I!

The idea of having a fluid type that can easily adapt to the viewport is enticing, but there are a lot of issues with using viewport units for your font sizes, both from a general usability standpoint as well as an accessibility one.

In this video, I look at what those issues are, and how we can use clamp() to get around them.

If you do go the clamp() route, there are a few different ways you can go.

I often only use it for larger font sizes, but if you want to use it for all your sizing, then tools like Utopia's font size calculator are fantastic.

🔗 Other awesome stuff around from the web

HTML for the people

Because I was travelling this week I don't have a ton to share, but one thing I did come across was HTML for the people.

It's a fantastic introduction to HTML and CSS by Blake Watson.

As a reader of this, you probably don't need it, if you know anyone who doesn't know a thing about making websites, but might maybe be thinking of creating one, this is a great resource to send them.

🏁 </newsletter>

Have a fantastic week!
Kevin

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