Glenn Davis once said, "Webpage building is a lot like bar tending. Build it right and it will work no matter what the container."1 I think he was either very drunk when he said that or really on to something. Some people consider the web to be an information resource while others swear up and down that it's a form of entertainment. Web interface design has taken a giant leap in the past few years from the all-too-haunting gray backgrounds and bulleted lists to colorful interactive interfaces and eye-candy. A good web designer knows how to blend just the right amount of interface with information, so that it appears seamless and the navigation almost transparent to the end user. This is where Davis's idea of liquid design comes into play. Through his years of web development, he has come to a conclusion that there are three elements of interface on the web today: those that are Liquid, Jell-O, and Ice.
Ice: Let Sit and Thaw
Ice is probably the most common element found on the web today. We often see it without even realizing it. Ice designs are not really a bad thing, but they do tend to take away from the user's experience of the site and remind us of the limitations of the web. "Ice is an element that is frozen solid. Nothing about the element will change if a page is resized. There are a lot of Ice designs on the web in which the entire site is carved from it. Those are the sites that are frozen to the left side of the browser and only look best at a certain size."2 A few good examples of ice designs are ZDnet, HighFive [editor's note: link removed], The Webby Awards, CNN, and Adobe--most any news or corporate type web site. In fact, come to think of it, my own site used to be ice designed--tightly wedged in a 600 pixel-wide table and carved into the left side of the browser. One of my goals for Digital-Web.com has been to get away from the i
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