html – Learning Journal

Weeks 5 – 6: Experimenting with Flexbox and Grids

These past few weeks we dove head on into more complicated concepts, which had me scratching my head more than a few times but as we power on ahead I continue to feel more confident as a web designer.

Weeks 3 – 4: Diving Deeper into HTML & CSS

The past two weeks have been incredibly informative. There was so much that I learned and I’m hoping it all the information absorbs into me.

Week 1-2: What the new things I learned

I thought I knew all the basic HTML tags until I stumbled upon native elements that handle features I used to write JavaScript for. Here are a few pleasant surprises from my recent learning process!

Before diving deeper into HTML documentation, I was confident that I already knew all the essential tags. However, I recently discovered a few powerful native elements that I previously assumed required complex JavaScript code. For example, I had no idea that <progress> provides a built-in tag for progress bars without needing JS logic to render the basic UI, or that <datalist> offers a native way to create autocomplete dropdown lists for input fields. I am still in the process of exploring HTML tags on W3Schools , but I highly recommend this resource for anyone studying web development independently.

Weeks 1 – 2: Relearning the Fundamentals

Jumping back into school after taking a 5 year break from learning anything new I reacclimatized myself quickly to the online platform. Although I have a some experience with HTML from my 9 to 5 I feel like relearning the basics and its helping me to deeper my understanding of the markup language I use on a daily basis.

What I Learned in My First Two Weeks

During the first two weeks of this class, I learned more about how HTML works and how it is used to build webpages. Before this class, I knew a little about websites, but I did not really understand what was happening behind the page.

Trusting the process with HTML

I’ve always been the type to want to know the ending before anything else; I’ve been that way for books, movies, shows—anything, really. It wasn’t until this last week that I realized I do the same thing with HTML.

Learnings of the Week

I learned quite a fair bit this week! Both in CSS and in General. I found out while looking through the HTML Reference on MDN is that HTML elements are organized into different “content categories.”, which I was unaware of until now.

New Skills, Feedbacks and Exciting Opportunities

Over the past two weeks, I’ve been focusing on several key aspects of my web design projects and learning new techniques along the way. I completely revamped the design of my portal page. I worked on modernizing the overall layout and creating a more user-friendly design, making it cleaner and more intuitive. By using grid systems and flexible layouts, I ensured that the design is responsive across all devices. I also prioritized simplifying the navigation to focus on the most-used sections of the page.

I spent time enhancing my parallax effect as well. By having images and text move at different speeds, I was able to create a dynamic and engaging experience. I paid close attention to performance to ensure the parallax effect didn’t slow down the page. Additionally, I integrated Sass into my workflow to make my style sheets more efficient. By using variables, mixins, and nested structures, I was able to write more organized and maintainable CSS. This allowed me to avoid repetitive code and create a cleaner structure for the project.

The feedback I received helped me improve my design even further. I refined the color choices and typography on the portal page. I also noticed that the parallax effect wasn’t performing well on some mobile devices, so I optimized it for better performance. These types of feedback are crucial in helping me improve the design to be more polished and user-friendly.

As a result, the techniques I’ve learned over the past two weeks have made my projects more professional. The combination of parallax, Sass, and responsive design has made my designs more modern, dynamic, and user-friendly. I plan to continue improving and refining these skills in the coming weeks to finalize my projects.

PS: I’m beyond excited to be attending an industry event like Figma Config 2025 with a scholarship ticket. This is such an incredible opportunity for me, and I can’t wait to engage with some of the brightest minds in the design world. It’s going to be a truly eye-opening experience!

A dash of SASS

Learning the pros and cons of SASS made me want to find out if CSS had similar functions that I could use instead. I did some research on MDN and W3Schools and discovered it did for variables and nesting!

Week 12: Parallax, Sass, and the Final Project

The last two weeks we learned new skills such as Sass, animations, and Parallax, which I can see myself using in the future. I also had some time to think about my final project. I spent a lot of time reflecting on my own web design skills, what I have learned, and what I want to make to conclude the semester.

Revamping My Portal Page: Parallax, Big Kitties, and New CSS Tricks

“Meow”

This semester, I gave my portal page a much-needed upgrade. I have to say, it is been one of my favorite projects so far! I wanted the page to feel a little more alive and personal, so I brought in parallax scrolling effects, animated floating cats, and some playful, colorful backgrounds.

One of the biggest changes was adding a parallax background featuring a giant cat image that starts below the header and stretches down below my bio section. This added a really cool , making the page feel more dynamic without being overwhelming. I also used CSS animations to create floating kitties that drift across the screen, adding even more movement and personality.

Along with parallax, I used some modern CSS techniques like flexible layouts, colorful background shifts with keyframe animations, and subtle box shadows to give different sections some extra pop. Overall, this revamp made my portal page feel way more “me.” It’s fun, creative, and just the right amount of chaos thanks to all those giant kitties.

Ah Responsive Design

Why is my image outside the container? Why does my text look like that? Why is that section up there and that other section way down there? These are all questions that popped up in my head several times with this week’s lessons!

For centering, which works when?

Trying to center stuff horizontally shouldn’t be so confusing! I find myself cycling through all the possible CSS rules until I find one that works.

Things Are Getting Responsive

This week, it occurred to me that I’m doing responsive design all wrong.

Two Weeks in Design: Learning by Doing

The past two weeks have been a deep dive into the world of web design. What started as simple class projects quickly turned into opportunities for real discovery. I did not just follow instructions. I started noticing how different choices in layout, structure, and tools can completely change how a website feels and functions.

Tag: html