Colophon

\Col"o*phon\, n. An inscription, monogram, or cipher formerly placed on the last page of a book, usually containing facts relative to its production.

Credits

a warm gun is written and produced by Ian Adams.

Desktop Tools

Made using an iMac, TextEdit 1.5, Photoshop CS3, and Safari 3.0.4. Standards-compliance is checked using the W3C’s Markup Validator and CSS Validator. Files are uploaded using Transmit from Panic Software.

Server Tools

a warm gun is powered by a customised (read: hacked to death by me) version of WordPress, and hosted by Acenet, inc. Statistical goodness provided by Mint.

Web Standards

“Look ma! No tables!”

This site is marked up with XHTML 1.0 Strict. CSS is used to control its design. For more information on designing your site with web standards, I urge you to visit The Web Standards Project, A List Apart, css / edge, CSS Zen Garden, and I definitely recommend getting your hands on a copy of Jeffrey Zeldman’s excellent book Designing with Web Standards. More links are available on the bookmarks page.

Design History

a warm gun was initially intended to be my testbed for designing with table-less CSS layouts, as well as a place I would use to get into the habit of writing regularly. Technically it launched in July 2004, however the construction of the site continued for the rest of the year (off and on due to various crises in meatspace), finally officially launching in January 2005.

v1 — The Extent of the Empire in the Age of the Antonines.

January 2005 – October 2006

This design was intended to be very simple in terms of layout so that I could acclimate to CSS, however it proved to be a rather likeable layout for most of the readers. Despite its simplicity, a lot of thought went into its design, noting specifically the use of brightness to guide the reader's eye and indicate importance. Ultimately, this design bugged me due to its lack of contrast, poor scalability and the fact that it was largely monochromatic.

v2 — Of the Union and Internal Prosperity of the Empire in the Age of the Antonines.

October 2006 – present

All the things I’d learned from and since the first design were applied in this design. Navigation was made easier, readability was increased, and more advanced CSS techniques were used. This was the first design which I’d done in my sketchbook before opening Photoshop, and the photography of the chess pieces was my own.