Breaking Out of the Box With CSS Layouts

By Jina Bolton | June 24, 2008 | CSS Tutorials

#wrap {    
  background: url(wrap.gif) repeat-x;    
}

And here’s the final CSS:

* {    
  margin: 0;    
  padding: 0;    
}    
body {    
  background: #eee url(bg.gif) 0 100% repeat-x;    
  font: 12px/18px "Lucida Grande", Verdana, sans-serif;    
  text-align: center;    
  color: #333;    
}    
a:link, a:visited {    
  color: #633;    
}    
a:hover {    
  color: #966;    
}    
h1 {    
  margin-bottom: 11px;    
  margin-left: -108px;    
  padding: 15px 0 21px 108px;    
  border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc;    
  font: normal italic 1.5em/18px Georgia, serif;    
  color: #633;    
}    
h2, h3{    
  font-weight: normal;    
  font-size: 1em;    
  line-height: 18px;    
}    
h2 {    
  margin-left: -204px;    
  padding: 10px 0 20px 204px;    
  background: url(h2_ornament.gif) 3px 0 no-repeat;    
  font-size: 1.25em;    
  text-transform: uppercase;    
  color: #999;    
}    
h3 {    
  padding-bottom: 6px;    
  font-weight: bold;    
  text-transform: uppercase;    
  letter-spacing: -1px;    
  color: #633;    
}    
#wrap {    
  background: url(wrap.gif) repeat-x;    
}    
#page {    
  margin: 0 auto;    
  width: 960px;    
  background: #fff url(page.gif) repeat-y;    
  text-align: left;    
}    
#header {    
  height: 192px;    
  background: #966 url(header.gif) bottom no-repeat;    
}    
#header p {    
  float: left;    
  padding: 60px 24px 24px 126px;    
  font-size: 1.5em;    
  line-height: 1em;    
  color: #fff;    
}    
#header ul {    
  padding-top: 62px;    
  padding-right: 12px;    
  text-align: right;    
  list-style: none;    
}    
#header li {    
  display: inline;    
  margin: 0 12px;    
}    
#header li a {    
  font-size: 1.25em;    
  line-height: 1em;    
  text-decoration: none;    
  color: #fff;    
}    
#header li a:hover {    
  color: #300;    
}    
#content-primary {    
  float: right;    
  margin: 12px 24px 60px 24px;    
  width: 528px;    
}    
#content-primary p {    
  padding-bottom: 18px;    
}    
#content-primary img {    
  float: left;    
  margin: -6px 18px 0 -114px;    
  padding: 3px;    
  border: 3px solid #eee;    
  background: #fff;    
}    
#content-secondary {    
  float: right;    
  margin: 30px 216px 60px 24px;    
  width: 144px;    
  font-size: 11px;    
  color: #300;    
}    
#content-secondary p {    
  padding-bottom: 18px;    
}    
#footer {    
  clear: right;    
  height: 192px;    
  background: #333 url(footer.gif) top no-repeat;    
  font-size: 10px;    
  line-height: 1em;    
  text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #333;    
  color: #fff;    
}    
#footer a:link, #footer a:visited {    
  color: #c99;    
}        
#footer p {    
  padding: 132px 24px 0 24px;    
}    
.clear {    
  clear: both;    
}

Here’s the result:

Taking it Further

A lot more can be done to "break out of the box". You can get much more experimental with your background images, or go a little crazy with margins — both of which are explored in detail in The Art & Science of CSS, on which I was a co-author. While what we’ve discussed here was definitely a minimal approach, hopefully it will get you thinking of fun things you can try (and move beyond the thinking that CSS designs have to be boring). So have fun with it. Check out the book, as well as some of my favorite sites that use fun box-breaking techniques:

Apple iPod Shuffle: I really like the iPod shuffle and headphones that appear to be "peeking" out from behind the container.

Tingsek: I’m a big fan of horizontal "bars" that fill the entire screen — I think it’s a great way to avoid a totally contained, boxy feeling. The post-it note’s angle also helps break the design up a bit, along with the background photo of Tingsek.

CSS Zen Garden, Entry #194: Background images really help this layout to avoid feeling boxy, even though it follows a basic grid.