Windows Vista sidebar gadgets

I've just worked on a couple of sidebar gadget designs and its so refreshing to work on something different. Well, I say different but I guess its not that much of a step from web page design. However, I have got a little crazed by the freedom of designing for something so specific! Its still HTML, its still CSS, its still JavaScript, but suddenly there's no shame in fixing a width and height - how much easier is that to design for?? No need for clever workarounds and compromises for backgrounds to varying height pages, no more worries about browser interpretation issues (although its good practice to keep aware of all that in case your design is to become re-used for a web gadget) AND you get to use transparent PNGs! How exciting is that? Sad, I know, but I got a real thrill when I overlaid a PNG image that graduated to transparent onto a background image.

The tricky part was getting into the size restriction - designing small. When you're used to designing pages for 800 x 600 resolution, it takes a change in mindset to try and get branding info plus the all important content onto something with a width of 130 pixels. I imagine its like playing tennis all the time on one sized court and then switching to a smaller - you have to find your range. In the same way, you start to get a feel for what will work in that size restriction. In some ways, I guess it could almost define whether the content is gadget-worthy. If its not bitesize enough, then maybe its no use as a gadget. I look forward to getting to grips with a few more and finding my range.