A History of Design Systems on the Web - The History of the Web

It’s great to see former Clearlefties like Nat, Paul and Anna rightly getting namechecked in this history of designing for the web in a systemic way. It’s a tradition that continues to this day with projects like Utopia.

A History of Design Systems on the Web - The History of the Web

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Web Day Out - 12 March 2026 — Polytechnic

This was another fantastic conference from the Clearleft team, and one that I hope is repeated next year. It is absolutely incredible what you can do in the browser these days, and even though I thought I was keeping up with the latest developments, it astounded me how far things have come.

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I’m speaking at Web Day Out 2026 - Manuel Matuzovic

The core idea of the event is to get you up to speed on the most powerful web platform features that you can use right now. I love that because it aligns perfectly with what I’ve been working on over the last couple of years: finding ways to break old habits to get the most out of CSS.

Can’t wait!

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Web Backstories: Shadow DOM | Igalia

Eric Meyer and Brian Kardell chat with Jay Hoffmann and Jeremy Keith about Shadow DOM’s backstory and long origins

I enjoyed this chat, and it wasn’t just about Shadow DOM; it was about the history of chasing the dream of encapsulation on the web.

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Hack to the Future - Frontend - Matt Hobbs

Put the kettle on. This is a long one!

Matt takes a trip down memory lane and looks at all the frontend tools, technologies, and techniques that have come and gone over the years.

But this isn’t about nostalgia (although it does make you appreciate how far we’ve come). He’s looking at whether anything from the past is worth keeping today.

Studying past best practices and legacy systems is crucial for understanding the evolution of technology and making informed decisions today.

There’s only one technique that makes the cut:

After discussing countless legacy approaches and techniques best left in the past, you’ve finally arrived at a truly timeless and Incredibly important methodology.

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Matthias Ott – Painting With the Web – beyond tellerrand Düsseldorf 20025 - YouTube

A great talk by Matthias on what you can do with web standards today!

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Once again, Safari has fucked up its implementation.

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Eight fantastic talks in one day! You’ll want to be in Brighton on 12 March 2026.

Manuel Matuzovič is speaking at Web Day Out

The line-up is now complete and you don’t want to miss this!