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The <hr /> Contest

What is <hr />? Basically, it is an old HTML-tag which has been used since the very beginning of the Web. hr stands for the horizontal rule and represents exactly what you would expect — a horizontal line or a horizontal divider.

By default, web browsers render hr as a simple horizontal line. In terms of semantics the tag is supposed to clearly separate content blocks. This is often used in design of footers, but also makes sense in other situations — for instance, if you want to separate two blog posts or make the divisions within the content structure sharper.

Similar to our blog header contest we’d like to create a smashing gallery of freely available <hr /> graphics. The winner will get a Wacom Intuos3 9X12 USB Tablet.

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Will Horizontal Layouts Return?

In the 90s, as the Web was just starting to take off, designers used horizontal layouts — rather in an experimental way, just to give users and designers an idea of what HTML was actually capable of. From the usability perspective it was horrible — sites were hard to scroll and the content was hard to read.

After horizontal approach has lost its novelty, it was quickly discarded and widely rejected. Surprisingly it seems to get back on track. The horizontal scroll is gaining forces and it's not that horrible this time. Why? Simply because we have a new generation of computer devices, such as mice with a 4-way scrolling wheel and widescreen monitors. We have a lot of space area and we have an efficent and user-friendly way to navigate horizontally.

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