CSSOff throws down HTML/CSS gauntlet

Unmatched Style, a site that provides CSS design galleries and aims to "foster constructive design criticism as well as provide inspiration to our readers" has announced CSSOff, a competition all about HTML and CSS.

According to editor Gene Crawford, Paravel is working on a design that will be released on October 20, and those who choose to enter will have two weeks to code up the site. A panel of judges, which Crawford calls "industry leaders of varying levels", will judge the completed markup.

"The first CSSOff was done by JD Graffam of Simple Focus a few years ago, and then Chris Coyier did one a year or so ago. I contacted those guys to see if they'd be up for doing one big one and maybe giving it an official home and that's what we've done here," says Crawford on the inspiration behind the competition. "Outside of all that, we all just love HTML, CSS and our community so much that we want to do something where we can all have fun. This seems like a really nice way to express that."

Crawford says the winner (and, yes, there are prizes) will be judged across ten categories of what the panel collectively considers makes for a successful website markup project.

"An individual submission will then be rated in each of the categories on an 'out of 10' scale, which should ensure the judging should be fairly democratic and straightforward. Each submission will also be released under the Creative Commons Copyright so there should also be no ambiguity about the reason why we're doing this," he adds.

If all goes well, CSSOff might become an annual competition; for now, though, you can find out more at the CSSOff website.