As we voyaged down our path together, we realized that our project was evolving into something much more than a “reskin”. We learned that the work we needed to do had to enable the Zappos.com experience to evolve without design elements appearing “duct taped” together. We helped implement a design system of flexible components and modules that were unified by consistent, appropriate typography. We also helped bring the wonderful Zappos.com culture and voice closer to the surface.

You may not have immediately noticed the Zappos.com refresh, partially because it is being rolled out in stages. But it’s certainly feeling different these days.

For all of the details regarding our work together, check out our case study.

In Episode 2: HTML5, Dan and Jeffrey talk with Jeremy Keith, designer, writer, featured An Event Apart speaker, and author of HTML5 for Web Designers. They discuss the goals and inspiration behind the book, as well as what HTML5 means for both web creators and those who consume the web, covering topics that range from structure to accessibility and implementation.

Melissa Pierce’s new film, “Life in Perpetual Beta,” asks the question, “is the planned life worth living?” and sketches an answer via interviews with the likes of Baratunde Thuston, Irina Slutsky, and Twitter’s Biz Stone. In Episode 3: Re-invent Yourself, Dan and Jeffrey interview Melissa about the unplanned life, Facebook privacy, and using the internet to re-invent yourself.

In Episode 4: Content Strategy, Dan and Jeffrey get down to cases with Kristina Halvorson, CEO, Brain Traffic and author, Content Strategy for the Web (New Riders, 2010), and Erin Kissane, content strategist with Happy Cog, and author of Incisive.nu.

In Episode 5: Web Education, Dan and Jeffrey talk with special guest Liz Danzico, author of Bobulate, and chairperson of the MFA in Interaction Design program at New York’s School of Visual Arts. They discuss web and interaction design education, user experience design, how to structure a program and teach a class, acquiring and editing content, and much more.

In Episode 6: Mobile First, Dan and Jeffrey chat with leading interaction designer Luke Wroblewski about designing for the mobile space, and learn why the mobile experience for a web application or site should be designed before the PC version.

In Episode 7: Usability Testing, Dan and Jeffrey talk with larger-than-life user experience design guru Jared Spool about usability testing in the real world. Jared is the founder of User Interface Engineering, the largest usability research organization of its kind in the world. He’s been working in the field of usability and design since 1978, before the term “usability” was ever associated with computers.

And in Episode 8: User Experience Design, Dan and Jeffrey talk with Happy Cog’s own Whitney Hess about social networking, getting clients, and user experience design—from research to wireframes to testing and beyond.

If you can’t be with us in Boston, there are three shows still to come this year: An Event Apart Minneapolis on July 26–27; An Event Apart Washington, DC (with optional A Day Apart on CSS3 and HTML5) on Sept. 16–18; and An Event Apart San Diego on Nov. 1–2. Tickets are first-come, first-served, and are going fast. Don’t miss this year’s An Event Apart for people who make websites.

Allison has been a freelancer for us since August of 2009. During this time, she’s shown us she means business, providing invaluable code and QA support for projects for a number of high profile Happy Cog clients.

Aside from assisting us with markup and style, she is a ray of sunshine any working environment would be lucky to have. Allison will be working out of our Philadelphia office.

You can catch up with her on Twitter and say hi.

HTML5 For Web Designers is for people who create web content, who mark up web pages for sense and semantics, and who design accessible interfaces and experiences. Its goal—one it shares with every title in the forthcoming A Book Apart catalog—is to shed clear light on a tricky subject, and do it fast, so you can get back to work.

Read more.