🧩 Shoelace & Web Components: Building Better UI with Cory LaViska

In this Nerd Show and Tell episode, we lace things up with Cory LaViska, creator of Shoelace — a modern component library that makes it stupid-easy to build snappy, accessible, mobile-first websites using CSS grids and Web Components.

Matt joins Travis Chase and Cory for a jam-packed convo on:

• How Shoelace + Font Awesome work together like peanut butter and SVGs 🍯
• Why Web Components are the future of design systems (and sanity)
• What it takes to stay sharp with modern web standards
• And, yes, why Travis still doesn’t have a Shoelace icon 😤

Cory also reveals his favorite culinary-themed icon, drops wisdom on open source generosity, and reminds us all why boring ol’ PHP was a gateway drug to building cool things on the web.

⏱️ Episode Timestamps

• 05:04 – Customizing CSS with Shoelace
• 08:10 – Reusable Components & Brand Consistency
• 11:50 – Why Web Components Make Dev Easier
• 17:06 – Tooling Made Better by Web Standards
• 25:46 – Embracing Modern Tech in UI/UX
• 30:17 – Building Free, High-Quality Software
• 31:25 – Power of Open Source Collaboration
• 36:04 – The Humble Beginnings: PHP and Web Dev

🧠 Highlights

“Shoelace gives you fully accessible components with zero framework lock-in — it just works in the browser.”“Open source is how I give back. If it helps someone build something better, then it’s worth it.”“Weirdly, my favorite icon might be… the hamburger. The food one. Not the menu one.”

🔗 Links & Credits

• Explore Shoelace
  🎵 Theme by Ronnie Martin
  🎛️ Audio mastering by Chris Enns at Lemon Productions

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