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A better Photoshop grid for responsive web design

A better Photoshop grid for responsive web design
Posted on 20 January 2012 • 90 comments In making the move to responsive web design, one of the potential hurdles is the rather awkward maths for calculating the percentage-based widths necessary for fluid layouts. If, for example, you’re designing with a 960px grid in Photoshop and you have six columns, each 140px wide, you divide 140 by 960 to get your percentage-based width: 14.583333%. Now, I don’t know about you, but numbers like that look a little scary. It doesn’t matter that there are great calculation tools built into TextMate to do the maths for you; the point is that the final figure looks like an arbitrary number with no immediate relation to either the container’s pixel width (960) or the element’s pixel width (140). Compare that to a container that has a width of 1000px. 1000 is a nice, easy, round number. Here’s the PSD. But what about our precious 960 grids? I should point out here that I’m not proposing a new framework. Caveat 1: margins Caveat 2: rounding errors

Less Framework 4 I called Less Framework "a CSS grid system for designing adaptive websites". It was basically a fixed-width grid that adapted to a couple of then popular screen widths by shedding some of its columns. It also had matching typographic presets to go with it, built with a modular scale based on the golden ratio. The resources it was originally published with are still available on GitHub. Contrary to how most CSS frameworks work, Less Framework simply provided a set of code comments and visual templates, instead of having predefined classes to control the layout with. This is how I still work today and definitely a method I advocate. /* Default Layout: 992px. Less Framework was popular in the early days of responsive design. Eventually, I moved on from fixed-width grid systems and worked on a fully fluid-width one, in the form of Golden Grid System. Less Framework's popularity was helped by the following contributions and the lovely people behind them (dead links crossed off):

Less Framework 4 Every layout in Less Framework is based on a single grid, composed of 68 px columns with 24 px gutters. The only measures that change from layout to layout are the amount of columns and the width of the outer margins. The three sets of typography pre­sets are aligned to a 24 px baseline grid; one is based on 16 px body text, one on 17 px, and one on 18 px. Technically The idea is to first code the Default Layout (992 px), and then use CSS3 media queries to code seve­ral child layouts: 768, 480, and 320 px. If you think of Mobile First as progressive enhancement, Less Framework will feel more like graceful degradation; old desktop and mobile browsers will only use the default 992 px layout. To break it down, recent versions of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, Nokia Webkit, WebOS, Blackberry OS, as well as Internet Explorer 9, Android Webkit, and Mobile Safari (all iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches) will use the layout most appropriate to them. Philosophically Less Framework is simple.

Designing With Grid-Based Approach Advertisement The main idea behind grid-based designs is a solid visual and structural balance of web-sites you can create with them. Sophisticated layout structures offer more flexibility and enhance the visual experience of visitors. In fact, users can easier follow the consistency of the page, while developers can update the layout in a well thought-out, consistent way. However, it’s quite hard to find your way through all the theory behind grid systems: it isn’t easy at all. And this is what this article is all about. Examples of Grid-based design But first few examples of grid-based designs to make clear what the article is about. Things You Probably Don’t Know About Grid-based Design “The grid is the most vivid manifestation of the will to order in graphic design. [...] Articles about Grid-based Design Approach

Web Culture: Grid-based Layout Designs The semantic web has brought on a new generation of Internet technology. As designers and developers work together to redefine the rules of the web, the number of open-source projects and third-party APIs continues to grow. The opinions of web scholars differ on the use of grid systems. Many argue that setting grid points limits the creativity of designers. Others contend that a grid provides a scientific basis for a design to be perfected. Both sides provide interesting arguments. The grid isn’t a master key to perfect design. A Comparison to the Classic Web Older generations used design as a control mechanism. In their wake, a new web culture is stirring. One reason for this development is the significant increase in the number of people working on the semantic web. Working for a pay day is satisfying, but not something to be passionate about. Where Grids Have Evolved There hasn’t been a major study comparing pre-standards and post-standards web design techniques. Visual Grid Designs

Create a Mobile App Icon in Photoshop This tutorial is part of a three-part series explaining how to design UI elements for mobile applications in Photoshop. In this part, we will explain how to design an icon for your mobile device's home screen. Let's get started! Tutorial Assets The following assets were used during the production of this tutorial. Wood Texture Step 1 Create a new document. Step 2 With the Rounded Rectangle Tool (U) draw a shape using a red color. Step 3 With the Brush Tool (B) Paint a vivid light red color to create a light spot on the upper right part of the icon. Step 4 Add a black shadow with the Brush Tool. Step 5 Add a shape like this on top of the icon with the following Layer Style. Step 6 Duplicate and reduce the last shape with Cmd/Ctrl + T. Step 7 Refine the upper lights using the Brush Tool (B) alternating light and dark red. Step 8 I refined the bottom part using the same way as the previous step. Step 9 Step 10 Make a Rectangular Selection. Step 11 Step 12 Step 13 Add two Highlights stripes. Step 14 Step 15

❍ IcoMoon IcoMoon is striving to build and provide the best iconography and icon management tool for perfectionists. IcoMoon's icon library features only the very best icon sets out there. All of our icons are designed on a precise pixel grid. The IcoMoon app lets you build and use your own icon sets in many different formats including SVG, Polymer, PDF, XAML, CSH, icon font or simple PNG/CSS sprites. IcoMoon was first built and released back in the November of 2011. IcoMoon was also the first to solve a big problem with icon fonts: Compatibility with screen readers. IcoMoon is constantly improving and it offers many unique features. With over 4000 free and open source icons available in IcoMoon's library, and by allowing you to generate crisp icon fonts and SVG sprites locally/offline, this service is far ahead of any similar one. IcoMoon is created and maintained by Keyamoon and it is currently operating under Roonas. Need to contact us?

Free PSDs & Resources for Web Designers by Orman Clark Free Photoshop browser templates for webdesigners and screendesigners | webdesignerstoolkit.com Design Stencils - Design Pattern Library Yahoo Design Stencil Kit version 1.0 is available for OmniGraffle, Visio (XML), Adobe Illustrator (PDF and SVG), and Adobe Photoshop (PNG), and covers the following topics: Ad Units Calendars Carousels Charts and Tables UI Controls Form Elements Grids Menus and Buttons Mobile - General Mobile - iPhone Navigation and Pagination OS Elements Placeholder Text Screen Resolutions Tabs Windows and Containers Downloads License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License. 50 Free UI and Web Design Wireframing Kits, Resources and Source Files Advertisement Planning and communication are two key elements in the development of any successful website or application. And that is exactly what the wireframing process offers: a quick and simple method to plan the layout and a cost-effective, time-saving tool to easily communicate your ideas to others. A wireframe typically has the basic elements of a Web page: header, footer, sidebar, maybe even some generated content, which gives you, your clients and colleagues a simple visually oriented layout that illustrates what the structure of the website will be by the end of the project and that serves as the foundation for any future alterations. This article focuses on actual wireframing tools and standalone applications, as well as resources that you’ll need to build your own wireframe: wireframing kits, browser windows, form elements, grids, Mac OS X elements, mobile elements, which you’ll use in any typical graphics editor such as Photoshop or Illustrator. Yahoo! Web Browser Templates

Ultimate Guide to Website Wireframing Most designers wireframe their designs in one way or another, even if it just involves them making quick sketches on the back of some scratch paper. Wireframing is an important part of the design process, especially for more complex projects. Wireframes can come in handy when you’re communicating with clients, as it allows them to visualize your ideas more easily than when you just describe them verbally. Marketing is no longer just direct mail and billboards, it’s much more than that. You must be able to impress your clients by showing care and dedication to their marketing efforts, or they will just go to another agency. This guide covers what you need to know about website wireframes to get started. Why You Should Wireframe Your Web Designs Wireframing is really the first step in the design process. Wireframes are also cost-effective by saving you potential time lost due to revising a high-fidelity comp. Wireframes give your page layouts a great starting point and a solid foundation.

20 Steps to Better Wireframing Possibly the biggest mistake in any development project is failure to plan. Recently, the owner of a prospective start-up told me that planning was unnecessary and a good developer could just start coding. This, I promise you, will end in tears. Wireframing is one of the first steps in your planning process and arguably it’s one of the most important ones. This is when the idea starts to take shape as an application, becoming boxes and buttons that users will interact with. 1) Be Clear About Your Objective As a developer I can understand the temptation to jump in and start coding. A wireframe will help you identify many of these issues in a way that is time and cost effective. The process also helps to create a better understanding of the application. The final output will be a blueprint from which designers, developers, architects and project managers will work and makes sure everyone is in sync. 3) Draw on Your Experience You do not need skills in design or development. design

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