Columnal | A responsive CSS grid system helping desktop and mobile browsers play nicely together. Responsive Web Design The English architect Christopher Wren once quipped that his chosen field “aims for Eternity,” and there’s something appealing about that formula: Unlike the web, which often feels like aiming for next week, architecture is a discipline very much defined by its permanence. Article Continues Below A building’s foundation defines its footprint, which defines its frame, which shapes the facade. Each phase of the architectural process is more immutable, more unchanging than the last. Creative decisions quite literally shape a physical space, defining the way in which people move through its confines for decades or even centuries. Working on the web, however, is a wholly different matter. But the landscape is shifting, perhaps more quickly than we might like. In recent years, I’ve been meeting with more companies that request “an iPhone website” as part of their project. A flexible foundation#section1 Let’s consider an example design. Becoming responsive#section2 responsive architecture .
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. /* 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):
Golden Grid System GGS was my next step after Less Framework. Instead of a fixed-width grid, it used a fully fluid-width one, without even a maximum width. The resources it was published with are still available on GitHub. The idea was to take a 18-column grid, use the outermost columns as margins, and use the remaining 16 to lay elements out. While the grid's columns were fluid — proportional to the screen's width — the gutters (spaces between the columns) were proportional to the font-size being used. GGS also contained a set of typographic presets, strictly to a baseline grid. Correctly setting all of these measurements is difficult, of course. When published, GGS gained a lot of attention, as the web design community was searching ways to work with fluid-width grids, which have always been troublesome, running counter to many graphic design principles. Many people trying to use GGS were also confused by the lack of predefined code for working with the grid.
Skeleton: Beautiful Boilerplate for Responsive, Mobile-Friendly Development Responsive Web Design just got Easier with the Responsive Grid System 24 Excellent Examples of Responsive Web Design With the ever increasing popularity and wide spread use of mobile devices like the iPhone and iPad, it’s difficult to ignore the fact that websites are being viewed across various screen sizes. And it looks like the days of designing a site for one minimum resolution are almost gone. That’s why “responsive web design” is such a hot topic lately. If you’ve yet to incorporate this concept into your web designs and you’re looking for examples, or if your simply in search of some responsive inspiration, you’ve arrived at the right place. Reveal: A Responsive WordPress Theme hanging up the moon Sunday Best Designs Fork Yaron Schoen Full Frontal 10K Apart More Hazards More Heroes warface Social Marketers Summit Atlason White Lotus Aromatics Cappuccino Digital Reverse Büro Progetty Jet Cooper Bloom yoke food sense francesca nini Forefathers Stonehenge Veterinary Hospital Patrick Grady Frontend 2011 Source: The Best DesignsunmatchedstyleAwwwards Interesting articles and tools: About the Author Related Posts 596 shares
Frameless Responsive Web Design – A Dummies Guide This guide answers common questions around Responsive Web Design, a technique for building mobile and tablet websites that is also recommended by Google. Google has officially recommended Responsive Web Design as their preferred method for building mobile websites. If you have a website or a blog, it is time that you seriously consider switching to a responsive design instead of maintaining a separate mobile-friendly (or tablet-friendly) website. If you are new to the concept of Responsive Web Design (RWD), here’s a quick guide that should answer most of the common questions that you may have around this technique. Let’s get started. Q1 – Why should I switch my website to Responsive Design? A1 – Your website looks great of the desktop screen but the same may not be true when your site is viewed on a smartphone, a tablet or an e-reader (like the Kindle). Q2 – What are the other advantages of switching to RWD? Q3 – What should I know to get started with Responsive Design? A4 – That’s easy.
Which Is Right for Me? 22 Responsive CSS Frameworks and Boilerplates Explained CSS frameworks have been around for years now, but the arrival of responsive design practices has rendered many of our old favorites useless. Fortunately, lots of really talented developers have jumped in to fill the gap with the next generation of CSS frameworks and boilerplates. There’s already a ton of these things floating around. Everyone has a list, but no one really walks you through how each framework and boilerplate differs from the next so that you can make an informed decision. Gumby The Gumby framework takes the 960 grid that we all cut our teeth on years ago and brings it into the modern age of web design with a responsive touch. The Semantic Grid System If you hate grid systems and their bloated, non-semantic markup, this one is for you. Gridless Gridless is a powerful boilerplate that uses mobile first responsive web design to adapt itself to the device’s width. Frameless Proportional Grids The Goldilocks Approach Twitter Bootstrap Twitter Bootstrap needs no introduction. Wirefy
12 Helpful Tools for Responsive Web Design Creating a responsive web design goes way beyond arranging things in a way that won’t compromise the look of your website in different screen sizes. Even tough we talk a lot about responsive web design, we are all figuring out the best way to go about developing a responsive site. One of the best ways to approach the issue is checking out tools that may help you with the task. However, there are a lot of tools out there, and it can be difficult to sort through them all. Responsive Web Design Sketch Sheets Adobe Edge Inspect Foundation RWD Calculator Responsive Layouts, Responsively Wireframed Adaptive Images Bootstrap Retina Images SimpleGrid The 1140px CSS Grid resizeMyBrowser The Responsinator The Responsinator helps website makers quickly get an indication of how their responsive site will look on the most popular devices. Some books on responsive web design: About the Author Henry Jones is a web developer, designer, and entrepreneur with over 14 years of experience. Related Posts 846 shares