Responsive web design is easy with fluid layouts

Posted in CSS Web design on 23 January 2012 | Comments [1]

So, I have been thinking a lot about responsive web design recently. I’ve been reading about some CSS frameworks and recoding some of my core files so they can adapt to any grid system that I choose to use. As a result, I’ve decided to use fluid or elastic layouts or hybrid layouts wherever possible from now on.

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Checking out responsive grid systems

Posted in CSS Web design on 27 December 2011 | Comments [1]

Over the last few weeks I’ve been browsing a few responsive grid systems/CSS frameworks, partly as a means of learning new responsive web design methods and also because I’ve been considering whether I should completely redevelop the core set of files that I use for website layouts. I think that the answer to that question is ‘No’ because I’ve yet to find a system that completely resonates with me.

Neverthless, I’ve definitely learned some new methods by looking at the CSS/HTML code of each system so I’d encourage you to do the same. Without exception, all frameworks that I’ve looked at have been very well commented so it’s been relatively easy to understand how they work.

I’ve looked at 8 or 9 systems/frameworks and downloaded a subset of these to look into more thoroughly:

• Get Skeleton is a boilerplate for mobile friendly development and it includes styles for typography, buttons, tabs and forms. It looks a very useful resource that covers a lot.
• 1140 CSS Grid uses a fluid layout and I love this approach. Fluid layouts may not be suitable for every single site but you gain a lot by doing it this way. Fluid (or elastic) layouts greatly simplify the work that you need to do to make a site mobile friendly with media queries (in my experience).
• InuitCSS “combines years of my best dev tips, tricks and practices in one handy file”. The InuitCSS framework is perhaps looser than some others but that means you get a very sensible and streamlined system. You can also add to it with plugins (or ‘Igloos’) which extends the core to add more specific functionality. I like that approach.

I’m going to extend my learning here by rebuilding a personal site with one or more of these systems (probably starting with InuitCSS). Why not do the same? I bet you’ll learn some useful new techniques by doing so!

Ideas of March

Posted in Personal Web design on 15 March 2011 | Comments [1]

Today, I read a couple of tweets on Twitter which lead me to Chris Shiflett’s post, Ideas of March, where he encourages a blog revival by asking folks to write a similar post (saying why they like blogs) and to blog more for the rest of the month. So, here’s my post with that same theme

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Review and Revise - How to review your website

Posted in Portfolio Web design on 21 February 2011 | Comments

I’ve been reviewing CVW Web Design recently. It’s my main site, I want it to work as well as possible, and now seemed to be a good time to assess it (perhaps leading to a redesign). In this post, I’ll describe the process I am using. You may have alternative ways of doing this but here’s what I have done so far.

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New website for Chess Dynamics

Posted in Portfolio Web design on 10 February 2011 | Comments

At the end of last year, we finished a redesign of the Chess Dynamics website. It was a project that I really enjoyed working on for a number of reasons:

• The client provided the content, images and some design ideas at the right moments.
• The project had a number of challenges including the presentation of a lot of product information. I think we solved these with methods that achieved the objectives.
• The project took several months but, importantly, it felt like we were always moving forward.
• Although there were some changes in the design and layout, it was pretty much an iteration of the initial concept that became the final version. Since I really liked the initial concept, I’m happy!

Now, if only every single project was like that!