Understanding Responsive Design
The web’s in a state of transition, from pages designed exclusively for desktop computers, to sites and services that need to be accessed everywhere: from mobile devices to widescreen monitors and wearable browsers and, well, everything in between.
How can we possibly keep up?
There are plenty of answers to that question. In this session, we’ll look at one in particular: responsive design.
During this three-hour workshop, we’ll begin by reviewing the foundation of a responsive design—from fluid grids, to flexible images, to media queries—before moving into the finer points of designing responsively. We’ll discuss what it means to design for “mobile first,” and how we can collaborate with others in a responsive-friendly design workflow. We’ll also talk about performance—how we ensure our sites are as fast as they are flexible.
What You’ll Learn
- How to design a responsive layout from “mobile first”, and adapt it from there
- Different models for managing a responsive design process, applicable to collaborating with clients, coworkers, and other freelancers.
- How to define a performance budget, and incorporate it into your responsive design process
Please note: a laptop is not required. However, you should be comfortable looking at HTML and CSS, and have read a bit about responsive design.
About Ethan:
Ethan Marcotte is an independent designer and author, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He coined the term “responsive web design” to describe a new way of designing for the ever-changing Web. His popular book on responsive design has been widely praised, as it demonstrates how designers and organizations can leverage the Web’s flexibility to design across mobile, tablet, and desktop—and whatever might come next.
Over the years his clientele has included New York Magazine, the Sundance Film Festival, The Boston Globe, People Magazine, and the W3C. Ethan has been a featured speaker at many conferences, including An Event Apart, SXSW Interactive, and Webstock.
Proceeds:
All of the proceeds from this event will be used to further the mission of Girl Develop It in Boston through outreach and scholarships.