CSS Frameworks Gone Wild!!!!
Trend: CSS Frameworks
I’m not going to pretend I use these, seriously – I don’t, sorry… but I don’t do a lot of things I should – like floss, and believe me, my dentist is totally pissed about that so maybe I’m missing the boat here too. I do know they are quite popular (frameworks not dentists) and supposedly make it faster and easier to create standards compliant websites.
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Jonathan
Aug 24, 2009
2:26 am
Isn’t this rather stretching the concept of “user interface design”? Surely nobody using a web site would give damn about how the UI is actually built (unless I suppose this somehow aids usability)?
Just sayin’…
Jeff Noble
Aug 24, 2009
8:32 am
Hey Jonathan,
Good point and I agree it’s not like visitor’s are going to view the source code and give a damn. I believe it’s more about ease of use for the designer & and an “attempt” at usability for the visitor. A lot of the frameworks claim to have cross browser compatibility, separate print & mobile styles, and common grid based layouts that help keep all your DIVs lined up. They also don’t really offer anything you couldn’t do on your own with CSS and can lead to bloated source code (which means larger file size, slower load time for users, etc).
Jonathan
Aug 24, 2009
8:59 am
I’ve just read the “about” section of this site and it says “a source of inspiration for designers and developers” so I take back all I said in my first comment.
Ed Caggiani
Aug 28, 2009
1:13 am
These grid based systems actually do help usability in the sense that they make it simpler to keep things lined up visually, and a visually accurate page subconsciously makes users feel like things are more in order.
That being said, even in a gridded page, you can have bad UX and design. A grid full of crap is still crap.
I have to admit to actually having used one of these grid systems (from http://www.gridsystemgenerator.com/) for a side project I did and I have to say, it made things pretty simple. The CSS code was not overly bloated, and it’s easy enough to modify if needed. I think of it as more of a starting point.
Now if you’re looking for fluid width layouts, these basic grids won’t quite do the trick as is since they are based on a fixed width, but nothing says you can’t make a grid-based fluid layout.
Ervin
Sep 1, 2009
8:11 am
Well… I think you might be missing a point here… the CSS Framework is just a help for the ones making XHTML/CSS from PSD… a PSD that a designer made using the 960.gs (960px grid system). Why use a grid? Well read the books… makes everything look organized… of course while using a grid… you can also use it to intentionally put stuff outside the grid (break it) so that it looks revolutionary… outrageously different!…
And also using grids makes everyone’s lives easier… I, as a designer, don’t have to stress myself too much about how to align certain stuff… the programmer, doesn’t have to make a new layout every time… he has a framework… being nicely organized… and keeping everything aligned… makes the users life easier too… :)
But that’s just my opinion…
All the best!