Impressions Blog: Ultimate Guide to Responsive Web Design: 55 Stunning Tools, Tutorials, and Examples

It is estimated that within two years mobile internet users will overtake the desktop internet users. The rapid advancement of mobile internet has enabled more and more people to use their mobile device as a primary web browsing tool. What does it mean for web development? Well, the usual development for just a couple of screen resolutions is already dying out.

Mobile is the new trend and most of the businesses are recognizing it. Having a fluid and responsive website will not only make you cooler, it’s the new way of increasing conversions and engaging your visitors.

Not sure where to start? Responsive design might not be as big a mystery as you’ve imagined it. Indeed, there are frameworks and plugins that will make it much easier for you to create responsive designs. Continue reading and check out useful tools for creating responsive web design as well as 35 stunning examples of responsive web design.

Tools

1. Less Framework 4

Less Framework is a CSS grid system for designing adaptive websites. It contains 4 layouts and 3 sets of typography presets, all based on a single grid.

2. Gridless

Gridless is an optionated HTML5 and CSS3 boilerplate for making mobile first responsive, cross-browser websites with beautiful typography.

3. Mobile Boilerplate

Mobile Boilerplate is your trusted template made custom for creating rich mobile web apps. You get cross-browser consistency among A-grade smartphones, and fallback support for legacy Blackberry, Symbian, and IE Mobile.

4. Skeleton

5. 320 and up

‘320 and Up’ prevents mobile devices from downloading desktop assets by using a tiny screen’s stylesheet as its starting point.

6. Fittext

FitText makes font-sizes flexible. Use this plugin on your fluid or responsive layout to achieve scalable headlines that fill the width of a parent element.

7. Media Query Bookmarklet

The mediaQuery bookmarklet gives a visual representation of the current viewport dimensions and most recently fired media query.

8. Responsive testing

A quick and easy way to test a website design in multiple screen widths.

9. Media Queries

A collection of inspirational websites using media queries and responsive web design.

10. inuit.css

Inuit.css is a CSS framework built to work on small screens. Inuit.css has a custom grid system builder for creating fixed or fluid grid system igloos.

11. PhotoSwipe

PhotoSwipe is a free HTML/CSS/JavaScript based image gallery specifically targeting mobile devices.

12. Adapt.js

Adapt.js is a lightweight JavaScript file that determines which CSS file to load before the browser renders a page.

13. Adaptive Images

Adaptive Images detects your visitor’s screen size and automatically creates, caches, and delivers device appropriate re-scaled versions of your web page’s embedded HTML images. No mark-up changes needed.

Tutorials

We know that not everyone learns through reading, for some its all about actually getting up and doing it. That is why below, we are going to take a look at some good tutorials on responsive web design for those just itching to start playing with it.

1. Responsive Design with CSS3 Media Queries via Web Designer Wall

Media queries are the backbone of responsive web design, and this function of CSS3 will definitely up your ante if you’re familiar with. In this tutorial, Nick La does a great job of introducing and explaining media queries while offering a tutorial for using them.

2. Fluid Images via Unstoppable Robot Ninja

The early adopters of responsive web design were mostly text-based sites, with very few images. This is easy to understand because the one question a lot of people had that made them wary about this new practice was how images would render. Well after going through this article by Ethan Marcotte, you won’t be one of the latter.

3. How To Design a Mobile Responsive Site via UX Booth

This is a great tutorial written by Elaine Simpson, going into great detail and giving a great process to follow when going about a responsive design.

4. Responsive Data Tables via CSS Tricks

Data tables are an important aspect of showing results, or grouped information on a website. With this tutorial, you’ll learn how you can keep this aspect with style.

Publications

Trying to learn new material is always hard when first starting out, which is why having great written work on the subject is a great way of easing the learning curve. That is why before going any further, we’re going to take a look at some very useful books and blog articles on responsive design.

1. Responsive Web Design By Ethan Marcotte

It is only right to start off our listing of great resources on responsive web design with this thoroughly detailed book written by Ethan Marcotte. In this book, Ethan guides an exploration of understanding and appreciated what is responsive web design. Honestly, this book very well may be all you need.

2. Responsive Web Design: What Is It and How To Use It via Smashing Magazine

This article written by Kayla Knight for Smashing Magazine is probably the best, at the very least one of the best, published articles in the blogosphere on responsive web design. This will give you a good explanation of what exactly responsive web design is, how it works, and how you’ll leave knowing some cool ways of implementing it.

3. Beginner’s Guide to Responsive Web Design via Think Vitamin

If you’re looking for something informative, and more so straight to the point, as a good introduction to responsive web design then Nick Pettit wrote the article for you. Nick did a good job at offering a very easy to follow explanation of responsive web design for the less experienced web designer or developer trying to get their feet wet in this new practice.