Archive: March, 2013

Responsive web design: the war has not yet been won

Designer Elliot Jay Stocks on responsive web design (RWD):

RWD is about making your site adaptable to any scenario, without worrying about specific devices and their proprietary dimensions.

RWD doesn’t need to take more time and therefore doesn’t need to cost your clients more money. At least not after you’ve rethought your approach to web design, anyway.

His argument isn’t perfect – I think Elliot underrates costs overall, but it’s still very strong.

Impact of responsive designs

The web is embracing the tenants of responsive web design rapidly, but what’s the real economic and analytical impact of all of this? Luke Wroblewski reveals some numbers from Time, O’Neill Clothing and more post their respective responsive designs. It’s still very early days, but it’s encouraging news.

CSSmatic

CSS3 is an essential tool of my web development workflow, but I often determine a lot of syntax specifics outside of my page in progress. Usually I jump to a hodgepodge of different sites where I adjust sliders and check things out visually, ending with a quick copy and paste job back into my development code.

The annoyance is that contextual back and forth. Why can’t I just rely on one tool, vs. multiple web sites to nail down my CSS3 data? That’s what makes CSSMatic so awesome. Just one source with basically all the CSS3 resources I’d ever need: gradients, border radius, noise and box shadow.

Instashare

Cloud based solutions like Dropbox take care of 90% of my cross file sharing between my Macs and my iOS devices. But sometimes I just want to send a quick audio file, video, or pdf to my iPhone. Or there’s a select photo I just took on my iPhone that I want to get to my Mac, and Apple’s iPhoto/Camera Roll workflow is just too slow or cumbersome.

That’s where the new Instashare app works really well. Dead simple UI on your Mac, iOS devices, and as long as the app is open on both sides and you’re on the same wifi (or Bluetooth), you’re good to go. Crazy fast transfer speeds too.

It’s a free download in the App Store, and only a buck to remove ads from the iOS version, a no brainer if you find it at all useful.