In this week’s web design video blog, Pete and I introduce the increasingly popular technique of designing websites using ‘Grids’. After a brief overview of what Web Design Grids are, and how they’ve become popular, we take a closer look at our favourite resource, The 960 Grid System.
The 960 Grid System works on the core principal of designing websites to a fixed maximum width of 960 pixels. As the average minimum monitor resolution is 1024×768, websites that are designed to a fixed width of 960px will easily fit within the 1024×768 screen resolution without a horizontal scroll-bar.
In addition to this, 960 is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 32, 40, 48, 60, 64, 80, 96, 120, 160, 192, 240, 320 and 480. This flexibility gives the designer the ability to divide the layout into almost any column configuration. If like me, you like to design your prototypes in Adobe Photoshop; the free PSD downloads are a great starting point.
