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Responsive web design: what it is and how it works

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Among all web design technologies, there is a very special one. It lets you multiply your audiences, give them a seamless user experiences, and turn them into your profitable customers. We are talking about responsive web design — the magic elixir of mobile-friendliness for websites. Thanks to it, your site will look and work great across all imaginable devices. Read on to find out more details.

Responsive web design: one website — many devices

The number of devices with various screen characteristics sprout like mushrooms after the summer rain. And each user of a mobile device, tablet, laptop, or desktop is your potential customer. Responsive web design allows you to include them all with no need to create separate website versions.

You will have your one and only website with one URL, and center your SEO, marketing, or content strategies around it. Meanwhile, responsive web design will insure it displays perfectly on any device — be it a 4-inch smartphone, a 10-inch tablet, or a 40-inch TV. Sounds like an all-in-one winning solution!

So what is responsive design?

Let’s delve a little deeper into what responsive web design is. This concept was introduced by designer Ethan Marcotte and changed the web forever. Ethan drew everyone’s attention to the fact that web pages are free from the constraints that printed pages have, and it’s time to take advantage of this flexibility.

Responsive web design is defined as a set of techniques that makes all website elements smartly “respond” to the device’s resolution and capabilities.

The elements can shrink or grow, hide or show, move or rearrange to create the most convenient layout on a particular device. As a result, your users enjoy a great viewing and navigating experiences, with no need for scrolling or resizing.

The text on the screen is not too big and not too small to read, the images look great, the buttons are positioned conveniently, the menus are easy to use, the number of columns is changed to fit the screen, and so on.

How responsive web design works

Let’s see how the above-mentioned effects are achieved. Here are a few of the most important responsive web design techniques. They are combined to enhance each other’s effect.

  • Fluid layouts

In traditional, fixed layouts, the structural elements use absolute values (in pixels). When it comes to fluid layouts, it is all about relative values, or percent proportions between the elements. They are the key to the responsive harmony on every particular device.

  • Media queries

Media queries are used to define at which points the website layout should change and new styles should come into play — for example, when a particular value of minimum or maximum device screen size is reached. These points are called “breakpoints” and are determined by the designer.

  • Responsive images

And, of course, the cherry on the cake of responsive web design are flexible images that nicely adjust themselves to particular screen sizes. Popular options here include image scaling by setting a maximum width of the image to 100% of the screen width, image cropping, and many more.

Final thought

This is just a glimpse at what responsive web design is, what benefits it brings and what its fundamentals are. It is a true work of art with plenty of nuances and intricacies. That’s why responsive web design needs professional hands. Apply to our web design agency — and fully enjoy all the benefits of your website’s responsiveness!