Jack Barber / Website Design

How I'm Implementing Responsive Design Techniques

I've been building 'responsive' websites for a while now.  However, I've always been too concerned with the ever-present 'am I getting this right?' question to write about it.  However, seeing a an article about how the big-names in the world of website design are still working it out, I thought it was about time I explained a little about my responsive design processes.

But firstly, what is responsive design?

Basically, responsive design is the name given to a web design approach which aims to give the best viewing experience.  A website designed to be responsive will automatically alter its layout and styling to make the most efficient use of the screen it is being viewed on.

My approach - design

Over the years I've used many different tools to create designs for websites.  Before I started designing responsively I used Photoshop (and before that GIMP) for just about everything.  The thing with responsive design is that you don't know how big the screen on which your design is being viewed on is. 

This posed a bit of a problem for me using Photoshop, where designs are created at specific pixel sizes.  So last year I moved over to Illustrator, Adobe's vector based design packages.

The discussion on what tool is best for website design will rumble on for ever, I imagine.  The fact is, as most designers are beginning to see, that there is no 'right' tool.  Use whatever suits your workflow best.  At the moment, for me, that tool is Illustrator.