Grid systems. If you’re a web designer, you’ll be aware of these. You may even use them on your projects. I’m a web designer and I have never used a grid system for any project. Should I be admitting that?
Here are the three most widely known and used grid systems:
However since I decided to write this blog article I’ve seen a couple more:
I don’t use a grid system. I usually set up my design to fit within 960px, to work within 1024×768 resolutions and then just get on with my own framework. Maybe it’s not the most efficient way to design and code up my projects, but I prefer to create individual frameworks because of just that. They’re individual. Also down to personal preference. I find it much easier writing something from scratch than to muddle my way around a framework’s code. I’d probably spend more time doing that than if I wrote from scratch.
I can understand frameworks working well for large scale projects. When time is short, you’ve got developers who aren’t all that hot with CSS and yet still insist on not separating the front-end from the back-end, then sure, I think using a grid system would be a great idea.
I’d be tempted to try to use a grid system in my next project, but I honestly don’t know which one to go for. I do know that the 960 Grid System and Blueprint are the most popular to use. But why would I choose one over the other?
I definitely see the value of grid systems, but for now, I think I’ll stick to writing my own CSS frameworks. If anything, it keeps my brain thinking when I’m coding up a page. I’ll never stop learning and creating my own frameworks is just one way to keep me learning and practicing new things.