Source: Grids are Good by Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton History of the grid ‣ The practice of using a grid to guide design and page layout is nearly a century old ‣ In the 1910s and 1920s, ornamental design gave way to Rationalism and New Objectivity ‣ This shift in design was part of a much larger movement towards function over form ‣ Helvetica typeface and Bauhaus architecture
Source: Grid (page layout) on Wikipedia ‣ After World War II, a number of graphic designers, influenced by the modernist ideas of Die neue Typographie (The New Typography), questioned the relevance of the conventional page layout of the time ‣ They devised a flexible system to help designers achieve coherency in organizing the page Typographic grids
Source: Grids are Good by Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton Nearly a century ago ‣ Modernists looked to build a new aesthetic by... ‣ deriving beauty from the innate qualities of the machine ‣ championing standardization ‣ Sound familiar?
Source: Grids are Good by Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton Today ‣ Web designers have turned to grid-based design in order to... ‣ derive beauty from the innate qualities of the browser ‣ champion standardization ‣ 16 years after the invention of the web, we are finally embracing a century-old design philosophy
1 Source: Software framework on Wikipedia Grid systems on the web ‣ On the web, grid systems usually take the form of CSS frameworks ‣ A framework is a “reuseable abstraction of code wrapped in a well-defined API”1 ‣ A collection of tools and shortcuts designed to minimize code and make your life easier
Examples of frameworks ‣ Ruby on Rails is a well-known Ruby framework ‣ jQuery is a JavaScript framework ‣ Drupal itself can be considered a web application framework ‣ Includes many APIs for working with databases, fields, and web forms
CSS frameworks ‣ Apply the principles of software frameworks to web design ‣ They provide standardized rules and shortcuts for: ‣ browser resets ‣ typography ‣ navigation ‣ print style ‣ and...
JeffCroft.com | What’s not to love about CSS frameworks? “I’m convinced that the people railing against CSS frameworks are just trying to drum up some false job security.” —Jeff Croft, designer and author
Stop reinventing the wheel ‣ Reduces the amount of CSS and markup you need to duplicate each time you start a project ‣ No need to refer to old projects to figure out how to implement layouts
Photo from Lernaean Hydra on Wikipedia Multi-bodied hydra ‣ Many “dragons” share the same facade ‣ To render in a browser, all data has to pass through HTML ‣ .NET, ColdFusion, Java, Perl, PHP, Ruby, Python, etc.
Stop fixing and start designing ‣ Shortens testing phases by providing built-in support for noncompliant browsers ‣ Minimize Internet Explorer hacks in your layout ‣ A well-tested grid system will rarely be the source of your problems
Photo: Aaron Schmidt on Flickr (Creative Commons BY-NC-SA) “Embrace constraints” ‣ All modern displays support at least 1024×768 resolution ‣ Despite the many advances in web technology, it’s all just rectangles — Mark Kraemer, National UX Practice Lead, EMC.com
Think Vitamin | Web development is moving on — Are you? “Our craft is becoming a commodity and the people in charge don’t care about the quality of the markup, CSS or how short our JavaScript is. What matters is how fast you can get it to market, how many people it reaches and how cheaply it can be built.” —Christian Heilmann, Standards evangelist at Yahoo
Example based on 960.gs (12-column) Columns ‣ Grid systems are built using columns ‣ Columns are a grid system’s smallest unit of measurement ‣ Most grid systems contain 12–16 columns
Example based on 960.gs (12-column) Column width ‣ Page regions (header, content, sidebars, etc.) are defined by column width ‣ As in: “The header is eight columns wide”
Example based on 960.gs (12-column) Gutters (margins) ‣ Margins or padding are used to create gutters between columns ‣ These gutters provide margins between page regions
Lean and versatile CSS ‣ A grid system’s CSS should: ‣ Be lean and efficient ‣ Be versatile and reusable ‣ Ensure consistent behavior across all common browsers — even IE6
Wrapping elements ‣ In fixed-width grid systems, the entire layout is wrapped inside a single element ‣ elements wrap the page regions and define their widths according to the number of columns they span ‣ These elements may be nested to create regions within regions
Example based on 960.gs (12-column) Floating elements ‣ The wrapping elements are assigned a column width using a CSS class ‣ Because these classes also float the elements, they simply fall into place on the page class: grid-12 class: grid-8 class: grid-4 class: grid-4 class: grid-4 class: grid-6 class: grid-6
Source: 960.gs What is 960.gs? ‣ 960.gs — also known as the 960 Grid System — was created by Nathan Smith in order to “streamline web development workflow” ‣ It’s both a prototyping and development framework ‣ “The premise of the system is ideally suited to rapid prototyping, but it would work equally well when integrated into a production environment.”
Source: 960.gs ‣ Download it for free at http://960.gs ‣ GPL and MIT licensed ‣ The 960.gs download includes: ‣ Printable sketch sheets for doodling ‣ Design templates for all most applications: Photoshop, Illustrator, Inkscape, OmniGraffle, etc. What’s in it
Source: 960.gs Technical specs ‣ 960px wide with a 940px usable area ‣ Two versions: 12- and 16-column ‣ These can be implemented separately or simultaneously ‣ Each column has a 10px margin on the left and right, which creates a 20px gutter between columns
Source: 960.gs 12-column version Columns are 60px wide Gutters are 20px wide 10px margin on the left and right prevents collision with browser chrome Available working area is 940px wide
‣ This flexibility allows designers to work with both 60px- and 40px-wide columns ‣ If 12 or 16 columns don’t suit you, 960 is also divisible by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 15, 20, 24, 30, 32, 40, 48, 60, 64, 80, 96, 120, 160, 192, 240, 320 and 480
CSS and markup Note: 960.gs uses underscores in its CSS class names. To avoid confusion, the examples that follow will use hyphens instead, as this is The Drupal Way.
Containers ‣ Grids must be wrapped in a container ‣ Containers center the content and define which version of the grid will be implemented .container-12, .container-16 { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 960px; }
Grids ‣ Grids are held inside containers and are floated left so they fall into place automatically ‣ They also provide 10px margins on the left and right .grid-1, .grid-2, .grid-3, ... .grid-16 { display: inline; float: left; position: relative; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; }
Grid widths ‣ The width of each grid is determined by the container that wraps it ‣ For example, a one- column grid is either 60px or 40px depending on whether it’s a 12- or 16-column layout .container-12 .grid-1 { width: 60px; } .container-16 .grid-1 { width: 40px; }
‣ Note that grid width does not increase by 60px or 40px each time ‣ Each increase must account for the 20px gutter between grids .container-12 .grid-1 { width: 60px; } .container-12 .grid-2 { width: 140px; } .container-12 .grid-3 { width: 300px; } .container-16 .grid-1 { width: 40px; } .container-16 .grid-2 { width: 100px; } .container-16 .grid-3 { width: 160px; }
Prefixes and suffixes ‣ If you want to leave space between columns, use a prefix or suffix class ‣ Prefix classes add padding to the left of a column ‣ Suffix classes add padding to the right .container-12 .prefix-1 { padding-left: 80px; } .container-12 .suffix-1 { padding-right: 80px; }
‣ Here’s the catch: Because each grid includes a 10px left and right margin, nesting grids can break your layout .grid-3 .grid-6 .grid-3 .container-12 .grid-6 .grid-6
Alpha and omega fix broken nesting ‣ When nesting grids, use the alpha and omega classes to remove the margins ‣ alpha removes the left margin. It’s the first nested grid. ‣ omega removes the right margin. It’s the last nested grid.
Onehub.com | Why We Chose 960.gs for Our CSS Framework “In the time you could argue the relevance of naming conventions like these, I just built a 16 column layout.” —Matthew Anderson, designer at OneHub.com
Additional resources ‣ 960 Gridder and bookmarklet ‣ Variable grid system generator ‣ Other grid systems based on 960.gs ‣ Fluid 960.gs ‣ Typogridphy: Typographical and grid layout CSS framework ‣ and...
Source: Drupal.org About NineSixty ‣ NineSixty is the Drupal port of 960.gs ‣ Developed by Joon Park, aka dvessel on Drupal.org ‣ Intended to be used as a base theme ‣ Currently a candidate for Drupal 7 core ‣ Follow the debate on groups.drupal.org
NineSixty’s improvements ‣ Content-first layout using “push” and “pull” classes ‣ These classes have been added back to 960.gs ‣ Dynamic grid widths based on context ‣ Debugging tools and grid visualization ‣ Right-to-left (RTL) language support
Content-first layout ‣ A design convention in which the content is output as close to the top of the markup as possible ‣ Content should be output before all sidebars ‣ Some designers believe it should be output before a site’s main navigation ‣ This can be very difficult to achieve on a site with one or more left columns
Push and pull classes ‣ Content-first layout can be achieved in NineSixty by “pushing” the content grid to the right while “pulling” a sidebar to the left ‣ These classes use the same naming convention as .grid-X, .prefix-X, and .suffix-X, where X is the grid’s width: ‣ .push-X and .pull-X
Dynamic grid widths ‣ In some cases, you may want grids to resize themselves when a region isn’t populated ‣ For example, a 3-6-3 layout should become 3-9 if the right column is empty ‣ Dynamic width assignment is handled using the ns() function ‣ Defined in template.php
‣ X, Y, and Z are all width values ‣ class can be grid, prefix, suffix, push, or pull ‣ $region can be any theme region ‣ Use as many pairs as you like Structure of ns() ns('class-X', $region, Y, $region, Z, ...) Default value These “pairs” subtract from the default value
Source: NineSixty’s page.tpl.php . ' ' . ns('push-4', !$left, 4); ?> From #main: ns('grid-16', $left, 4, $right, 3) ns('push-4', !$left, 4) Default width If left sidebar is present, subtract 4 from default width. If right sidebar is present, subtract 3 from default width. If left sidebar is not present, subtract 4 from the push value. This will result in no push, as 4-4 = 0 Default push value
NineSixty in action ‣ Visit http://ninesixty.fkdemos.com to see how NineSixty... ‣ uses push and pull classes to generate content- first layout ‣ dynamically assigns grid widths based on context ‣ can be used to create different layouts
‣ Split 12- and 16-column CSS into separate files ‣ Slimmer CSS and faster page loads ‣ Add vertical rhythm ‣ Standardized, more professional typesetting ‣ See A List Apart’s “Setting type on the web” Planned improvements to NineSixty Source: Joon Park's Twitter feed (@dvessel)
When not to use a grid ‣ Implementing a grid will probably be impossible if your site’s layout... ‣ uses irregular column sizes ‣ has irregular margins or gutters ‣ has a width that isn’t divisible by a sane number
‣ Implementing a grid will be difficult — but not impossible — if your site’s layout... ‣ has gutter widths of odd numbers ‣ is fluid ‣ wasn’t designed on a grid
Getting started ‣ Do not change the NineSixty theme on your site! ‣ Hacking NineSixty is like hacking core: It will make upgrading your site very difficult ‣ Instead, subtheme NineSixty or create a totally new theme based on NineSixty
Subtheme ‣ This method is best if your site is (or can be) 960px wide and can utilize 12 or 16 columns ‣ Subtheming instructions and resources on Drupal.org: ‣ Subtheming quick and dirty ‣ Sub-themes, their structure and inheritance
Build a new theme ‣ You should build a new theme when your site’s layout... ‣ isn’t 960px wide ‣ doesn’t use 12 or 16 columns ‣ It’s more efficient to use a new theme than to override virtually all of NineSixty’s CSS
Image source: Client project Do the math ‣ Be prepared to crunch numbers ‣ Building a new theme can be very confusing ‣ Spreadsheets can help you visualize column, margins, and gutters
‣ Examples (remember that the true “canvas” size of 960.gs is actually 940px): ‣ (940 - ((12 - 1) x 20)) ÷ 12 = 60 ‣ (940 - ((16 - 1) x 20)) ÷ 16 = 40 Source: Grids are Good by Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton The grid equation (Canvas - ((Total units - 1) x Gutter)) ÷ Total units = Unit
Downloads ‣ 960 grid system: 960.gs ‣ NineSixty theme for Drupal: drupal.org/project/ ninesixty ‣ This and other presentations are available for download at fourkitchens.com/presentations
Credits ‣ “History of the grid” slides were borrowed heavily from Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton’s presentation Grids are Good and from Wikipedia ‣ Piet Mondriaan painting was found somewhere online. Copyright holder is unknown ‣ The items listed above are exempt from this presentation’s Creative Commons license ‣ This presentation was created and delivered by Nathan Smith of Fellowship Tech and Todd Ross Nienkerk, co-founder of Four Kitchens
All content in this presentation, except where noted otherwise, is Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike 3.0 licensed and copyright 2009 Four Kitchen Studios, LLC.
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