OT: web design and screen resolution

[Scott Barber]

I agree with Siri. I've been doing web development for years and I use /
recommend the "Zeldman Philosophy" and use the website alistapart.com.

If you do ANY webdesign, buy this book now!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0735712018/ref=nosim/002-2081165-0690406?n=283155

In essence: It's all about using web standards for your website.

Some links to help:
http://www.alistapart.com/comments/flexiblelayouts/?page=7
http://www.zeldman.com/dwws/

My 2 cents

-Scott


Siri Amrit Kaur wrote:
> On Monday 06 February 2006 12:46 am, Joseph Huber kindly wrote:
> 
>>Dunno if I am going to open a can of worms here... anyone out there that
>>has done some web page design (free-lance, during the day job, whatever)
>>have any thoughts on a screen resolution to aim for? I am thinking that 15
>>inch monitors and 800x600 is pretty much a thing of the past (and that 17
>>inch is fast going the same way) but that 1024x768 is reasonable
>>resolution. I have a 17 inch monitor at home and usually have the browser
>>maximized... but at work on a 19 inch (to me) having a window maximized
>>seems to make it too big.
>>
>>I have a hard time arguing with the "design research" behind something like
>>good old Amazon which seems to design for 1024x768 but scales well down to
>>800x600 (but then me, myself and I don't have Amazon type resources). What
>>looks good assuming 1024x768 doesn't work so much at 800x600 (unless I
>>force a fixed size font which I don't want to do... and Firefox seems to
>>ignore it if I do anyway) and if I make it look good at 800x600 it doesn't
>>look so hot at 1024x768.
>>
>>I'm getting stuck in a rut where all I'm going to do is worry about
>>resolution for the indeterminate future. Any thoughts welcome...
>>
>>Joe
>>
>>
> 
> Use a fluid CSS layout that will expand and contract according to the viewers' 
> needs. Go for web standards so that your pages will render correctly in most 
> browsers. Avoid fixed-fonts; let people make their fonts bigger or smaller as 
> they like. Don't make your pictures too big at the higher resolution, or 
> they'll be enormous at 800x600 and may break the layout . 
> 
> My site (see sig) is pretty nice at 1024x768 and 800x600. I've never seen it 
> on a 19" monitor, so I don't know how it is on that. The fonts are pretty big 
> at 800x600, but believe it or not, a lot of people have bad eyesight and like 
> larger fonts. The majority of monitors in use are set for 1024x768, and the 
> second highest users are using 800x600. That may vary depending on your 
> market. Maybe you're selling something to people who like the latest and 
> greatest in hardware, and more of them will have bigger monitors.
> 
> There are lots of free CSS templates available on the web that you can 
> experiment with. I started with one that had the features I wanted and played 
> around with the fonts and colors, then I sent it to a graphic artist who, for 
> very little money, tweaked it to make it prettier. There are also tools you 
> can use to see how your pages look in different browsers.
> 
> HTH,
> 
> Siri Amrit