OT: web design and screen resolution

[Siri Amrit Kaur]

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
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