Redesigning the web, one device at a time…
Now that de new iPad has brought to us a new whole concept in resizing for mobile devices it’s not hard to start wondering where will it stop…
I remember when the first 800 by 600 pixels resolution screens appeared. We were all in awe because the web was giving its first steps with images and (gasp!) animated gifs of sorts.
We also started listening of technologies such as Quicktime, Macromedia Director and Shockwave and, last but not least, Macromedia Flash – for those a bit older, remember Macromind? – and the possibilities of the web were just starting to unravel.
Fast forward to 2012. Screen resolutions ascend to 1920 by 1200 pixels (my laptop) or 2560 by 1440 pixels (my desktop display) and we have Full HD TVs with embed web browsers. On the other hand, small devices such as smartphones with screens ranging from 426 x 320 pixels to up the new iPad with 2048 by 1536 pixels (more than half plus any Full HD screen). Not only that screens have different pixel densities (like iPhone 4/4S and iPad’s retina display). They managed to crunch more pixels into the same area.
So, all in all, web designers face a multitude of challenges if they are willing to cope with all these devices in their designs. And just how can they do that? I mean, if I were a web designer (though I work plenty with HTML/CSS, I do not consider myself a web designer), I would freak out just thinking how many stylesheets, media queries, responsive HTML and the works I had to think through in each of my designs! Just think of it. The task would be daunting. Even if using frameworks such as less or sass, grids and all that, I would go nuts. And then it struck me. They don’t freak out because they are not the ones doing most of the work… It’s all up to the developers! Which brings back to a previous text regarding web producers. That not very well defined role of the guy whose job is solely cutting designs and converting them into workable HTML/CSS templates, often with most animations completed (whether its HTML5, JQuery, DHTML, doesn’t matter). Who is he?
In my 16 year web development career, expanding from government agencies to major media corporations, only once I saw a well defined web producing role. A guy that had as it’s only function to take the designer layout, cut it into workable HTML and pass it on to the developer. And my question in this is… has this guy lost his marbles recently? From a simple task of creating HTML layouts for a 1024 by 768 pixels screen resolution, he has now to create, at least 4 different layouts. Is anyone giving that guy a productivity prize?
Anyway, I really wonder were it all goes from here on. A couple years from now, with tablets holding who knows what resolutions and smartphones not far behind but in a much smaller scale, how will the web design and development community react? (including the “invisible” web producer).
I really hope, for the sake of our sanity for tools to be developed to help us in this task. Or, at least, that the resolution “wars” halt somewhere in the near future.
http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html
http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/
http://www.orphicpixel.com/modern-web-design-tips-2012/
