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A Responsive New Year to You All!

You know, I think we might be approaching a time when what we have been calling “Responsive Web Design” simply becomes “Web Design”. But this doesn’t mean we’ll all reach a point any time soon where we know everything there is to know about the subject. Just as it always has been with web design, responsive web design will stay in a constant state of change, with new platforms and browsers and new design trends all bringing new challenges.

Which is why Web Directions is hosting Respond, a two day festival of Responsive Web Design, here in Sydney on February 4 and 5. Two days that will be the perfect opportunity to see what’s happening at the cutting edge, as well as see where all the local peeps are at. If you’re interested in staying ahead of the curve, make sure you grab a ticket today. And in particular, do it now if you are thinking to attend the Brad Frost Workshop on Day 1 of the festival, as this will certainly sell out.

Now is also the perfect time to do a bit of background reading so I’ve pulled out some of the more prescient articles I found by scanning back through the last few weeks of Responsive Design Weekly. If you’re not already, make sure you get on this mailing list as well!

As I said above, RWD is a moving target: here’s what’s ahead for 2014.

I know you don’t need to be convinced about the virtues of RWD, but “the people upstairs” still might. Make sure they know that Walmart.ca’s responsive redesign boost conversion by 20%. Pretty hard to argue with that if you’re dealing with any kind of ecommerce site hey?

In a similar vein, this blog post by Mark Boulton based on his Business of Responsive Web Design presentation, is an excellent inspirational read.

From the bleeding edge: responsive icons. Ever thought of displaying a different icon based on the size of the viewport?

Knowing your content and audience can help you decide if an intriguing experience is appropriate for your site; if it is, then hover responses can be a real asset. Jen Lukas talks through the The Responsive Hover Paradigm.

The three words no web designer ever likes hearing in the same sentence are “Internet”, “Explorer” and “Eight”. The Guardian’s responsive design team share some code to help make old browsers work with future-friendly CSS media queries.

There are still many different uses of the term “adaptive design” out there. Brad Frost goes through this term’s many faces. Basically, everything Brad Frost has to say on the topic of RWD is worth reading, so while you’re at it, get familiar with his idea of atomic design. Then grab a ticket to his workshop!

And then lastly, the one thing that everyone still runs away from is responsive images. Here’s a handy 2013 Year-End Update, plus Simon Elvery’s A Quest for Responsive Imagery is well worth a listen.

Here’s to a responsive 2014!

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Web Directions South is the must-attend event of the year for anyone serious about web development

Phil Whitehouse General Manager, DT Sydney