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I'm making a site, it's software is based off of the 960gs system. Being a web developer for years this is actually my first run in with it. It comes from the world of typography and is great for designers, supposedly.

But I wanted to know how people felt about it in the frontend web development community as I find it very hard to work with and without the freedom to create elements how I choose, stylings how I choose, and javascript how I choose I cringe at how long it will take to make some of these advanced javascript animations with alpha overlays and rounded corners and so much more if I'm stuck in some grid system's philosophy. I only see it as getting in my way but ripping everything out takes time too. And I've already got a finished render of the photoshop document. And I've already started ripping out the grid system. But my client wanted to know more reasons why I was doing it this way. In a similiar position what would you people do? I really don't like working with the grid system but I'm not blind and can see both it's benefits and detriments. So I'm stuck with what would be the best choice and wondered what other people might think given the same problem.

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    This is a broad what-do-you-think-about-this? question. – woz Jul 18 '12 at 15:49
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    I think it's great for a basic layout, but if you're doing client work, I would encourage you to work with your own layout. That may be a 960 layout after all, but don't rely on it. Fluidity and flexibility are very important to clients. – Chad Jul 18 '12 at 15:50
  • -woz while that is true, I thought stack overflow was about using programmers resources collectively, and experience is a very valuable resource, I don't see anything wrong with asking others general questions about how they solve things. @Torr3nt Thank you for your helpful comment. I agree. They are important. I think I'll go ahead with what I'm doing. –  Jul 18 '12 at 15:55

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If not not talking about doing responsive design/development I would suggest going that route, on a grid system as well, kill two birds with one stone. Its a bit tricky at first being somewhat constrained by design, but overall you will catch on and still learn ways to create very unique looks even though its based on a grid system.

I would just look up "responsive web designs" on google for some inspiration. I have gone fully to the responsive side of things, overall your making very clean designs that look amazing across all browsers and devices.

Again I personally think 960px is a bit narrow, but thats my own opinion I generally go 1024-1200px but also design things to still look good (with the fold, and width) on a iphone then on a 24" monitor. If your going responsive dont get hung up on the width, I keep my content always within the 1024px width but always extend elements even out to 1600-2560px wide (for those on 24" monitors). That way if your on a lower resolution display you see everything you need to and nothing more but on a larger monitor you see everything.

matt
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  • We have a layout for mobile devices, as a fixed layout and the site is a fixed layout as well. We made ours 990px wide actually, after careful research on what many big companies such as ebay and apple did. –  Jul 18 '12 at 16:04