Beyond a certain point it uses media queries to serve up a mobile version, which essentially stacks all the columns on top of each other so the flow of information still makes sense.

Scrap 1024! Design once at 1140 for 1280, and with very little extra work, it will adapt itself to work on just about any monitor, even mobile.

It looks like a good framework for sites where a fluid layout is acceptable. Its usage is fairly simple, and a PSD of the grid is available for laying out your design.

The 1140px Fluid CSS Grid System [CSSGrid.net]

A recent guest post over at Usability Post (by Tyler Tate) shows how to create a grid with your own CSS, 1KB of CSS to be precise.

Here is a fresh take on the CSS grid (loosely based on Nathan Smith’s 960 Grid System). Its mission is to be lightweight. And, as I’ll show in part 2, it can be used to streamline page templates for content management. All this in just one measly kilobyte (actually, 662 bytes, but who’s counting).

A few CSS rules and you have your own custom grid framework, which you can easily work the rest of your CSS around.

The 1Kb CSS Grid, Part 1 [Usability Post]

A Detailed Look at the 960 CSS Framework

CSS frameworks are bloated. CSS frameworks are for people who don’t know how to code. CSS is too simple to implement a framework.

If you’ve ever read a tutorial on a CSS framework, I can guarantee that many comments mimic the previous statements. My guess is that the majority of these comments are stemmed from slight ignorance. Once you take the opportunity to spend some time with 960, you’ll be amazed at how much time can potentially be saved when developing your web applications.

I think Jeffrey Way, the creator of the video, has a point when he says that a lot of the criticism of 960gs stems from “slight ignorance.” The framework most certainly is not bloated, clocking in at a mere 4kb minimized.

This video is a nice tutorial showing how to begin using the framework, some snags you may run into along the way, etc.

If you’ve been wondering what all the hullabaloo about 960gs is about, click through and watch the video. There certainly are some projects where it is definitely a good fit. It’s a nice tool to have in your arsenal.

Grid-Based Design: Six Creative Column Techniques.

Grid systems bring visual structure and balance to site design. As a tool grids are useful for organizing and presenting information. Used properly, they can enhance the user experience by creating predictable patterns for users to follow. From designer’s point of view they allow for an organized methodology for planning systematic layouts.

The post talks in-depth about grid design, and has plenty of screenshots to illustrate their points.

I haven’t looked closely at the whole grid-based design concept before, but it’s definitely on my to-do list. It looks like a good way to design certain types of sites (e.g. content-heavy ones), and I need to read more about it.