Responsive Design

Media queries, fluid typography, container queries, and mobile-first.

Overview

Responsive design ensures content looks good on all devices.

Key Concepts

• Mobile-First — Design for small screens first
• Breakpoints — Common device widths
• Fluid Typography — Responsive text sizes
• Container Queries — Parent-based responsive
• Viewport Units — Screen-relative sizing

Code Examples

/* Mobile-first approach */
.container {
  padding: 1rem;
}

/* Tablet */
@media (min-width: 768px) {
  .container {
    padding: 2rem;
    max-width: 720px;
    margin: 0 auto;
  }
}

/* Desktop */
@media (min-width: 1024px) {
  .container {
    max-width: 960px;
  }
}

/* Fluid typography */
html {
  font-size: clamp(1rem, 0.9rem + 0.5vw, 1.25rem);
}

h1 {
  font-size: clamp(2rem, 1.5rem + 2vw, 3.5rem);
  line-height: 1.2;
}

/* Viewport units */
.hero {
  height: 100vh;
  height: 100dvh; /* Dynamic viewport height */
}

.sidebar {
  width: 25vw;
  min-width: 200px;
  max-width: 300px;
}

/* Container queries */
.card-container {
  container-type: inline-size;
  container-name: card;
}

@container card (min-width: 400px) {
  .card {
    display: flex;
    gap: 1rem;
  }
  
  .card-image {
    flex: 0 0 200px;
  }
}

@container card (min-width: 600px) {
  .card-content {
    display: grid;
    grid-template-columns: 1fr auto;
  }
}

/* Aspect ratio */
.video-wrapper {
  aspect-ratio: 16 / 9;
  width: 100%;
}

/* Responsive grid */
.responsive-grid {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(min(100%, 300px), 1fr));
  gap: 1rem;
}

/* Modern media query range syntax */
@media (768px <= width <= 1024px) {
  .tablet-only { display: block; }
}

@media (width < 768px) {
  .mobile-only { display: block; }
}

Practice

Build a responsive website that works on mobile, tablet, and desktop.