Responsive Grid Gutter Width

The following examples show how the grid adjusts between key breakpoints on a communication site.

Responsive grid gutter width.

Resulting in a 30px gutter between columns plus 15px to the left and right of the grid. Provided you re looking at it on a screen larger than 768 pixels wide. Gutters are the space between the columns. Notice that the grid uses box sizing.

On tablet at a breakpoint of 600 dp this layout grid uses 24dp gutters. To make the grid responsive there are five grid breakpoints one for each responsive breakpoint. To make the grid responsive we will utilize media queries. All breakpoints extra small small medium large and extra large.

Using those we will be able to tell the grid to have a specific layout at certain device widths. Div class grid div class grid sizer div div class gutter sizer div div class grid item div div class grid item grid item width2 div. Flex grid thirds col width. To better adapt to the screen gutter width can change at different breakpoints.

If you go the flexbox route you also now have the ability to change the order of columns as needed which can be great for keeping more important content higher in the source as well as responsive design reshuffling. From our notes we want both main and sidebar elements to be 100 width for mobile then both 50 side by side on tablet and then 2 3 and 1 3 width side by side on desktop. The masonry js library is freakin awesome. Border box see also why did bootstrap 3 switch to box sizing.

20px is a common gutter size and this spacing will be really important when you have a masonry design or a grid of card elements a simple example being a photo gallery. Grid breakpoints are based on minimum width media queries meaning they apply to that one breakpoint and all those above it e g col sm 4 applies to small medium large and extra large devices but not the first xs breakpoint. On mobile at a breakpoint of 360 dp this layout grid uses 16dp gutters. That s because of the goodness baked right into the responsive grid system.

Wider gutters are more appropriate for larger screens as they create more whitespace between columns. On smaller screens it s like responsive. Just be sure to define your widths and gutters as percentage. Some systems increase the gutter width as you increase in device width but it s also okay to keep it fixed.

When you inspect the column mixin in the grid less file of the responsable framework you will find that each column got a padding on each side of half size the gutter width. The maximum width of the content area of a communication site is 1204 px and the minimum size is 320 px for mobile support.