Below is a collection of excellent examples of responsive web design:

The Next Web (http://thenextweb.com/)

5D (http://5dinstitute.org/)

Fork CMS (http://www.fork-cms.com/)

Clean Air Works (http://clearairchallenge.com/)

Dress Responsively (http://dressresponsively.com/)

Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com)

Starbucks (http://starbucks.co.uk/)

Smashing Magazine (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/)

Oakley Airbrake MX (http://moto.oakley.com/)

Sciences Po (http://www.sciencespo.fr)

The percentage of users viewing websites on mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones is rising rapidly; however the majority of websites are designed to be optimally viewed on a desktop monitor at a minimum of 960 pixels. Mobile devices have implemented pinch zoom which makes these websites usable but not necessarily an enjoyable experience. Responsive web design is an approach adopted by designers that allows the website to be displayed appropriately at a variety of screen resolutions.

Responsive Web Design bridges the gap between websites and native applications. Companies often try to find a use for a mobile application as a solution to the increasing amount of users of smart phones. A website that provides a better mobile experience is often the best solution when an application would be unnecessary.

Implementation – Progressive Enhancement vs. Graceful Degradation

Responsive web design is implemented with CSS media queries; these are used to target devices of certain resolutions and set style rules in order to display the content in the most effective manner. The initial design can be approached in two ways:

• Progressive Enhancement: An initial design is created to the smallest screen size (such as a smart phone), this encourages the elimination of elements that are not absolutely necessary due to the limited space available. It also encourages thought on prioritisation of the elements of the website. Elements are gradually added or enlarged to enhance the website as more screen space becomes available.
• Graceful Degradation: This is the common approach taken when an existing website is required to be mobile friendly and involves gradually removing or adjusting the location of elements in order of priority, so only the highest priority items remain or are most visible. We believe that a website that is truly mobile friendly should be designed initially with mobile in mind; whilst it is possible to gracefully degrade a website, it causes issues with elements that have conflicting levels of priority when a website has not been sufficiently planned to adjust to an 80% reduced amount of space.

Of these two methods of implementation, progressive enhancement is the most suitable to building a responsive website as it encourages an increased amount of planning for mobile users. Issues such as smaller screen resolutions and touch and swipe navigation are best addressed at the beginning of a project, rather than as an afterthought of an existing website.

The amount of mobile users accessing websites is rapidly increasing and it is incredibly important for any business to adapt to changing user behaviour. Responsive design produces an enjoyable experience across the increasingly wide variety of devices used to access the internet, and also ensures that your business takes full advantage of the mobile world within which we live.

http://www.couponaudit.com/blog/top-100-web-design-blogs-to-follow-in-2013-infographic/

https://victoriabeckham.landrover.com/INT

http://www.intacto10years.com

http://www.iutopi.com/

http://lostworldsfairs.com/atlantis/

http://www.dangersoffracking.com/

http://titanic.q-music.be/

http://livingword.co.uk/

http://www.globaltv.com/bombgirls/index.html

http://www.zensorium.com/tinke/

http://www.vesmirnyprogram.sk/

If you’re looking to have a parallax scrolling website built get in touch

Install wkhtmltoimage

wget http://wkhtmltopdf.googlecode.com/files/wkhtmltoimage-0.11.0_rc1-static-i386.tar.bz2
tar xvjf wkhtmltoimage-0.11.0_rc1-static-i386.tar.bz2
mv wkhtmltoimage-i386 /usr/bin/wkhtmltoimage
chmod a+x /usr/bin/wkhtmltoimage

Taking screenshots in PHP

<?php
exec("wkhtmltoimage http://www.google.co.uk test.jpg");
?>

This would generate a JPG image of the website and save it as a file called test.jpg. We then required to crop the screenshot rather than having the whole website, there’s 2 additional parameters that can be passed to crop the screen

<?php
exec("wkhtmltoimage --crop-h 768 --crop-w 1024 http://www.google.co.uk test.jpg");
?>

CSS 3.0 Fonts

We soon discovered the software crashed when trying to generate screenshots of websites using CSS 3.0 fonts, the error we were receiving was:

wkhtmltoimage: symbol lookup error: wkhtmltoimage: undefined symbol: FcFreeTypeQueryFace

We found the following instructions online to upgrade the version of libfontconfig on our server

yum install freetype-devel
wget http://www.freedesktop.org/software/fontconfig/release/fontconfig-2.4.2.tar.gz
tar -zxvf fontconfig-2.4.2.tar.gz
cd fontconfig-2.4.2
./configure -prefix=/usr
make
mv ./src/.libs/libfontconfig.so.1.2.0 /usr/lib/
cd /usr/lib
ln -s libfontconfig.so.1.2.0 libfontconfig.so.1

Cannot connect to X Server

Luckily our server already had xvfb installed and running, if you receive the above error you may need to install xvfb which is a virtual x-server, the following is untested but from what we’ve read online is the process with which you need to go about getting it working:

yum install xorg-x11-server-Xvfb
wget http://www.flexthinker.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/xvfb-run.sh.txt
mv xvfb-run.sh.txt /usr/bin/xvfb-run
chmod a+x /usr/bin/xvfb-run

Then change the command being used in the exec() call to:

<?php
exec("xvfb-run -a -s "-screen 0 1024x768x16" wkhtmltoimage http://www.google.co.uk test.jpg");
?>

Android is open-sourced which enables Android Application Developers and users to tailor Android to suit their needs. For this reason Android is becoming increasingly popular with Developers who can create software without the limitation of operating systems. Companies are now looking to Android Application Development because the open-source nature provides more options to develop and customise applications that can be modified by staff to use according to their position within the company and tailored to their individual use.

Android supports Applications not recognised by iPhone like Flash, Gmail and Google Calendar so if you prefer to use a combination of applications you will benefit from going with the Android system which provides more flexibility over the iPhone.

Android Application Development brings huge possibilities to developers who have the freedom to create ‘out of the box’ applications and games and distribute and market them simply. Using the open-source Linux OS system, developers can change any of the files that control the way the operating system works and are able to redesign the look and feel of these to suit their needs.

Hiring a reputable Android Application Developer with skills and expertise to develop innovative and imaginative applications that will be able compete in the open market and meet your business objectives is an investment well made. Well designed Android Application Development can bring a range of benefits such as availability of a comprehensive library for audio, video, GPS and dynamic and attractive graphic works from the 2D and 3D graphics library. The advantage of Android’s mobile application development is the ability to collect information fast, its compatibility to audio and video formats and the ability to develop effortless and attractive applications easily and quickly.

A professional Android Application Developer will know the strengths and weaknesses of the Android software development kit and will be able to create the best and most efficient Android Application to suit your needs. To guarantee a quality service and a complete efficient Application solution that works for you, employing a professional Android Application Developer is money well spent.

If you are looking for flexible, affordable, open-source software with affordable development, the Android is a good option. Android Application Development can benefit almost any industry to help people engage with your brand, from accessing potential property viewings, booking a table at a restaurant, arranging for a taxi, ordering a takeaway or viewing designs and up-to-date information. Android Application Development can provide efficient and interactive business solutions that are designed around your company needs.

* Please note that this is an app we created for internal use only so you won’t find it on the app store.

Local small businesses have suffered from disruptions due to delivery schedules and parking restrictions which has contributed to causing a ‘ghost town’ effect in some areas. The anticipated increase in footfall has been disappointing with local traders complaining that street signs and official stewards are directing people straight to the Olympic events and advising them to avoid certain areas resulting in local shops and businesses being bypassed.

Many businesses were warned to start planning well before the Games to reduce adverse impact on trade. Staff were encouraged to reduce non-essential travel by working from home or be flexible with times, modes or routes. Delivery restrictions plus disruption to road networks meant that businesses, especially restaurants and food retailers needed to reschedule their deliveries to night or early morning and non perishable goods ordered well in advance to ensure stock levels maintained.

Even with pre-planning, businesses in Central London have reported trade down and put the blame on TfL’s warnings for people to avoid London during the Games. Tourists should be encouraged to spend time in local shops and restaurants instead of being directed directly to the Olympic Stadium. Local trade outside London has also seen a decrease in sales although Shopping centres have encouraged shoppers by providing screens showing the Games.
On the plus side, online sales grew in July by 9%. The Olympics encouraged shoppers to stay at home, watch the Olympic Games and shop online. The demand for sports and fitness gear increased by 11% online with shoppers taking the time during the Olympics to browse the internet and do their shopping between Games.

With the excitement of the Olympic Games, UK consumers went online to buy high-definition television sets and associated products boosting online sales of consumer electronics by 30%. With consumers staying at home and watching the Olympic Games on TV there has been a massive increase in online activity and a unique opportunity for businesses to capitalise and create an international base of consumers.

Artists who performed during the Olympics opening and closing ceremonies have seen a massive boost in their album sales and online auction sites have seen a surge in Olympic memorabilia such as costumes from the elaborate ceremonies, autographed daily programmes, used ticket stubs from events where GB athletes won medals.

The full effect of how the Olympic Games has impacted on the economy will not be evident until the autumn but the excitement and the feel good factor will remain a lasting legacy that Britain will be forever proud of.

We set out to build a fun music related app which utilises the functionality of the iPhone to transfer the touch screen into a virtual drum machine allowing the user to create their own drum patterns. So far we’ve had great feedback from users testing from the age of 2 upwards.

Future developments planned for the app include adding a wider range of sounds and the ability to record what you play and share it on social media websites with your friends.