Resolution Sizes: Thank the Ratios
Coming from a game art background, concept art of either 2d or 3d origins were still shown in whatever sized images we wanted. There was not really a standard beyond the 16:9 or 4:3 ratio that we were used to seeing from movies screen sizes.
Now, I am working on the ux and the visual design of a couple of apps and had run into a bit of a wall. I have been trying to start on low fidelity digital wireframes for several projects but I was quite stuck on what size screen to go with for the mobile apps. There are so many devices out there and so many changing resolutions I was feeling quite overwhelmed. Which one do you listen to? The newest one always? But then what about the older devices (cause even a yearling device seems old now)? Was I supposed to design with the idea that everyone would just catch up eventually to the newer devices?
And then, an angel appeared in the form of similar ratios. The blessed 16:9, 4:3, and 3:2 ratios are the linking thing between most devices and a dear design friend, Tiffany Smart, told me her method. She creates grids for all three of those ratios and makes sure that the designs she creates would work even when things are scaled a bit or moved over a smudge. There's something about this workflow that makes me all warm inside. Maybe it's the idea that there is not so much alienation in looking at all the ratios. That the vast majority of mobile users could look upon the app as it was intended. Maybe it is because the idea of a thread linking all these different devices together helps me feel a little more grounded.
Oh blessed be the common ratios. Ohhhmmmm
