Why I chose not to make the homepage responsive: the reality behind some technical choices.

Introduction: When developing a website, the golden rule is: it must be responsive. But in some cases, this rule is set aside for practical or aesthetic reasons. In this article, I want to share my experience with one of my projects, Pentainferno, where the homepage is not responsive due to a deliberate and requested choice. The Context: I created this site for a project called "Pentainferno." I was asked to follow a very specific, predefined design with a precise arrangement of elements and images. Specifically, the homepage had a fixed desktop layout, requested to maintain the visual composition created by the designer. In other words, I couldn’t alter the layout to make it mobile-friendly, as it would have distorted the intended look. I Can Make It Responsive, But It Wasn't a Priority Here: Let me clarify: I know how to create responsive layouts. For other projects, I use media queries, flexbox, and grid to adapt everything to various screen sizes. But in this case, I made a conscious choice: I put responsiveness aside to respect the requested graphical direction. What I Learned: This experience taught me a few things: Sometimes, following the requested design is more important than applying standard technical rules. You need to be adaptable, especially when working for others. It's useful to know alternatives: I could have suggested a similar responsive solution, but in this case, it wasn’t what was needed. Conclusion: The "right way" isn't always the most technical: sometimes, it’s the one that best responds to a specific request. What about you? Have you ever had to sacrifice responsiveness to follow a design? Let me know in the comments!

Apr 10, 2025 - 20:24

Why I chose not to make the homepage responsive: the reality behind some technical choices.

Introduction:

When developing a website, the golden rule is: it must be responsive. But in some cases, this rule is set aside for practical or aesthetic reasons.
In this article, I want to share my experience with one of my projects, Pentainferno, where the homepage is not responsive due to a deliberate and requested choice.

The Context:

I created this site for a project called "Pentainferno." I was asked to follow a very specific, predefined design with a precise arrangement of elements and images.

Specifically, the homepage had a fixed desktop layout, requested to maintain the visual composition created by the designer.
In other words, I couldn’t alter the layout to make it mobile-friendly, as it would have distorted the intended look.

I Can Make It Responsive, But It Wasn't a Priority Here:

Let me clarify: I know how to create responsive layouts. For other projects, I use media queries, flexbox, and grid to adapt everything to various screen sizes.

But in this case, I made a conscious choice: I put responsiveness aside to respect the requested graphical direction.

What I Learned:

This experience taught me a few things:

Sometimes, following the requested design is more important than applying standard technical rules.

You need to be adaptable, especially when working for others.

It's useful to know alternatives: I could have suggested a similar responsive solution, but in this case, it wasn’t what was needed.

Conclusion:

The "right way" isn't always the most technical: sometimes, it’s the one that best responds to a specific request.

What about you? Have you ever had to sacrifice responsiveness to follow a design?
Let me know in the comments!