Introduction to Mastering CSS Layout using Design Patterns

Mastering CSS Layout Welcome

Learn why Design Patterns are so important and how they simplify and systemize CSS layouts

Introduction

Introduction to Design Patterns

The Stack design pattern is used when you need to stack elements on top of each other and set space between them.

The Stack Design Pattern

The inline-cluster pattern is used to place elements inline, set space between them, and cluster the elements when they run out of inline space.

The Inline-Cluster Design Pattern

The split pattern is for putting two elements next to each other, each taking up a fraction of the inline space.

The Split Design Pattern

The cover pattern is used to vertically center content within an element.

The Cover Design Pattern

The center pattern is used to cap out the inline growth while centering the content inside its parent.

The Center Design Pattern

The column-drop pattern is used to a grid-like layout where each row has its column layout.

The Column-Drop Design Pattern

The Grid pattern creates equally spaced columns that persist across rows instead of the column-drop pattern, which does not.

The Grid Design Pattern

Learn what are the 7 design patterns behind every single CSS layout in the world. What they are and when to use each of them.

Design Patterns in CSS Layout

Introduction to the application and attribute selectors

Introduction to Application

In this lesson, we will learn how to implement the stack pattern using CSS Grid

The Stack Design Pattern in CSS Grid

CSS Grid can help you achieve part of this pattern, but it won't work for everything since it won't allow items to “Cluster” at smaller viewports.

The Inline-Cluster Design Pattern in CSS Grid

CSS Grid allows you to set two columns using fr units to set ratios.

The Split Design Pattern in CSS Grid

The cover works like the stack but vertically centers a specific layout part.

The Cover Design Pattern in CSS Grid

Half of the centering is done through your typical auto margin technique.  The children are centering through a few extra CSS Grid properties.

The Center Design Pattern in CSS Grid

The Grid pattern combines a few specific CSS Grid Properties that allow for an auto grid layout optimized to the inline size available to the component.

The Grid Design Pattern in CSS Grid

Deep dive into Design Patterns using CSS Grid. Learn exactly how to build each pattern with CSS Grid and practice your skills.

Design Patterns using CSS Grid

In this lesson, we will learn how to implement the stack pattern using Flexbox.

The Stack Design Pattern in Flexbox

The inline-cluster pattern is accomplished using the wrap and align-items center.

The Inline-Cluster Design Pattern in Flexbox

The Split pattern using flex box can seem complicated, but is a very powerful when all the fractions are setup.

The Split Design Pattern in Flexbox

The split can be made even more responsive by adding the minItemWidth and switchAt.

The Responsive Split Design Pattern in Flexbox

he cover pattern is almost identical to the grid implementation, but just uses flexbox properties.

The Cover Design Pattern in Flexbox

The center pattern sets the same margin properties, but the children is implemented using flex properties instead of grid.

The Center Design Pattern in Flexbox

The grid pattern is impossible using Flexbox, but the column drop is available and achieved using a flex-wrap, justify-center, and, flex-grow.

The Column Drop Design Pattern in Flexbox

Deep dive into Design Patterns using Flexbox. Learn exactly how to build each pattern with Flexbox and practice your skills.

Design Patterns using Flexbox

We will consolidate the two spreadsheets into a single spreadsheet with what I consider the optimal versions of each design pattern while acknowledging the good and bad of each version.

CSS Grid vs CSS Flexbox

Other layout techniques complimentary to the design patterns discussed.

Other Layout Techniques

You're done!

Learn advanced layout techniques, find out when to use Flexbox and when to opt in for CSS Grid and wrap up.

Wrapping up

Learn the Best Practices and Design Patterns behind every CSS layout. Know exactly what you *should* and *shouldn't* do at all times. And develop the intuition to **break every layout into its simplest building blocks** and the ability to **recreate it with both CSS Grid and Flexbox**.

### Why CSS Feels Hard and Frustrating

CSS is different than any other programming language. That's because it's not a programming language itself.

And that's why **CSS can feel painful, stressing, and overwhelming**. 

A common misconception is that with enough practice and experience, it will somehow just "click" eventually, but it doesn't work that way. 

This is what happens when you try to build a layout without first learning, understanding, and implementing the fundamentals. 

And this is when **CSS feels like throwing mud at the wall and hoping something sticks**. 

This is when editing a layout feels like defusing a bomb where one wrong move will turn everything to dust.

Flexbox and Grid definitely make things easier, and so does Bootstrap and TailwindCSS. **But these alone are not enough to help you feel confident in your abilities to build complex, responsive CSS layouts**.

It's like thinking you're a great painter because you have a canvas and a brush.

**These are just *tools***. But to paint a masterpiece, you need to know the fundamentals of painting.

And to build a picture-perfect layout that will last, **you *need* to learn the fundamental CSS Design Patterns**.



### How *Mastering CSS Layouts* Helps:

*Mastering CSS Layouts* teaches you the 7 fundamental Design Patterns that are used to build every layout in existence in the most simple and sturdy way that's easy to make responsive. 

You'll not only be able to recognize them, but also know *exactly* **how to use them in real-life scenarios like complex landing pages, SaaS interfaces, and more**.

You can finally **feel confident in your ability to build any layout there is from scratch** or edit an existing layout without breaking anything. 

Because you'll **know what you should and shouldn't do when building your layout**. 

Thanks to the best practices and foundational building blocks that are used to build all complex and responsive layouts.

These Design Patterns work with both Flexbox and CSS Grid so **you can use whichever you want** whenever it's time to build or edit a layout. 

And when you see a layout that seems harder to implement, you'll know **how to stack patterns on top of each other to achieve the exact result you want** every single time.  

### Course Content Overview

Course Overview:
Total Modules: **5**
Total Lessons: **24**
Total Video Runtime: **1 hour, 27 minutes**

Unlock the Secrets of CSS Layouts with Practical Expertise in Design Patterns

Become confident in building any CSS layout by learning the fundamental CSS Design Patterns and Best Practices that are responsible for all the CSS layouts in the world. 


Make CSS easy and intuitive by identifying those building blocks in seconds in every layout and learn how to code each of them using CSS Grid or Flexbox. By the end of this course, CSS will finally "click". 


Everything will make sense and you'll know how to build from scratch or edit  both simple and complex layouts.

Mastering CSS Layout

Build a responsive landing page using modern CSS layout patterns.

Implement modern CSS layout patterns with CSS Flexbox and Grid.

Optimally accommodate different grid layouts for cards with CSS Grid.

Drop cards to their own columns upon screen size changes with CSS Flexbox.

**How to make CSS make sense** by understanding the fundamental building blocks of web pages

How to **build *any* layout you want** and keep it sturdy and unbreakable

How to **instantly recognize common problems** in web layouts

What are **the 7 Design Patterns that help you solve every layout problem** you're going to ever face

How to **detect what design patterns were used and where** in each layout

How to implement these Design Patterns **in both CSS Grid *and* Flexbox**

**What you should and shouldn't do** when building your layouts

**When to use CSS Grid** and when to opt for Flexbox instead (and why)

How to **become confident in your CSS layout skills**

In the realm of web development, layout design plays a critical role in ensuring the user interface is captivating and user-friendly. A popular tool for creating such compelling layouts is the CSS grid. In this article, we will delve deep into the final design pattern achievable with CSS grid: the 

 is not feasible using CSS grid, many other dynamic and appealing layouts can be created with this tool, making it a valuable asset for any web developer.

To kick off, it's essential to lay down our base items. Set the 

[data-grid] {
  --gutter: initial;
  display: grid;
  gap: var(--gutter, 0px);
}

The CSS grid gives us the immense power of flexibility with its 

 property. A simple example would be to set three columns:

[data-grid] {
  --gutter: initial;
  display: grid;
  gap: var(--gutter, 0px);
  grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr);
}

---
title: The Grid Design Pattern in CSS Grid
description: The Grid pattern combines a few specific CSS Grid Properties that allow for an auto grid layout optimized to the inline size available to the component.
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isPublicLesson: true
useMdx: true
code: https://gitlab.com/fullstackio/books/newline-course-apps/travis-waith-mair-mastering-css-layout-app/-/tree/main/module_02/lesson_07
---

# Mastering CSS Grid: Grid Design Pattern

## Introduction

In the realm of web development, layout design plays a critical role in ensuring the user interface is captivating and user-friendly. A popular tool for creating such compelling layouts is the CSS grid. In this article, we will delve deep into the final design pattern achievable with CSS grid: the `grid design pattern`. Although the `column drum design pattern` is not feasible using CSS grid, many other dynamic and appealing layouts can be created with this tool, making it a valuable asset for any web developer.

Here's a demo of what we'll be building:

<ReplitEmbed src="https://replit.com/@newlineauthors/Master-CSS-Layout-27" />

## Creating a Grid Design Pattern

To kick off, it's essential to lay down our base items. Set the `gutter` and set `display: grid`.

```css
[data-grid] {
  --gutter: initial;
  display: grid;
  gap: var(--gutter, 0px);
}
```

The CSS grid gives us the immense power of flexibility with its `grid-template-columns` property. A simple example would be to set three columns:

```css
[data-grid] {
  --gutter: initial;
  display: grid;
  gap: var(--gutter, 0px);
  grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr);
}
```

Travis Waith-Mair

Hey everybody, so we're gonna talk about our final design pattern that we're

Before we talk about that, I want to acknowledge that the column drum design

So we're gonna go ahead and skip over that because the way CSS grid works is

And we're therefore going to go straight to the grid pattern.

So let's go ahead and put in our base items, which is we're gonna set our g

Now, when we did our split design pattern, remember we did grid template

And we did things like one F R, you know, we can set three columns using that

But what we want is to be able to how this these columns auto change depending

on the minimum width of each item that we set.

So first of all, one thing that CSS grid gives us is we can do a repeat.

So if we do repeat three times one F R, you'll see that we get that same number

We can come in, we can repeat it four times.

What we want to do instead of just saying one fraction, we're going to come in

here and say, we want the min max to be what let's just give a value of 150

And we want that to repeat four times in this case.

It's not going to really change, but we can come in here now and say auto fit.

And now you see if it can keep at least a hundred fixed 50 pixels wide, it will

fit in as many of those columns as it can.

But once it runs out of room, then it will move those over.

Now, if we were to set this to something higher, for example, five 50.

Now we only have two columns because it can only fit two columns that are at

So this is getting us most of the way there.

But one thing about this 550 pixels is if our screen size is smaller than 500

pixels, we don't want to be bigger than 550 pixels.

So we're going to throw in another function inside of here.

And we're going to say, whichever is smaller, 100% of the container or 550

So if the viewport or the container specifically that this box is in is larger

than 550 pixels, then we're going to go with the smaller number 550.

But if 550 pixels is larger than the box that we've contained, we're going to

go with just whatever the size of the boxes.

This is a little extra assurance that we add just to make sure that we're not

going to overflow outside of the box that we are setting ourselves in.

And then finally, instead of hard coding this 550 pixels, let's give it a value

And once again, we want to initialize that to nothing, just as a good practice

to make sure that we are always working with the value that we expect.

Now we can control the minimum item width of each item using a CSS property and

then it will automatically create the columns for us that are optimal for the

For this final learning practice, we're going to make some contact cards and

We have two sections that you need to be working in.

We have an app where we have a section with a bunch of contact cards.

And this is where you're going to implement your grid.

And so you're going to need to lay out this contact card and make it work.

So go ahead and pause the video, implement it and then unpause it and I'll show

OK, so first of all, let's do the easy thing first.

We gave each one a minimum item with the 24 rooms and a gutter of size seven.

Now, for the individual cards, what we did here is first of all, this top

So this section right here is done using an inline cluster with space between.

So basically this and this have a space between of them.

This section right here is done with a stack.

So this chain dough and the the pill are done using an inline cluster.

And then for the bottom section, we're using a split with a very small

That's all the design patterns using CSS grid.

In the next module, we're going to re implement all the design patterns again,

I can't wait to see you on the next lesson.