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There are several comments here about why using Bootstrap is bad, primarily because it limits the workflow and freedom of the designer, and includes too much st
by christiangenco 13y ago
There are several comments here about why using Bootstrap is bad, primarily because it limits the workflow and freedom of the designer, and includes too much stuff you don't need.
But that's entirely the point of Bootstrap.
It's not something that's supposed to be used by designers. It's perfectly tailored for someone like me: a back/middleware developer who sucks at design, but has enough sense to know that when I try to design something it looks like poop. It's for projects I can't afford to bring on a dedicated designer for. I can just include a single CSS file, follow a basic HTML structure, and have something that looks good enough on every browser and mobile device. It's not going to win any design awards, but again, that's entirely the point: without a lot of thought on the front end, I have a design that doesn't get in the way of what I'm actually building.
What would people like me be doing without Bootstrap?
- Oculus 13y agoThis 1000 times. I'd also add that the majority of the public doesn't notice Bootstrap, but just sees a decently designed website (i.e. Your not going to lose mainstream consumers by using Bootstrap, might actually gain some compared to self-designing).
- tlongren 13y agoExactly as I use it, too. Prior to bootstrap and others like it, I had a couple standard designs I used, but the flexibility of bootstrap is what drew me in.
- jmathai 13y agoI'd argue that it's a great tool for companies that have paid designers on staff too. What it provides us is a consistent and predicable framework to lay out pages. Anyone can contribute because it's becoming a well known/understood tool to work with. I doubt that more than 1% of websites need such unique designs that Bootstrap is too limiting.
- saryant 13y agoA company I used to work for did exactly that. Our in-house graphic designer took Bootstrap and customized the living snot out of it. We (the devs) could work from the standard Bootstrap docs but the end product looked nothing like stock Bootstrap. Not only does it give both devs and designers a point of reference for communication, it makes it much easier to ramp up new devs since they don't need to learn the idioms of our style sheets.
- christiangenco 13y agoOoo, that's a really good idea. Presumably all the middle-ware people would already be familiar with the Bootstrap way of doing things that they could just jump right on. I'd love to see an example of what the graphic designer was able to do with Bootstrapped HTML. Kind of like a 2013 CSS Zen Garden.
- ceejayoz 13y agoPrecisely. My side projects aren't projects I can hire a designer for, and my design knowledge is limited to a) knowing what's shit and b) knowing my "design" is included in a).