Without Media Queries: Achieving a Fluid 3-Column Desktop to 1-Column Mobile Layout

Traditional media queries serve a crucial role in adapting website layouts to various screen sizes. However, in pursuit of creating a truly fluid and responsive design, there's a desire to explore alternative solutions that eliminate the need for media queries.

Consider a website with a 3-column layout on desktops:

   |  |  |
---| ---| ---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 |

On mobile, however, the layout should transform into a single column:

|
---|
| 1 |
| 2 |
| 3 |

To achieve this dynamically, CSS's powerful features come to the rescue:

Grid and Clamp

.grid-wrapper {
   display: grid;
   gap: 15px;
   grid-template-columns: repeat(clamp(1, calc(100% - 500px), 3), 33%);
}

The repeat() function creates a specified number of columns, and clamp() ensures a minimum of 1 column when the viewport shrinks below 500px.

Flexbox and Negative Margin

.flex-container {
   display: flex;
   flex-direction: row;
}

.flex-item {
   width: 33%; /* initial width */
   margin-right: -15px; /* negative margin to facilitate overlapping */
   background-color: red;
}

/* Breakpoint rule for smaller screens */
@media screen and (max-width: 500px) {
   .flex-item {
      margin-right: 0; /* remove negative margin on mobile */
   }
}

This approach ensures that items align side-by-side on larger screens but stack vertically on narrower ones. The negative margin initially creates overlap, which is corrected by removing it on smaller screens.

Conclusion

By leveraging grid, clamp, flexbox, and negative margins, it's possible to create fluid layouts that adapt seamlessly between multiple columns and a single column, eliminating the need for media queries for basic layout changes.