A few times lately, I’ve heard people on the radio talk refer to blog comments and other discussions that responsive sites tend to look alike.

Since folks also tend to think WP sites look alike, that means responsive WP sites would be operating in an even thinner band of visual variation.

I don’t think either accusation is true. Or, more accurately, they don’t have to be true.

But the fact is that whether or not there’s some similarity between sites on small screens, having at least a phone-size version is no longer optional.

So how do we keep responsive WP sites from looking like each other? And where does mobile-first fit into all of this?

What are the obstacles?

The obvious approaches?

Let’s look at the ideal case, the bare-bones case and a middle ground – and some tools we can use to get started.