This layout works well on most devices. I think it's fair to say that you can do a lot with it. I also discovered a small, but annoying, technical anomaly with webkit browsers while creating it. Using the example below, If I had set the #text element to 'float:left;', this element would have shifted beneath the #picture element. Given the webkit browser is used in many mobile browsers, this becomes more important.
One thing you'll notice from this layout is that I haven't done much with the fonts, but that's just to keep the code slim.
See demo.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Design Template 21</title>
<!--[if IE]>
<script src="http://html5shim.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/html5.js"></script>
<![endif]-->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/css/reset/reset.css" />
<style type="text/css">
body
{
font-family:Sans-serif;
background:#F2F2F2;
}
body, #picture img
{
width:100%;
}
header, #picture, #text, footer, nav a
{
padding:1em;
}
nav
{
background:#000000;
height:3em;
}
nav a
{
display:block;
width:3em;
text-decoration:none;
float:right;
text-align:center;
color:#FFFFFF;
}
nav a:hover
{
background:#0000FF;
}
header, footer
{
height:8em;
}
header
{
clear:right;
}
#content
{
min-height:8em;
}
#content, #picture, #text
{
background:#FFFFFF;
}
#picture
{
float:left;
width:33%;
min-height:8em;
text-align:center;
}
#text
{
overflow:hidden;
}
footer
{
clear:left;
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<nav>
<a href="#">home</a>
<a href="#">services</a>
<a href="#">portfolio</a>
<a href="#">contact</a>
</nav>
<header>
<h1>Header</h1>
</header>
<section id="content">
<article id="picture">
<img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2079/2215968391_ebc1b2941b.jpg" alt="Pretty picture" />
</article>
<aside id="text">
<p><strong>Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique</strong> senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Vestibulum tortor quam, feugiat vitae, ultricies eget, tempor sit amet, ante. Donec eu libero sit amet quam egestas semper. <em>Aenean ultricies mi vitae est.</em> Mauris placerat eleifend leo. Quisque sit amet est et sapien ullamcorper pharetra. Vestibulum erat wisi, condimentum sed, <code>commodo vitae</code>, ornare sit amet, wisi. Aenean fermentum, elit eget tincidunt condimentum, eros ipsum rutrum orci, sagittis tempus lacus enim ac dui. <a href="#">Donec non enim</a> in turpis pulvinar facilisis. Ut felis.</p>
<h2>Header Level 2</h2>
<ol>
<li>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.</li>
<li>Aliquam tincidunt mauris eu risus.</li>
</ol>
<blockquote><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus magna. Cras in mi at felis aliquet congue. Ut a est eget ligula molestie gravida. Curabitur massa. Donec eleifend, libero at sagittis mollis, tellus est malesuada tellus, at luctus turpis elit sit amet quam. Vivamus pretium ornare est.</p></blockquote>
<h3>Header Level 3</h3>
<ul>
<li>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.</li>
<li>Aliquam tincidunt mauris eu risus.</li>
</ul>
<pre><code>
#header h1 a {
display: block;
width: 300px;
height: 80px;
}
</code></pre>
</aside>
</section>
<footer>Footer</footer>
</body>
</html>