Media Query grouping instead of multiple scattered media queries that match

First, your solution given in the question certainly has some usefulness to it.

One thing I thought, however, was that it would be nice to define all the media query variables "near" one another (your solution would have them under each media query call). So I propose the following as an alternative solution. It also has drawbacks, one being perhaps a bit more coding up front.

LESS Code

//define our break points as variables
@mediaBreak1: 800px;
@mediaBreak2: 1024px;
@mediaBreak3: 1280px;

//this mixin builds the entire media query based on the break number
.buildMediaQuery(@min) {
    @media only screen and (min-width: @min) { 

        //define a variable output mixin for a class included in the query
        .myClass1(@color) {
            .myClass1 {
               color: @color;
            }
        }

        //define a builder guarded mixin for each break point of the query
        //in these is where we change the variable for the media break (here, color)
        .buildMyClass1() when (@min = @mediaBreak1) {
           .myClass1(red);
        }
        .buildMyClass1() when (@min = @mediaBreak2) {
           .myClass1(green);
        }
        .buildMyClass1() when (@min = @mediaBreak3) {
           .myClass1(blue);
        }

        //call the builder mixin
        .buildMyClass1();

        //define a variable output mixin for a nested selector included in the query
        .mySelector1(@fontSize) {
           section {
              width: (@min - 40);
              margin: 0 auto;
              a {
                font-size: @fontSize;
              }
           } 
        }

        //Again, define a builder guarded mixin for each break point of the query
        //in these is where we change the variable for the media break (here, font-size)
        .buildMySelector1() when (@min = @mediaBreak1) {
           .mySelector1(10px);
        }
        .buildMySelector1() when (@min = @mediaBreak2) {
           .mySelector1(12px);
        }
        .buildMySelector1() when (@min = @mediaBreak3) {
           .mySelector1(14px);
        }

        //call the builder mixin
        .buildMySelector1();

        //ect., ect., etc. for as many parts needed in the media queries.
    }
}

//call our code to build the queries
.buildMediaQuery(@mediaBreak1);
.buildMediaQuery(@mediaBreak2);
.buildMediaQuery(@mediaBreak3);

CSS Output

@media only screen and (min-width: 800px) {
  .myClass1 {
    color: #ff0000;
  }
  section {
    width: 760px;
    margin: 0 auto;
  }
  section a {
    font-size: 10px;
  }
}
@media only screen and (min-width: 1024px) {
  .myClass1 {
    color: #008000;
  }
  section {
    width: 984px;
    margin: 0 auto;
  }
  section a {
    font-size: 12px;
  }
}
@media only screen and (min-width: 1280px) {
  .myClass1 {
    color: #0000ff;
  }
  section {
    width: 1240px;
    margin: 0 auto;
  }
  section a {
    font-size: 14px;
  }
}

For responsive Wordpress sites I use a starter theme called Bones by Eddie Machado ( http://themble.com/bones/ ). I rather like the way it uses media queries, it has different stylesheets for different breakpoints (480+, 768+ etc) which you can change depending on your design.

It then imports these with @import into one stylesheet underneath the appropriate media queries. You edit all of these in LESS and, I use Simpless by Kiss ( http://wearekiss.com/simpless ) to compile my .less stylesheets into .css automatically. I really find it a really good starting point for developing a simple responsive site. Even if you're not developing in Wordpress you may want to check out how they're structured their media queries as it all seems to work fine even with the use if LESS.

Media Query grouping instead of multiple scattered media queries that match

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