I attended the recent An Event Apart conference in Boston. An Event Apart is aimed at designers who build websites, and has a standards-oriented slant.
I am not a designer, but I have to play one from time to time. I don’t plan to make designing websites my primary focus, but some basic skills is necessary these days. Also I think the web might not be a passing fad, so investing in some expertise in that realm would probably pay off in the long run AEA seemed like a good way to jump-start that area of my professional skill set.
The talks were very high quality across the board, and the topics ranged from design psychology to CSS nuts and bolts. I found Jason Santa Maria and Dan Cederholm to have the most useful technical content. Whitney Hess’s DIY UX talk and Kristina Halvorson’s Content Strategy talk both had great information from a less technical, but still development-related standpoint. From a general-interest perspective, Jared Spool on Amazon and SimpleScott on the Obama campaign website were extremely interesting.
Beyond the talks, the conference itself was a great experience. The presenters were very down to earth, and I met a lot of cool people. The designers didn’t even seem to mind that I wasn’t “one of them”.
A few personal key takeaways:
- “Websites don’t need to look the same in every browser.” This was the mantra of the conference. We were made to chant it over and over until it permeated our souls (just kidding (sorta)).
- Grid-based layouts are your friend.
- Fluid layouts are cool.
- Sketch. “Sketchbooks are not about being a good artist, they’re about being a good thinker.” – Jason Santa Maria.
- “The behavior you’re seeing is the behavior you’ve designed for.” – Joshua Porter
- Charge for the value you bring to a client, not the hours you work.
I didn’t take many pictures but instead outsourced them via the AEA Boston 09 Flickr pool.
Finally, I wanted to put some of my newfound skills and excitement to use. Without further adieu, I give you: doesthissitejustshowonebigword.com.
Comment (1)
Most designers I’ve met are pretty cool people. Sounds like a cool event. Personally I can’t wait until we can write off IE 6 completely as that seems to be the most annoying browser, especially as far as being (or rather not being) standards compliant.