With the emergence of social media as a standard for conversation, having an online presence is a must. An important part of that online presence is to have your own website. Having your own website is like a virtual portfolio, where one can showcase all of their achievements. Being able to actually create and build that website to what you envision is a critical skill to have. Not only can you build your own site, but you’ve shown that you can do that for potential employers, as well.
The way we build websites is constantly changing. HTML5 is becoming standard, even though it is still under development. Web content management systems like WordPress and Drupal can make building websites easier, while still giving creative control to the developer so they can tweak and mold it to their own vision.
A conference like South By Southwest gives companies, developers, and users, alike, a platform to showcase and discuss all of the possibilities with the constantly-evolving language of the Internet.
Here are my Top-5 “Must-See” Web Design showcases at this year’s South By Southwest.
5. Fast CSS: How Browsers Lay Out Web Pages
When: Sunday, March 11, 11:00AM-12:00PM
Where: Ballroom A, Austin Convention Center
David Baron, of Mozilla (the developers of a little browser called Firefox, you may have heard of it), will be explaining the basic implementations of some of the most important core Web document technologies, such as HTML, XHTML, CSS, and SVG.
This is a great way to become familiar with these internet languages and how designers can use them to make their websites efficient.
4. Journalism’s Got 99 Problems: Design Is #1
When: Tuesday, March 13, 11:00AM-12:00PM
Where: Capital View North, Sheraton Austin
The argument of whether or not newspapers, as we know them, will cease to exist has gone on since the explosion of the Internet back in the 90s, and it still rages on today. Most news organizations put more focus on the up-to-the-minute stories on their websites, so journalism seems to have become an online game. And with social media, virtually anyone can become a “journalist,” so what will happen to the future of journalism?
David Wright of NPR and Miranda Mulligan of The Boston Globe design is a major issue. “Design is one of the most crucial ingredients; it’s the glue between intent and engagement, between content and comprehension. Yet news design on the web feels stagnant.”
Anyone in the field of journalism could learn a lot from this often-overlooked idea of “design” being a critical component to engaging readers and keeping journalism, as we know it, alive.
3. Killer App Design with Javascript and HTML 5
When: Sunday, March 11, 9:30AM -10:30AM
Where: Town Lake Ballroom, Radisson Town Lake
Apps are quickly becoming a huge cash cow, and large corporations, as well as small start-ups, are looking for designers to help make that next FourSquare, or even to create an app for their company.
Jonathon Morgan, CEO of StudentPositive, will present a way for designers learn how to make better apps using dynamic stylesheets, CSS3 and responsive UI. As the event description says:
“Websites are for wusses. Web apps = world domination.”
2. Does HTML5 Offer a Montage Moment for Web Cinema?
When: Sunday, March 11, 12:30PM – 1:30PM
Where: Room 15, Austin Convention Center
What happens when you begin to fuse the power of web design with cinema? Recent projects, like the teaming up of Google, Director Chris Milk, and Canadian indie-rock powerhouse Arcade Fire for The Wilderness Downtown, show how the art of web design and film can be utilized to make an amazing interactive experience. Seriously, try it out. FYI: The pop-ups are PART of the experience.
This panel of web designers and filmmakers will discuss the potential for web-fused movies, and they will show a few innovative examples “that feature high quality story and aesthetics as well as advanced technologies.”
1. HTML5 APIs Will Change the Web: And Your Designs
When: Saturday, March 10, 11:00AM -12:00PM
Where: Ballroom A, Austin Convention Center
Jen Simmons, designer and developer of Jensimmons.com, believes web designers have been held back creatively by the limited technology that runs the Internet, but she also believes the Web won’t be this way in the future.
Simmons will explore the new possibilities created by HTML5’s APIs, and how we can “design for and create the web of the future.”