Back in November, I had the pleasure of attending the HOW Interactive Conference in San Francisco. It was exciting, inspirational, and educational. This was the first conference I ever attended in my career. It was the first HOW interactive conference ever, so I felt like my attendance there was meant to be.
For the better part of my career, my main focus has been on print work. As my career has progressed, so has the age of digital design. Like many designers, postponing the embrace of digital design was something that could not be ignored. So I was delighted when I sat down in the opening session of HOW Interactive (#HOWidc) to hear the speaker say “We have all come from print and now we must move into digital… stop saying it’s all about technology: design does not mean code.” You could almost hear a sigh of relief from the audience. Excited and a bit nervous, I wondered if I was going to understand what they were saying? Would they be diving into a coding language that I couldn’t translate? Heck no!
The panel of speakers presenting were impressive and dynamic. They spoke the spectrum: user experience, content, information architecture and non-desktop design. And believe it or not, I knew what they were speaking about. It was such a delight.
With a fresh insight on this platform in design, I have found myself following more blogs, participating on Twitter, and sharing the knowledge that I have gained with my studio when I can, in hopes that we can use the knowledge to advance our services. I recommend this conference highly. If you find yourself interested in my review, don’t just take my word; you can view the conference sessions in full on Design TV.
“How can designers help people? They ‘make use’ of information.” David Sherwin