An Event Apart: “Everything You Know About Web Design Just Changed”

Jen Simmons speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 2, 2018.

2017 saw a sea change in web layout, one that few of us have truly come to grips with. We’re standing at the threshold of an entirely new era in digital design—one in which, rather than hacking layouts together, we can actually describe layouts directly. The benefits will touch everything from prototyping to custom art direction to responsive design. In this visionary talk, rooted in years of practical experience, Jen will show you how to understand what’s different, learn to think through multiple stages of flexibility, and let go of pixel constraints forever.

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An Event Apart: “Fit For Purpose: Making Sense of the New CSS”

Eric Meyer speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 2, 2018.

The past year has seen an incredible explosion in what we can do with CSS—from stable flexbox to the dawn of Grid, there are more powerful tools in our toolbox than ever before. Each system is, in its own way, simple, but the multitude of choices can make your head spin. What are the pros and cons? Where are the strengths and weaknesses? How does a committed craftsperson choose? In this detailed talk, Eric will compare and contrast CSS features in a series of real-world design scenarios, illuminating not only what he chose in each situation, but more importantly, why, always with an eye on what trade-offs were made at what cost. You’ll come away with a better sense of how to put all these new CSS features to work for you right away.

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An Event Apart: “Graduating to Grid”

Rachel Andrew speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 2, 2018.

When CSS Grid Layout shipped into multiple browsers in the Spring of 2017 it heralded the dawn of a new way to do layout on the web. Now that the excitement of launch has passed, Rachel Andrew will take a look at what went right or wrong in these first few months, and offer help to those struggling to transition away from legacy methods. In a practical, example-packed hour, Rachel will help give you the confidence and practical skills to fully embrace Grid layout. We’ll compare common framework patterns to new Grid code, and learn how to create a workflow that is right up to date—a workflow grounded in new CSS, yet able to care for old browsers and ensure a good experience for their users.

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An Event Apart: “Scenario-Driven Design Systems”

Yesenia Perez-Cruz speaking at An Event Apart Seattle 2018 on April 2, 2018.

Unified design systems are essential to building, maintaining, and evolving our sites and products. By empowering disparate teams via a common visual and UX language, they help us create cohesive user experiences. But creating a unified system that scales to serve a variety of content and use cases can be challenging. Sharing insights from her experience creating a unified design system for eight media brands with eight distinct editorial strategies, Yesenia will show how to approach a design system via a user-centered lens. Learn how being scenario-driven helps you design a scalable system that responds flexibly to specific contexts.

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