Taking a moment to reflect on a very interesting evening at Speak the Web last night in Liverpool.
Speak the Web
For those who don't know, Speak the Web is the brain child of Dan Donald and Rich Clark. The not-for-profit organisation brings together some of the creative / digital industry's leading figures in series of speeches (initially 4, across Sheffield, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester) designed to be smaller and more intimate than the more mainstream conferences.
Venue
Last night's was held at the Leaf Tea Shop and Bar, a cosy venue typical of a smallish room in a renovated industrial building - exposed brickwork, wooden floor, Chesterfield couches and the charm of some well placed old-world decor. It is a nice space, well suited to this kind of event, though the room is an access point for the rest of the complex. This meant a steady stream of musicians (complete with drumkits), dancers and bemused residents buzzing passing through. But on the upside the PA system was good and the hosts / speakers very interesting, so the distraction was minimal.
Speakers
The evening played host to three speakers: Jake Smith from JP74, Patrick Lauke from Opera, and Simon Collison of Erskine Design. As a non-web designer, but with a keen interest in the industry, I was pleased to find the speeches accommodating in content providing general interest to the less techie amongst us. That said there was plenty of more in-depth info in there to keep the developers in the room happy.
Jake Smith
concentrated on typography on the web and it's limitations - more specifically the distinct lack of available fonts, even 20 years on. He went on to talk through the options out there that enable the use of a wider selection of fonts, and as non are perfect nor universal the pro's and con's of each were discussed.
Patrick Lauke
didn't spend his time talking about Opera as half expected. Instead he took us through an insightful tour of HTML5 and it's potential. Techy in parts, but highlighted the reasons for it's inception and what the benefits will be for developers and users alike.
Simon Collison
was last to take to the stage. Given my background as a designer, his was for me the talk which held the most interest. He talked at length about the rationale behind design. Why not to follow trend, but instead how to be relevant, considered and objective. Why web design should be design for a new medium and not try to be an extension of design for print. Why good design follows principles and adds creativity in measured doses. His personal site speaks reams.
Would I go to another?
In short, yes. All in all it was a varied and interesting trio of talks. The atmosphere was low key and friendly, and the hosts did an excellent job of keeping the schedule on track (give or take half an hour!), throwing in a few prizes along the way for good measure. For anyone considering attending future Speak the Web events I would whole heartedly recommend it, even if you're not strictly a web designer / developer like me!
Thanks to Dan and Rich for doing a sterling job!
Andy Chesters.