Speaking Work
From time to time we get up on stage and tell you about some of the cool things we’re doing, as an invited speaker at international conferences and local schools alike. Interested in booking us for your event, or bringing us in to speak with your organization? Get in touch.
@Media, London, UK
Presentation:
There are now multiple ways to include custom fonts in an HTML document, and each has its advantages and drawbacks. In this session, from the creator of the renowned CSS Zen Garden, these methods were covered, as well as how to implement them and when/why they make sense for your projects. (Spring 2006)
Carson Workshops, Chicago, USA
Presentations:
- Building Beautiful Websites with CSS
Bringing the popular London full-day workshop to Chicago. (Spring 2006)
IceWeb, Reykjavik, Iceland
Presentations:
- Strategic CSS Project Management
Authoring a simple CSS file for a static page is easy enough, but the story gets complicated when you're talking about multiple pages and varying layouts across an ever-changing site driven by a content-management system. This session covered topics such as gracefully dealing with legacy browser issues, handling layout and file management demands, and team coordination when building Web sites with CSS. (Spring 2006)
FITC 06, Toronto, Canada
Presentations:
- The Designer's CSS Toolkit
How do you take a design from mockup stage to fully-realized CSS code? What do you need to think about? What factors will come into play? These are the questions many designers struggle with when learning how to integrate CSS based design in their daily working life. CSS Zen Garden creator Dave Shea shared some of the lessons he has learned along the way, including topics such as effective markup creation, layout and positioning essentials, and layout problem-solving. (Spring 2006)
SXSW 06, Austin, USA
Presentations:
- CSS Problem Solving
- Demystifying the Mobile Web
A pair of panels examining the issues related to working with CSS on a daily basis, and discussion on the future of the mobile web. Co-presented with folks like Ethan Marcotte, Kelly Goto and Kelly Goto. (Spring 2006)
CASE District VII Conference, Vancouver, Canada
Presentations:
- Working with Cascading Style Sheets
CSS-based layouts are taking the Web by storm. Have you looked to make the switch, but don't think you're ready? Or, haven't quite figured them out yet? This session of the CASE District VII Conference featured advice from the creator of the Web site CSS Zen Garden, a well-regarded collaborative gallery for the web design community. Dave Shea spoke about various layout techniques, demonstrate fixes for browser compatibility quirks, and answered audience questions. (Spring 2006)
Web Design World, San Francisco, USA
Presentations:
- Fine Typography on the Web
- Strategic CSS Project Management
Bringing the previous Boston event to San Francisco in early 2006. (Spring 2006)
Carson Workshops, London, UK
Presentation:
- Building Beautiful Websites with CSS
A full-day workshop with Carson Workshops, looking at various techniques used to deal with browser compatibility issues and CSS template management, popular CSS design techniques, case studies of some of the best sites out there. As a special demonstration, the day was finished with a live rebuild and coding of a CSS-based layout, from Photoshop mockup to final production-ready code. (Spring 2006)
Web Design World, Boston, USA
Presentations:
- Fine Typography on the Web
- Strategic CSS Project Management
A pair of sessions on very different subject matters, answering questions like "after a technological revolution and 500 years of typographic tradition under our belts, why in the world has the Web been stuck with Verdana and Arial for so long?" and "how can we gracefully deal with legacy browser issues, handle layout and file management demands, and manage team coordination when building Web sites with CSS?" (Winter 2005)
Flash in the Can 05, Toronto, Canada
Presentation:
- 5 Myths of CSS Design
Good old HTML ain’t what it used to be. The last few years have seen some heavy change. Tables are out and CSS is catching on in a big way, but some myths about what CSS can and can’t do persist. css Zen Garden creator and Bright Creative founder Dave Shea discussed current design issues with that other web technology — HTML — and how CSS is already changing the web for the better. (Spring 2005)
Web Design World, San Francisco, USA
Presentation:
- The Marriage of Structure and Presentation
The separation of structure and presentation isn’t as clean a cut as some might be led to believe. A look at the practical implications of interconnected structure and presentation, and coping strategies. Co-presented with Molly Holzschlag. (Spring 2005)
SXSW 05, Austin, USA
Presentations:
- Be Beautiful with CSS
- Web Design 2010
A pair of panels examining the issues with incorporating CSS into a design process, and what web design might look like in five years. Co-presented with folks like Molly Holzschlag, Jon Hicks and Dan Cederholm. (Spring 2005)
WE 04, Sydney, Australia
Presentations:
- Zen and the Art of Web Improvement
- Designing with CSS: Past, Present, and Future
- Smoke and Mirrors: Deconstructing brightcreative.com
The first annual Web Essentials conference in Sydney, Australia was kicked off with a keynote by Bright Creative’s Dave Shea. Presenting with fellow North Americans Douglas Bowman and Joe Clark, as well as locals John Allsopp, Dean Jackson, and a handful of others, Dave went on to speak twice more over the course of this two-day intensive conference. Notes from the first two presentations are available online, while the third was a live coding demonstration. (Fall 2004)
SIGGRAPH, Los Angeles, USA
Presentation:
- Structure and Style: Zen for the Web
A look at the history of the css Zen Garden and the lessons it teaches, with a special focus on the use of CSS in concert with the benefits of proper site structure. (Summer 2004)
OFFF, Valencia, Spain
Presentation:
- Structure and Style: CSS Design
Amidst the paella and the palm trees, an international Flash and media festival brought participants and audience from around the globe together in Valencia this past summer. Our involvement was a presentation on the tangible benefits of valid code and proper structure to support visual design work. (Summer 2004)
SXSW, Austin, USA
Presentation:
- Hi-Fi Design with CSS
A joint panel session with authors and designers concerning the use of CSS to facilitate stunning visual layout. Co-presented with Christopher Schmitt, Dan Cederholm, and Douglas Bowman. (Spring 2004)