This article was written in 2016. It might or it might not be outdated. And it could be that the layout breaks. If that’s the case please let me know.

Talking about the material of the web

I gave a talk on Smashing Conf in Oxford a few weeks ago. For me as a lecturer doing a lecture in Oxford is of course a fantastic honour. But doing a lecture in Oxford on Smashing Conf is double the honour. The talk is about different ways to create (responsive) layouts on the web. It is also about the idea that we should be playing with CSS a bit more. There are so many new(ish) features that we haven’t fully explored yet, which probably means that there are amazing things we can do that we can’t even imagine yet. (You can watch the video here. I’d love to hear what you think about it)

In other words, I think we don’t investigate the material the web is made from enough. While it’s such wonderful stuff. But it looks like there is a growing interest in this material. Joschi Kuphal & Brian Suda are organising a complete conference about the material of the web in Reykjavik, in Iceland this summer. So, if you ever had plans to visit that incredible island, now is your chance. You could argue that such an important subject deserves a slightly more accessible place. But you could also say that the most interesting ideas occur in the weirdest places.

Joschi and Brian are trying to get the funds together on Kickstarter, and you should all back Material Conference with all the money you have. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it. I’ll be idling in Greece with my family then. But I definitely look forward to reading about the insights about the material of the web you came up with.