Drupalcon London - Day 4 Thur. A Keynote heralds Wedding Bells & Fashion

The final keynote Designing the Sustainable Web was delivered by two guys gents Christopher Murphy and Nicklas Persson, they teach interactive design at the University of Ulster at Belfast.

The Web Standardistas covered design, fonts and resources both online and books. Like Tom Standages' presentation they talked history. I think I lapsed into an awake, but non-note taking mode; but on their site they provide resources. There's a full and good review on Ubelly. Given the way the web struggles to re-invent rip-the-paper with grids still preeminent in design the books mentioned inc. HTML5 for Web Designers, Responsive Web Design and Ordering Disorder. There's hours of reading and visual delight at http://www.thegridsystem.org/ and Subtraction.

Two things I did spot in the keynote; one a site design, it was quite minimal on the graphics side - apart from a black header with text logo - but using fonts + and as described information architecture to emphasize the content and indeed the overall semantics of the page (and site). I must catch the video again. The other was a slide drawing on newspaper design and proportions that makes me wonder about switching things around.

After the keynote it was another look for me at mobile and theming: Adaptive, Responsive, Mobile First and Drupal Theming for the Future with HTML5, CSS3 and Omega. This session included a surprise for a young lady - a marriage proposal. Congratulations! The Omega theme was a topic at BarCamp in Leeds and I've looked at it for the DJ site. There I've settled on Black Piano. Omega is definitely worth a revisit. Many visitors to the old site arrive c/o mobile devices (possibly as an example of poor design?). Mobile first! indeed.

The Organics Groups session commenced with the lift pitch and the 2nd Drupal fashion show. Organic groups and panels make a lot of sense for a Hodges' model site. The model is a grid, the domains are panels. The links pages are currently tables. So... (whatyawaiting4)! Somebody mentioned - their first Drupalcon - that with this being my 4th a lot of the session content should be familiar.

The documentation BoF did not quite go as planned over dinner time - at least for me. This is a vital project as support, help and documentation does matter in people voting with their feet. I think the project will get a real fillip as some higher level dependencies kick-in and the potential of DITA.

As I write this it's Friday the last day and the code sprint. I'm not coding, but helping review an issue associated with #drupalEdu. (So not coding but still learning and trying to help a little.) This tag covers Drupal training, mentoring, support and general education - K12, Higher Education...

It's been great here in London. Heading North soon. I'll see if I can add a photo or two over the w/e. Tomorrow I will unpack and check the PC which has arrived home apparently, now with working graphics cards? Also to sort hosting. Liverpool on Sunday: the Matthew St Festival.