Simon Collison
Bio
I'm a designer. I also do plenty of writing and speaking. I'm based in Nottingham, England, but my work often takes me to all sorts of other fine places.
I'm a partner at Fictive Kin, collaborating on ambitious web projects and tinkering with bold new stuff. Sometimes I contribute to web design publications, and I speak about the design process at conferences. I also organise the annual New Adventures events.
Back in 2006 I co-founded Erskine Design, .net magazine's Agency Of The Year runner-up 2009. Shortly after, I moved on in search of fresh challenges.
Prior to designing websites, I went to art school and later worked as a visual artist in London and Iceland. Subsequently, I founded an independent arts organisation and festival. I learned my trade as an employed designer/developer from 2002 to 2006 working on numerous significant web projects.
Session
A Philosophy of Restraint
With a wealth of ideas and tools at our disposal, we often muddle our messages and complicate our code.
We appreciate that less is usually more, yet stuff our sites to bursting point, failing to be economical with what we have.
We must know when to stop, and when to throw things out. We should embrace simplicity and subtlety, and exploit the invisible.
Through timeless lessons and practical examples, learn how reduction and restraint can improve communication, emotion, and experience in our designs, with a philosophy applicable to every aspect of the systems we produce.