Interface design is every bit as rewarding as programming: Inch by inch, you're crafting a story that people will use and, hopefully, love. Executing a well-designed interface is both exhilarating and satisfying, offering the reader a clear path, immersing them in a story. Learning to create effective, beautiful layouts is a learned skill, akin to learning a new programming language or framework.

What we'll do:

This workshop is geared toward our beloved journo-hackers who keep getting asked to create sophisticated, usable visual, designs as well as all of the interaction and software powering the experience. We will talk about UI patterns, how to use typography and color create a visual identity.

Workshop attendees will leave with some great getting-started resources.

Why the weird time?:

A Saturday, in June, at 1 p.m.? Really?! This time and location has been chosen to coordinate with the OpenNews Hack event, a 24-hour hack day as a lead-in to the 2012 MIT-Knight Civic Media Conference. While the conference is invite-only, the hack day is open to talented developers who want to spend their weekend working with others to build amazing things. Following the conference theme of the "the Story and the Algorithm," this hack day will be focused on new ways that data lets us tell compelling stories.

The design workshop attendees should come prepared with a project idea for discussion, sketching and brainstorming, even if they are not participating in the aforementioned event.

Trainer details:

Miranda Mulligan is the design director for digital at The Boston Globe(bostonglobe.com / boston.com / mobile / etc.). In 2011, she was the design lead and creative director for the responsively-design BostonGlobe.com. She is a designer and educator with 10+ years of experience in print and web design, photography, multimedia editing and information graphics reporting. She has also worked for The Virginian-Pilot, interned with The Sun-Sentinel and The Philadelphia Inquirer and volunteers withSociety for News Design (SND),Hacks/Hackers, Online News Association (ONA), Virginia Press Association and the National Press Photographers Association.