If You're Having Layout Problems, I Feel Bad For You Son…

…I got 99 problems but 960 ain't one.

Let's talk layout! This month's meetup is going to be about the most visual aspect of Responsive Web Design: Layouts. We have two absolutely fabulous speakers, Scott Kellum and Jen Simmons. They will be talking about grid systems, new ways of thinking about layouts on the web, and how to bust you out of your 960 slump. This is sure to be a great meetup, so I hope to see you all there!

PLEASE NOTE: There is a very strict limit of 130 attendants for this meetup and security is strict, so we will need your first and last names for the attendance sheet. Registration will close on November 28th and the registration list will be submitted then. Security restrictions are tighter at 30 Rock than they are at our other venues due to the studios, so it is very unlikely that I will be able to add anyone to the list after it has been submitted. If you are unsure whether or not you can come and the waitlist gets opened up, please consider allowing someone who is sure they can come from the waitlist to take your spot before November 28th. Thank you.

The Topics

Responsive Layouts Beyond the Sidebar

• Jen Simmons

When approaching the design of a responsive website, old habits might focus you on sidebars and footer regions for placing content. It's natural to assume the best responsive solutions are to be found in moving those regions around the page as whole units. But that way of thinking could lead you miss the best stuff about responsive design. Let go of the old habits, and discover how focusing on content can drive far superior responsive layouts.

Grids With Meaning

• Scott Kellum

A walk through of grids as they exist on the web today, then a journey to the past to find meaning and purpose for our grids. Wrapping up with some tips on implementation.

The Talkers

Jen Simmons

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/e/8/8/2/event_179759522.jpegJEN SIMMONS is a designer who builds stuff, too. She’s best-known as the host of The Web Ahead (http://5by5.tv/webahead) on 5by5, a weekly podcast about changing technologies and the future of the web. Creating websites since 1996, Jen works as an independent consultant and trainer helping teams transition to a responsive design process, implement sites with HTML5, or architect Drupal websites to last. She also provides a mix of design and front-end development services. Her clients have included the Annenberg Foundation, Mark Boulton Design, CERN, Palantir.net, Wright State University, Mt. Holyoke College, MIT Press, MPR News, Zinch, Lullabot, and The New York Stock Exchange. In 2010, Jen designed and created a new default theme for Drupal 7 named Bartik.

Besides designing for the web, Jen has 20 years experience designing for live performance and for print. Back in the day, she’d make the poster for a film festival one day, mix the sound for a live salsa band the next, and hang a photo exhibit the week after, all while designing lighting for an upcoming play. In 2006, she created seven-channel digital projections for an opera about Nikola Tesla for the BAM Next Wave Festival. She directed several short films that toured film festivals around the globe, including RESFEST and MTV Television. She has taught video-making to high school kids in San Antonio, and film production to college kids in Philadelphia. Jen also has a MFA in Film and Media Arts from Temple University. She lives in New York City.

You can listen (http://5by5.tv/webahead) to The Web Ahead, and follow @jensimmons (http://twitter.com/jensimmons) on Twitter.

Scott Kellum

http://photos4.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/f/a/2/event_179764002.jpeg

Scott is a designer with a passion for code. With a background in traditional grpahic design, printing and typography, much of Scotts work is taking the best of other design methidologies and translating them to the digital world. Scott is a designer and front-end developer at VOX media where he primarily focuses on feature development and has created a number of Sass/Compass plugins to help designers work in markup better.