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Learn to Design Beautiful, Accessible Interfaces with Matt D. Smith

Taught by Matt D. Smith of Studio MDS
Starting at $199 USD

Designing Beautiful Interfaces

Creatives, join Dribbble and design director Matt D. Smith for a live, interactive workshop session where you’ll have the opportunity to learn how to design visually beautiful interfaces—all while balancing functionality and accessibility. Taught through a strong UX lens, in Designing Beautiful Interfaces you'll learn MDS’ trusted practices of typography, layout, color, and more.

You’ll leave this Dribbble Workshop feeling more confident about your interface design decisions, plus you’ll get an over-the-shoulder live walkthrough of some of MDS’ client and personal project design files. Additionally, bring your toughest interface design questions for MDS to tackle in a Q&A session at the conclusion of the workshop.

Lastly, as a bonus you'll leave your session with an official Shift Nudge UI design checklist to apply your workshop learnings in all your future projects.

What you’ll learn

  • Quick Keys
  • File Organization
  • Component Variants
  • Optimizing Colors
  • Design Tips & Tricks
  • Typography Systems
  • Box Model Process for Layout
  • Function & Accessibility
  • ...and so much more!

Designing for Accessibility

Designers, accessibility is a crucial component of your work. It’s also one that all creative practitioners have a responsibility to consider—whether to satisfy legal requirements, provide your clients and their customers the best level of value, or simply to serve the greatest possible audience you can.

The good news is that understanding and implementing important elements of accessibility isn’t as difficult, expensive, or time-consuming as you might think. In this introductory session—Designing for Accessibility—you’ll be shown how to consider accessibility from the very beginning of your projects, and how this mindset can enhance the beauty of your design work as a whole, and make for a more efficient workflow.

In this interactive Dribbble Workshop session, design director Matt D. Smith will provide you with an overview of accessibility best practices that can empower your design—both for you as a creative, as well as the broad audiences who encounter your work in the world.

You’ll not only receive MDS’ actionable design insights, but you’ll also learn that crafting accessible interfaces doesn't mean sacrificing visual aesthetics—after leaving this Dribbble Workshop you’ll be more confident in letting accessibility inform your creative process.

What you’ll learn

  • How to start with accessibility
  • WCAG Basics
  • How to use contrast scores
  • The 3 must-have colors
  • Form design techniques
  • Insights for visual affordance
  • Tips for input fields
  • Working with A11Y processes
  • ...and so much more!

Matt D. Smith

Owner and Design Director at Studio MDS

Matt D. Smith is the owner and design director at Studio MDS, specializing in interface design for digital products since 2008. He created the popular Float Label pattern for input fields, which was adopted by Google's Material Design System, Shopify, Netflix, Apple, and countless others.

He's led client projects around the world, served as an adjunct design professor at University of Georgia, guest lectured at Harvard, and taught workshops at conferences all over the US including Adobe MAX, Dribbble Hangtime and Epicurrence.

MDS co-created the popular MacOS menu bar app Contrast that provides over 8,000 designers—and counting—quick access to WCAG color contrast scores. He also created Flowkit, a component library that lets you create user flows inside of their favorite design tool.

His latest endeavor, Shift Nudge, has the mission of leading a new generation of interface designers to build the digital products of the future.

What people are saying about Dribbble workshops

“I just wanted to let you and the Dribble folks know how great the workshop was today. As you kindly called out during the meeting, as I mentioned in the chat, this was INDEED the very type of workshop I have been wishing to see offered...forever! I've been waiting a long time to come across just the right thing.”

“I just wanted to say that after a looooong 9-5 with 3 branding projects overlapping at work, this workshop has been very relaxing, entertaining and academic. I have been sitting in this chair since 8am and now it's almost 3am hahahahah worth every minute of it.”

“It was an awesome workshop. Thank you for going above and beyond the session!!”

“A 3 hour workshop that ended up almost hitting 5! Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us :)”

“Finishing up the 1st half of @Draplin's workshop from @dribbble and I'm already so inspired.”

“This workshop was incredibly insightful, I definitely learned a ton. Thanks Aaron and everyone else involved for your time!”

Starting at $199 USD

FAQs

Dribbble Workshops are live, limited-seat virtual sessions that let you learn valuable lessons directly from leading designers within the creative community. With a range of sessions spanning a diverse range of design disciplines—from logo design to lettering to systems design—Dribbble Workshops offer up opportunities for nearly every creative to build up important skills from the best in the biz.

Class sizes for Dribbble Workshops are kept small so you have the chance to engage, ask questions, and participate in these hands-on sessions. Since our workshop sessions are virtual, and concentrated into just a few hours, you can walk away with a laundry-list of new design insights and inspiration—all without needing to take extra time off of work or be away from the office.

Attending a Dribbble Workshop is easy—once you reserve your ticket through Dribbble, we’ll be in touch with a confirmation receipt and unique attendance URL that will allow you to access the event at its advertised date and time.

Dribbble Workshops take place over Zoom, one of the leading video conferencing platforms available. This means we can reliably connect you with your workshop host and fellow attendees—no matter where they are located across the globe. For instructions on how to use Zoom on your preferred device, be sure to check out their online setup guide.

Our Dribbble Workshop sessions with Matt D. Smith takes place on January 28, 2021. Our first session, Designing Beautiful Interfaces, begins at 9:00AM (PST). The day’s second session, Designing for Accessibility starts at 1:00PM (PST).

As a heads-up, please take note that all workshop session times are in Pacific Standard Time, so plan accordingly!

Tickets for this workshop are on sale until January 28, —but you’ll want to act fast, since seats are limited. Don’t miss out, designers!

Nope, you don’t need a Dribbble account to attend a workshop, but we still encourage you to join our creative community. We’d love to have you join our platform—it’s free!

Dribbble Workshops are live and in living color. You’ll be sitting in the same virtual room as your instructor—meaning you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and network with fellow creative attendees.

So you want to attend a Dribbble Workshop, but you don’t know how to ask your manager? Here are a few talking points to get your boss on board!

  • You’ll get inspired and re-energized

    Dribbble Workshops offer small class sizes with some of the most recognized design legends, industry leaders, and inspiring up-and-comers. You’ll come away from a Dribbble Workshop with tangible takeaways and feeling challenged and inspired to do your best work.

  • You’ll make meaningful connections in an intimate setting

    Dribbble Workshops are small on purpose. We want to offer an atmosphere ideal for purposeful conversations and lasting relationships with your favorite designers and other like-minded creatives.

  • You’ll bring back new ideas, best practices, and other valuable takeaways

    We all need to get re-inspired and challenged in order to grow as designers. You’ll be equipped to share the valuable lessons you learn at a Dribbble Workshop with your team!

  • An awesome, jam-packed creative time—in just a few hours

    Since Dribbble Workshops take place over the course of a quick few hours, they don’t require extended time away from the office—or for you to even leave home. They’re a perfect, socially-distanced way to learn important new skills and make rewarding creative connections.

Sorry, all workshop ticket sales are final. But if you’d like to transfer your ticket to another person, just drop us a line at workshops@dribbble.com before January 24, 2021.