Lots of different ingredients go into making a tasty and wholesome design: Colors, shapes, fonts, images, animation, and video to name a few. Increasingly, designers are adding code to that list. Many are fascinated by the rumored potential of code as a new, mysterious, and highly potent ingredient, but refrain from using it because they are unsure of its properties. What will code add to your design? How much or how little should you add? When should you add it? How does it accentuate the other ingredients? Will it add a spicy zing or turn everything into an inedible mush? In their talk, Karsten and Stig will critically, but lovingly, investigate what happens when you add code to your design: Will it blend gracefully or make an awful mess? Bring your own safety goggles.

Stig Møller Hansen bought his first computer in 1989 and quickly developed a passion for mixing art and code. Thirty years later, he has made his childhood excitement his professional career, teaching designers how to invent and build their own design tools using code as a creative medium. An avid speaker, Stig often shares his thoughts, experiences, and expertise at conferences, workshops, and courses around the world.

Karsten Vestergaard started as a Flash Developer and has ever since had a keen eye on the creative powers that resides in the intersection between design and technology. Currently, he is Programme Coordinator at Interactive Design at DMJX, where he teaches students to have a broad and bold perspective on their ability to utilize code as a design tool. Aside from that, he can’t play the saxophone … yet!