Learn how to create beautiful things powered by data

Data is everywhere; it's big, messy and often ugly, but with the right approach and the right tools you can turn it into amazing and thought-provoking things.

If you've ever wanted to create beautiful things from data and code but don't really know where to start, come to Generate London on 21 September and you can learn from one of the best in the business.

Brendan Dawes is hosting a workshop and session at Generate London

Brendan Dawes is hosting a workshop and session at Generate London

Brendan Dawes is a designer and artist exploring the interaction of objects, people, technology and art using an eclectic mix of digital and analogue materials, for himself and for clients around the globe, and he'll be sharing some of his secrets in an all-day workshop entitled Data is Dawesome!

In this workshop, Brendan will show you how to create work that deserves to exist, using data as material, from the desktop to the web and things in-between. 

Amongst the things you'll learn over the course of the day will be how to use Processing and p5.js to make interactive data visualisations, how to take CSV files and extract the stories hidden inside, how to make things from data in real time, from sources such as Twitter, how to make things go from ugly to beautiful, and even how to make robots cheaply and quickly!

There's no need for any coding skills; as long as you have a willingness to learn and an interest in generative, coded art and design, working with data as a source material, then you'll be good to go. You'll also need to bring a laptop with Processing installed, a browser and a text editor such as Sublime.

The Big Softie wireless remote, an e-textile device for controlling presentations

The Big Softie wireless remote, an e-textile device for controlling presentations

And if at the end of the day you find yourself in the mood for more learning, stick around for the main Generate London conference: it's two days of highly practical and inspiring presentations covering design and UX systems, layouts with flexbox, user testing, web animations, progressive web apps, pricing your work and much more. 

Dawes' Happiness Machine: a simple button reveals happy thoughts from people connected across the Internet

Dawes' Happiness Machine: a simple button reveals happy thoughts from people connected across the Internet

Brendan Dawes will be speaking about the fun, eclectic nature of being a designer in the 21st century in his session, Paper, plastic and pixels, and other speakers include Jeff Veen, Mike Kus, Ida Aalen and Rachel Ilan Simpson.

To find out more and to book your ticket, head straight for the Generate London site.

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Jim McCauley

Jim McCauley is a writer, performer and cat-wrangler who started writing professionally way back in 1995 on PC Format magazine, and has been covering technology-related subjects ever since, whether it's hardware, software or videogames. A chance call in 2005 led to Jim taking charge of Computer Arts' website and developing an interest in the world of graphic design, and eventually led to a move over to the freshly-launched Creative Bloq in 2012. Jim now works as a freelance writer for sites including Creative Bloq, T3 and PetsRadar, specialising in design, technology, wellness and cats, while doing the occasional pantomime and street performance in Bath and designing posters for a local drama group on the side.