Content-first design is in some ways a response to the needs to deliver content across multiple channels and devices. It is also an approach that ideally embraces a lack of known physical constraints such as we see designing for print or purely for the iPad.

The concept demands that designers work from the basic building blocks of the content itself and its associated web markup outwards, rather than thinking first about achieving a design by working from known 'page' measurements inwards.

The starting point with this approach is producing simple but rich semantic (POSH) markup - and only producing visual layouts much later in the process.

We'll also discuss techniques and workflows that help with this design practice, including microformats, micro data, RDFa, schema.org, and design pattern sites.