FOSDEM is the Free and Open source Software Developers’ European Meeting, a free and non-commercial two-day weekend event that offers all open source contributors a place to meet, share ideas, learn and collaborate. Every year, thousands of free and open source software contributors from all over the world gather at the event in Brussels, Belgium. After 2 virtual editions, FOSDEM 2023 will be a hybrid event, taking place in Brussels and online on the 4th and 5th of February 2023.

Open Source Design @ FOSDEM

Open Source Design has been a part of FOSDEM for 8 years now, showcasing the work of designers involved with free, libre, and open source projects.

This year our devroom will be a half-day event on Sunday afternoon 5 February 2023 from 13:00 to 17:00 CET. This will include talks about design work in FLOSS. It will happen at the Solbosch campus of the Université Libre Brussels.

All talks will be livestreamed so you can tune in from anywhere in the world!

Get involved!

We invite you to give a talk about contributing design to open source projects!

“Design” can mean anything including typography, graphic design, interaction design, user experience, human-computer interaction, accessibility, information architecture, content strategy, service design, user research, design research and more. You don’t have to be an expert in the field – you could have been involved in a project for as little as a year or as long as a decade. As long as you have been involved with design in any respect in an open source project, we’re interested to hear what you think!

Here are some topics that may inspire your talk:

  • Your experiences contributing to design in an open source project

  • How you use FLOSS tools to design

  • An open source project which is an example of great design

  • Your design process, research methods, and go-to resources while working with open source projects

  • Your ideas on fostering diversity and inclusion in design and open source

  • Anything else related to design and FLOSS!

What is the talk format?

The majority of talks will be in person, and we expect some to be remote. The length of your talk should be 20 minutes with 5 mins for questions, or 25 minutes without questions.

  • If you are giving your talk in person, you will deliver the talk live and you need to be physically present at the event in Brussels.

  • If you are giving your talk remotely, you need to send in a pre-recorded talk and you are required to be online with a stable internet connection when it is being presented and for 5 to 10 minutes after it is done for questions.

How can I submit a talk?

You can submit a talk using the FOSDEM Pentabarf tool;

  • If you already have an account on Pentabarf, login through that.

  • If you don’t have an account, create one.

  • When you’ve logged in, find the “New event” link on the left hand side, and fill out the details of your talk.

  • Let us know when you are submitting your talk whether you will be at the devroom physically during your talk or if you would be giving a talk remotely. You can do this by including it and the end of the title of your talk. Example:

    • “How to contribute to open source design [REMOTE]”

    • “Is open source design diverse? [INPERSON]”

  • Make sure the field “Track” is set to “Open source design devroom” otherwise we won’t receive your talk proposal!

  • This beginner’s guide to Pentabarf can be helpful if you are unfamiliar with the tool.

What’s the deadline?

  • Talk proposals must be submitted on or before 12 December 2022.

  • Accepted talks would be announced on 19 December 2022.

  • If you are giving a talk remotely, your video recording must be submitted by 20 January 2023.

  • You must be present at the event or online, depending on your talk format, during your talk on 5 February 2023.

All deadlines times are 23:59 UTC. If your talk is accepted, an Open Source Design volunteer will keep in touch with you to help you meet deadlines and with any technical difficulties you may face.

Additional information

The Open Source Design devroom at FOSDEM 2023 will be at the Solbosch campus of the Université Libre Brussels, Belgium as well as online on 5 February, 2023. The exact room will be announced closer to the date of the event.

Be sure to read the FOSDEM Code of Conduct.

If you have any questions, reach out to us on the Open Source Design forum.

We are looking forward to seeing you at FOSDEM 2023!

Date & Location

  • Date: sunday 5th February 2023
  • Time: 13:00 to 17:00 CET
  • Location: universitĂ© Libre Brussels, Belgium