Spicy Web Designer Interview with Marie Poulin

Marie Poulin is a web designer from Toronto, Ontario in Canada. She recently graduated (in 2005) from the Graphic Design program offered jointly through York University and Sheridan College in Ontario. Marie runs a workshop for designers looking to learn about creating a portfolio using a combination of TextPattern, HTML and CSS called “PrettyInPixels”. She has been designing websites since 2000 and recently left her position as a Lead Web Designer & Developer with ThinkHouse Design and has been working full time freelancer since March of 2009.

1. How did you get started in web design?

While in university I had taken a few courses, but had never considered it as something that would be part of my career. After graduating, I got my first job after graduating at Thinkhouse Design. I was the only one that had any knowledge of the web and HTML/CSS, and my boss was kind enough to allow me to learn during my 9-5 hours. I began stumbling upon sites like alistapart.com, stylegala.com, bestwebgallery.com and smashingmagazine.com, seeking out tutorials and articles. Once I saw what was possible with the web, I was hooked, and began learning as much as I could.

2. When did you start designing websites?

I made my first geocities web page in 2000, which I used mostly for photo galleries. I bought my first domain and server space in 2002, but I didn’t start building professional, standards-based websites until 2005.

3. What are the biggest challenges that you face in web design currently?

There are a few that I have been experiencing lately. One is that people do not understand the time it takes to put a website together. Everything from determining the purpose of the site and the target audience, to designing and coding it. People want tight deadlines, but they don’t want to pay for the skills and talent it takes to build them properly.

Clients tend to want their websites designed and coded before they have final content, which makes the entire process take infinitely longer.

I am often approached my other designers asking me to fulfill the developer role on their projects.  While I don’t mind doing this once in a while, it’s not something that I am interested in doing all of the time. I am a designer and strategist first, and a developer second. I prefer being part of the whole process of a project, and I think I have a lot to offer in the initial planning and design stages because of my experience with how the site gets constructed.

4. Do you ever refer to yourself as a Front-end developer or a web designer? Do you code any of the web sites that you design currently? If so, what language(s) do you code in?

Lately, I have avoided calling myself a front-end developer. It can be difficult to find the right term for what I do. When you say “web designer” or “Front-end developer,” people make certain assumptions about your capabilities, and I want to be recognized not only for my standards-based code, but for my strategic abilities as well. At the moment I consider myself an interactive designer/developer, until I can find the right term for it!

I do code all of my own websites using XHTML, CSS, and JQuery.

5. Why do you enjoy coding your web projects using web standards?

Not only because it produces quality work, but clients also appreciate that you stand for quality work. This way you are also ensuring that your website reaches as wide an audience as possible, it just makes sense. And as always, I love a good challenge.

6. I read on your site that you graduated with honors from the York University/Sheridan College Program in design. Has it helped you become a better web design professional? If so, how?

It has absolutely helped me become a better design professional, without a doubt. I learned conceptual thinking, quality execution, typography, and business practices. Did I learn about web standards, designing for the web, usability, HTML and CSS? Not really, no. I am sure the program has evolved since I graduated, but when I attended, the interactive side of design was very much in a fledgling state. However, the program equipped me in so many other ways; I don’t believe I would be able to be a full-time freelancer without my experience there.

7. Since you first started how has the web design industry changed? Has it changed for the better? If so, how? If not, please explain?

As social networking becomes more important, websites are becoming less static. Clients are recognizing the need for having their sites built on content management systems. Websites are becoming living, breathing things, and must be nurtured and maintained over time, whether it be by the web designer/developer or by someone on the client-side. Website owners are beginning to realize that their audiences are getting more and more web-savvy, and they can no longer get away with bombarding them visually. The web is now a place for communities and relationships. I’m excited to be part of that evolution.

8. What are your favorite tools to use when designing a website? Why are they your favorite tools?

I use Textpattern as my CMS of choice for all of my websites. I find it logical, incredibly powerful yet versatile, and it’s open-source with a great community behind its development. I hand-code my XHTML and CSS in Dreamweaver (using it mostly as a text-editor) – It helps me develop my CSS quickly, and I use it for its FTP as well. I also use Photoshop and Illustrator for designing my web layouts. I develop on Firefox, and use Firebug for testing/development. It’s a great way to make non-permanent edits and see them in real time for testing.