Spicy Web Designer Interview with Ana Rita Cruz

Ana Rita Cruz is a web designer from Cardiff, Wales in the United Kingdom. She originally started designing websites about 7 years ago and even though she originally started off in electrical engineering she has since been designing some amazing sites. Ana studied Design in Media at University of Glamorgan and after she began freelancing. She learned to program when she was doing engineering and later learned more about design including front-end coding and now she designs and codes her own sites.

1. How did you get started in web design?

I started on web design on my first attempt of higher education, rather strangely I was being taught on how to be an Electric Engineer and a part of the course was programming, they taught me PASCAL, DOS and then HTML. That was the point of no return for me, which got me interested in web design because I didn’t want to be just a coder, all the rest matters as well and plays a very important role. From that on I decided to invest on a multimedia course.

2. When did you start designing websites?

As I mentioned before it was during my Engineering days, which was around 7 years ago.

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

The biggest challenge I face right now is the fact that design keeps multiplying itself as the technologies expand and it makes it challenging to accompany it as design gets obsolete in very little time.

4. Do you code any of the web sites that you design currently? If so, what language(s) do you code in?

Yes. All the web work I do, I try to design it, build it and code it. An example of it is my current portfolio, that was launched about a month ago, which was coded in CSS and XHTML. I have also done some other works such as http://lhyo.site40.net/ that was all done in Flash. I do like mixing and learning new stuff, although I do enjoy CSS and HTML best.

5. How has your education from the University of Glamorgan in Wales in Design for Media helped you become a better web design professional?  What other skills has it helped you to gain and what else has it taught you about design in general?

Well, to say it lightly I think that design education is overrated. It wasn’t a good experience at all and I wouldn’t recommend that establishment to anyone I know, but in some way it taught me that if you want to evolve don’t rely on anyone else but you.

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

Through my course years, I was only producing work for school and some personal projects, not grasping then the industry that well. After I finished the course I started trying to get into the design industry (in July 2008), my first break was a freelancing opportunity to design and partially code a Facebook targeted  RPG game interface called One Ring – Lord of the Rings. From there on, I have only managed to do work for some friends to keep my skills fresh. After launching my portfolio I was contacted to start working on a new project which is good and hope it really gives me the chance to follow through and get a job in this area.

When you asked if web design has changed for the better I have to say it did, since I first started there were just a handful of my colleagues that looked upon web design, nowadays when I speak to them most of them want to try it out, there is a general enthusiasm towards the web, and with all the possibilities it gives the user and its constant evolution it makes it even more appealing.

7. What are your favorite tools to use when designing a web project? Why are they your favorite tools?

Well when I start designing a website my first port of call is always my trusted pen, books and Firefox. Then off to Photoshop for some mock ups, sometimes a bit of Illustrator for some vector crisp graphics, when I consider it to be ready I dive into Dreamweaver to build the site frame and only then I write the CSS, I like to use CSS Edit to preview the CSS real time. After that I use Cyberduck to upload the finished piece and it is done.

8. I see that you list Flash, Director, After Effects and 3D Max as technologies that you use in some of your design projects.  How experienced are you in motion design and do you rate this as one of your strengths?

Well to be honest I don’t rate Motion design as one of my strengths or priorities, I have indeed done some pieces for my course but they were mostly for experiment sake. I like to consider myself multi-tasked and can’t say no to a challenge but I am more into Illustration and Web design, which I consider to be my strengths as a designer.