Spicy Web Designers

Jenna Law is a web designer from Bournemouth in the UK. Jenna graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film & Television broadcasting with additional qualifications in Art and Graphic design. With over 6 years experience in the web and media industries, Jenna has worked in the web design business as both a Head Designer and New Media Producer with influential UK and international companies specializing in user interface design and designing for accessibility. She has worked with a vast array of noteworthy clients such as, the BBC, Budweiser, Volkswagen, Audi, London Metropolitan University and Mitsubishi. She has also been featured in Web Design 6 book.

1. How did you first start in Web Design?

Design has always been a passion of mine and always will. I was fortunate enough to work in Edinburgh for Net Resources who provide web development as well as training. They really helped mentor me and started me on the design ladder with small projects. I owe a lot to them for investing in me and my skills as a person, not just as an employee.

My next big career step came from working at the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice (CEMP) at Bournemouth University as their New Media Producer. Pretty much from day one I was working on developing the templates for the entire university re-design. This was a challenging project and honed my coding abilities under strict time pressures. AT CEMP it was an exciting time working with different organizations and people. It taught me a lot about the industry, future technologies, web usability & e-learning and most importantly taught me how to push the boundaries. The team at CEMP were also inspiring, again coming from all different areas of specialism and academic arenas. They took a great chance employing me over someone who had studied for an MA in Interactive Media. I think they could see that being a New Media Producer was more than just designing and coding, it involved strong organization, people and managerial skills.

2. I see that your work has been featured in the Web Design Index 6 book. How has this helped you professionally? And how did you get featured in their book?

This was a great story actually. My colleague at CEMP purchased the book to research cutting edge design. I just happened to flick through it one day and found my website. Then to my delight discovered it was also featured on the front cover! I have to say it was one the proudest moments in my career. Being fairly new to design at that stage it was a recognition that meant so much to me from both a professional and personal point of view.

I think the feature is a great selling point to potential clients who are not directly involved in the industry and acts as an accreditation to my hard work. It also helps to gain respect from my peers within the industry who recognize the value of the publication and its authority on great design.

I have never directly asked clients if they have chosen me because of this feature but I think it gives me a head start in their decision making process.

3. Would you say that going to university to study Television and Video Production has helped in your career? How has this helped you?

My university experience was one of the best times in my life. I learnt so much and all the skills I acquired were transferable to any industry. I was lucky enough to be given great opportunities through this degree, having worked for the BBC and directing television documentaries for ITV.

There are a lot of similarities working in TV and film compared with the web. Both involve teamwork, passion and organisational skills matched with creative flair. Dedication and hard work are also key to succeeding in what these highly competitive industries.

Documentary directing taught me to learn about an organization and to convey their messages. This is still a skill I use today when account managing, being able to research a company, ascertain its online presence and convey its message using just a slightly different method. Working in different industries only sets to inform your design and results in having a thorough knowledge of multimedia, which is essential in current web trends.

4. Is there a tool or technology that you couldn’t live without as a web designer? Other than the internet of course.

There are so many resources available that can aid design. CSS galleries such as CSS Mania really inspire me and looking at the diverse ways in which people can create layouts using CSS techniques is endless.

Recently I have started to develop a sketchbook/scrapbook of cutting and idea from various media. This is made up of posters, flyers, adverts, newspaper articles, brochures etc. I found it useful to divide the book into sections of layout, color, typography and imagery so that I can become a quick reference guide for inspiration.

Anything I find goes into that book now because nearly everything we see in this world has been designed or gone through some kind of design process so it all acts as a resource to my work.

5. What are 5 things you want people and potential clients to know about you Jenna?

1) Business Minded. I am very business minded and want people to know that I thoroughly research and develop strategies before I even go near Photoshop. There is a quote summing up designers being misconstrued- “The way something looks is the last thing we figure out”. Design is a process which can involve marketing, copy writing, information architecture. These are all key to my methodology.
2) Build Relationships. It’s important for me to develop a relationship cycle between myself, the client and the end user. If at any stage in this cycle is broken, the end result will lose its impact. It is important that I understand a clients needs and business in detail. It’s also important that they can ask questions and that they too come away from a project learning a little more about the web process. I am always willing to answer questions because we can’t all know about everything!
3) Passion. I am very passionate about what I do. It’s taken a long time to get to the fortunate position I am in now and people should know that I work hard and truly care about what I do. I am a perfectionist in everything I do and in the end everyone benefits form that.
4) Learning. Technology and web fashion trends are changing all the time at an unprecedented rate. It’s important to move with that flow rather than stand still. Education doesn’t end in the classroom and I make a point of keeping track of all aspects of the web industry to essentially aid my client’s results.
5) Hybrid. Working with various companies and other freelancers has taught me a lot about how different organizations do things. This experience has seen me take the ‘best bits’ of those processes to create my own enhanced version.

6. If I were going to buy a web design from you how would the pricing work and what would you tell me upfront?

Pricing is obviously dependent on a projects requirement. That’s why it is paramount that there is an open dialog with the client so that research and specifications are all analyzed before a design is even commenced. Plexus Design solely focuses on helping developers design and account mange their projects. Knowing lots of people within the industry in varying specialism and locations around the world gives me access to a large skills resource base, resulting in clients getting the best possible rates with the best team.

Money isn’t everything of course and I have been involved with charity sites that have been developed for free. The internet is not just a tool to make money but a wide reaching way to gain exposure for important causes. I think we often forget that sometimes, so it’s nice to offer my skills to noteworthy projects.

7. What caused you to leave your position as the Head of Design to freelance in web design?

Freelancing is a great way to afford more choice. I am fortunate enough to be able to select interesting projects and working with new and exciting talent. Freelancing has also offered me the opportunity to travel having working in various locations around the UK as well as the world in beautiful locations such as Sydney, Australia.

Being the Head of Design gave me the experience and confidence to develop my own work and was a great opportunity that people should never pass up. I feel freelancing now suits the way that I work both from a professional and personal point of view. It works for me and allows a certain freedom to explore that I relish.