Davor Peic Gavran is a new media designer from Croatia. His work is very extensive in web design and new media design in general and he also teaches when he isn’t designing websites. He served on the Faculty of Graphic Arts at University of Zagreb currently where he used to study. He loves to design using MAC and started building web pages back in high school and he’s been hooked ever since!

1. How did you first get started designing web sites?

Well, I designed my first website in high school, it was my personal webpage (don’t we all start like that?), it was black, with tons of animated gifs, “send me an email” sign doing every possible rotation etc. For year 1999, it was great; I was on the “internet”. It was very interesting. Later I received the offer to do web design for the same school, as my first serious project, I can say it opened my doors for web business. Later local web company contacted me, and that was the real commercial beginning. Wow, almost a ten-year experience.

2. What did you study at University or College and did it help you get into web design?

I studied Graphic Arts (technology area) at University of Zagreb in Croatia. I need to admit that I learned a lot in my college days. But unfortunately the education program was and still is very poor. So you learn that there are many types of designs, including web design, theories about the web, but that’s all. No practice, no examples, no teachers to explain it. So, if you want to learn more, you get into it, buying the books, reading articles on the web. At the end, faculty did help me with the way of thinking and searching the solution of the problem, and that is important.

3. I see that you design on a MAC? Do you ever think you’d use a PC again?

When I made the “switch” almost 2 years ago, it was all new experience for me. As I was working all my life on a PC, changing to Mac was very good move. I organize better my creative time and for sure I won freer time for myself. That I was missing on PC. Sure, today I’m using PC for testing and some only-for-pc files, but going back to PC for daily use again? No thanks.

4. How do you usually price out your web design projects?

All of my design projects have different pricing. Why? Everybody wants something fresh and new. It depends on the size of clients request and his budget. I love questions of some clients; “How much is a website?” –My answer is 20$/Kg. In that situation you need to explain your client that there is no fixed price and it depends on the need they have.

5. I see that you taught… how does teaching help you in your career as a web designer?

Teaching was very new thing for me, but it’s important to start. As a web designer, not only that I was teaching the students, but I was also learning from them, better ways of doing something or only hear other opinions. In this business, you always need to be actualized with new standards, techniques etc. Teaching was very useful for the situation with the clients, I learned to listen and be prepared for every kind of questions.

6. Do you usually do work for design agencies? Companies? And how do they find you?

Usually I have few design agencies with whom I work, they are satisfied with my work and organisation. Lots of them love to see freelancer with big respect of deadlines and guidelines. Without that, it’s very hard to work like that. As my blog is very active in the last year with fresh entries and work, I receive lots of requests and question by that media, and of course, people who come by recommendation of someone who were satisfied with my work.

7. Are there a lot of freelance web designers in Croatia?

If we take the size of Croatia, then no! There are many people who are working very nice. Some of them go outside of country searching more and better opportunities, others open their design studios or at the end they work as freelancers. But find a quality freelance designer in the Croatia it’s not hard, but they aren’t on every corner. Why is that so? Maybe it’s hard to invoice your work at the price you imagine as a freelancer. There are always problems with little companies or small clients who use the sentence “my cousin can do it for a bag of peanuts”. Maybe that’s the reason why the Croatian web generally has low design and standard situation.

Thank you very much Lucas, I had really nice chat with you!

More about this Web Designer

URL: Cosmosart.org

Email/Contact: davor@cosmosart.org / Click here