Spicy Web Designer Interview with Lea Alcantara

Lea Alcantara is a web designer from Edmonton, Alberta in Canada. She has been designing website for over a decade and she considers herself a “self-taught” web designer. Lea designs for ExpressionEngine, it’s her CMS of choice and even though she says does not support other platforms specifically she works with WordPress and most other platforms. She was a presenter at SXSW in 2008 and is planning a return in 2009 to SXSW.

1. How did you first get started in web design?

It was through pure tutorials online, over a decade ago. Self-taught.

2. When did you first start designing websites?

I started designing websites when I was thirteen or fourteen years old. It makes me feel old to say “Yes, I was around when it was still 14.4 baud modems, and Netscape 1.” My first website was a hobby/fan website for Sailor Moon. I’ve always loved computers and art, so it just felt right to play around with. Professionally, I didn’t start designing websites until I finished college.

3. I see that you Handle ExpressionEngine web work. Do you support any other platforms (WordPress, Durpal, osCommerce, etc)? What do you like most about working with ExpressionEngine?

Yes, ExpressionEngine is my CMS of choice. I don’t really support other platforms, but I’m not anti-WordPress, or any other software. There are as many different preferences as there are people on the web. I’ve developed for WordPress before, for example, but I didn’t love it as much as I did with EE. I like EE the most because it’s such a powerful piece of software at a fair price; the templating engine is VERY favorable to designers. That means, EE conforms to MY design, not the other way around.

4. What is your favorite web technology to use currently? Why is that?

Twitter. It’s just a great multi-purpose way to keep updated on news, web related or not, filtered by your friends, while getting glimpses into daily life. My personal blog kind of fell to the wayside, so Twitter filled the void. I mix professional and personal tweets together.

5. What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a web designer?

The biggest challenge is really realizing how much you’re worth as a professional and fighting for that. I think every designer goes through those stages, though. Knowing that nothing is perfect and you can’t win ‘em all.

6. What did you study in college? Has this helped you prepare for your career as a web designer?

I went to Grant MacEwan College here in Edmonton. I studied Visual Communication Design with a major in Design & Digital Media. Unfortunately, the state of post secondary education isn’t that great for preparing people for web work; this is true now as it is then, though there have been strides. What my college prepared me most for is for visual design, and also trying to output the highest quality product as possible.

7. I read that you spoke at SXSW 2008. How was that experience?

Nerve-wracking to say the least! Many people were interested in my branding talk, and I found myself being scheduled into the largest room on Monday morning, right before Guy Kawasaki’s session! Also, I was the only one on stage speaking to a thousand people at least. Pretty crazy stuff. I also didn’t anticipate my talk going as fast as it did, but I was saved by a half-hour’s worth of excellent Q&A. It was interesting being put on the spot and thinking on your feet; I think everyone should experience that. I was able to connect with a bunch of great people through the talk, and one of my current (and fave) clients I met after my talk at SXSW. I wrote at length about my experience speaking on Digital Web.