Spicy Web Designer Interview with Federica Cau

Federica Cau is a web designer from Italy. She did her first website back in 1998 which first started because of her passion for the internet and by 2001 she created her first personal website and has been going strong ever since. Federica says that she is her “worst critic” and she is frequently learning and challenging herself. She has been freelancing for two years and she does her own front-end coding on her website design projects.

1. How did you get started in web design?

Since when I did buy my first modem in 1998 I had a passion for internet, after high school I entered Foreign Languages University courses.

One day during a French class my professor asked me “What do you want to do after degree?” and I answer “I will be a Web Designer!” and her next question was “So why are you here then?” The next day I was already looking for a new course and I found out “Computing and Humanities” a brand new one, with classes of graphic, web design, multimedia etc. which is what I’ve been dreaming of.

2. When did you start designing websites?

My first web site was a personal page in 2001 showing every 10 minutes a picture taken from my webcam while I was studying, soooooo funny !

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

Being a designer means to challenge myself every day on everything and be critic even toward myself, a never ending challenge learning new things and also the only way to get better and better.

4. Do you code on any of your web design projects? And if so, do you consider yourself a “Front-End Coder”? Why or Why Not?

Yes, I do create my sites all alone, using PSPad, valid XHTML/CSS, JavaScript, Flash/ActionScript and PHP and that’s way I say my sites are “handcrafted” and I can be defined a “Front-End Coder” for sure , I do backend coding too.

To follow the whole site creation workflow all alone, from concept to coding, allows me to refine it completely on client’s needs.

5. Where did you go to school and has it helped you become a better web designer?

As said before I took a degree in Computing and Humanities at Pisa (Italy) University and that helped me much for sure, giving to me the basics on design, graphic, coding, typography etc.

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?

I started working seriously as a freelance since 2 years now after my degree so it’s quite early for me to give an opinion on the argument.

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

Photoshop is my second love after my iMac 24″.

I use Photoshop in the concept design phase down to the graphic slicing, and nothing compares to Photoshop as we know.

8. How did you get started working with 3D design and rendering?

All started from my passion for Pixar! I used Maya for the first time in 2002 as a hobby.

After reading hundreds of books and doing a lot of tutorials I started doing small demos and internal renderings.

At the moment I have a few storyboards ready and I am waiting to have a few spare minutes to create some 3D short movies.