Spicy Web Designer Interview with Joshua Mauldin

Joshua Mauldin is a web designer and photographer from Los Angeles, California in the United States. He first started designing for the web back in 2000 and started professionally in 2002. Joshua studied at the University of North Carolina Charlotte where he got his Bachelor of Arts degree. He uses his skills in photography to help him build better websites and this gives his work a very unique and different style.

1. How did you get started in web design?

I didn’t really think I’d ever find myself here. My first design goals were to design CD packages for bands, and that work proved really hard to find for such a new kid like myself. Instead, I kept finding more and more people needing websites. I saw there was a lot of potential on the web, so I went with it and started growing as a web designer.

2. When did you start designing websites?

The very first website I designed was back in 2000. It was a personal site where my logo was designed with WordArt! I still cringe when I think of it. My first real paid site was done back in 2002 and was an entirely Flash-based site.

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

I’ll go ahead and get this one of the way: cross-browser testing and making sure my sites behave well with a certain bratty browser. Thankfully there are some good solutions like Eric Meyer’s CSS Reset and other practices I’ve picked up along the way that have really helped.

The other is getting clients to see the value in doing it right versus doing it cheaply, and to help them see a good web presence as an investment. Sure someone’s buddy’s uncle’s kid’s niece’s cousin can do it for “way” less than my price, but bargain basement prices and a solid site that works for the client aren’t two things that often equate.

4. Where did you go to school and has it helped you become a better web designer/front-end developer?

I went to school at the University of North Carolina Charlotte and got a Bachelor of Arts degree. It did help me become a better web designer, but not in the sense you’d probably expect. My classes—except for one—didn’t even mention anything about the web. What did help me get better was the time I took outside of class working on freelance projects and exploring web design on my own.

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

Definitely for the better. We’re seeing lots of cool things being done with the information we’re sharing. It’s becoming more open, so it’s easier to share, repurpose, visualize and tweet. It’s opening up worlds of new possibilities.

We’ve also finally started to see the implementation and awareness of web standards on a more widespread level. More and more people are beginning to consider things like accessibility and how their sites are indexed by search engines, which is great.

I’m also really happy to see things like little bits of JavaScript doing cool things that we once thought only Flash could handle. Now if I want a fun little audio player or slick way of navigating a site, I can just use a little jQuery and be done with it.

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

favorite tools?

Fireworks, Photoshop, TextMate and CSSEdit are some of my favorites. Fireworks makes designing for the web so much easier.  Photoshop has a place here too, because there are just something it can do better with images than Fireworks. I love to hand code as much as I can, so I use TextMate and CSSEdit. Both can ensure my code is well-formed and valid, which is a really big thing for me. Plus, I find writing code a little relaxing.

7. How have your interests in photography helped you in your web design career?

I keep finding more and more ways that it’s helped me, actually. That’s how I first learned about the use of grids in a design. Some other benefits are that I’m able to offer something more unique to my clients by using photos I shoot. As a result, it also helps me connect more with the work I produce.