Spicy Web Designer Interview with Hudson Ludgero
5 Apr
Hudson Ludgero is an interactive designer who works in web projects, print, 3D, teaching and consulting for many companies with over 12 years of professional experience. Ludgero has worked as professional painter for last 8 years, has graduated from communications and studied fine arts in University of UEMG – Guignard and has his postgraduate in Art and Technology and currently studying a discipline for a Masters Degree in Arts. Today he lives in Belo Horizonte in Brazil.
1. How did you get started in web design?
I started as a graphic designer in 1996. During the winter of 1997 I got in to a heavy metal band without a website and suddenly all band musicians were looking at me! At first I adopted front-page, but quickly I discovered the Macromedia Dreamweaver! The website worked, but it was terrible. The visuals weren’t great; with frames and without dynamic content, but everybody liked!
2. When did you start designing websites?
After a first terrible experience I decided go ahead and graduated in Communications in 2000 and then I started another graduation in Fine Arts. I had my first contact with the macromedia Flash in 2001, and I loved it. Flash expanded my borders to express my art. I wasn’t attached to frames or tables from the HTML, I could be free! My first official website, was for an engineering company that I worked for, it was a classical project. At the same time I started working as freelancer in 2003 spending nights studying and reading books. Appealing to several customers of all levels, then I decided to leave my job and work as a fulltime freelancer. In this same year I began teaching in many technology schools including Adobe Center in Brazil and working in consulting for many companies.
3. What are the biggest challenges that you face in web design currently?
The internet was getting faster day by day. The flash has been used with creativity and interactivity presenting great possibilities to build big projects. Companies like Coca-Cola and Nike are working with this software bringing sensations and experiences to the user with audio and vídeo using animations as good as any other media.
4. Do you code the front-end of any of your web design projects? If so, what languages do you code in currently?
I was always more visual but in 2003 I was thinking to myself; I spent 2 weeks to build the whole visual interface of site and the programmers that I worked with used to spend a morning to finish their parts and at the end of the project it was divided in half! After that, I decided to learn programming and put an end to the legend that designer does not program and that programmers do not work with visual parts. I work with ActionScript, PHP, mySQL, XML, CSS and Mel scripting (from Maya).
5. Where did you go to school and has it helped you become a better web designer/front-end developer?
Schools are very important full of knowledge to meet people but schools act as a passage full of doors with differents directions and you have to go and choose the door which you want to get in and which way to follow. This helped me a lot, but essentially you must have your own motivation to really grow professionally.
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?
The web design industry is increasingly becoming more exciting and interesting. The Flash and 3D are becoming evident. The CSS for portals and dynamic languages like PHP have created interesting opportunities in development, different than the first generation of the web. The web industry has changed and is ever changing for better.
7. What are your favorite tools to use when designing a website? Why are they your favorite tools?
In fact I don´t leave without my notebooks!! I don´t live without my sketches. When the optical changes to the technology, I use Photoshop and my tablet with softwares like Maya, Illustrator and finish in Flash to create interactive animation and dynamic content. For developing I use dreamweaver and a lot of Flash Development.
There is something I need to comment.
The Interactive Designer Hudson is always sharing two characteristics very important for his kind of job; i mean he can be a logical person, but also have a feeling work with painting.
The result of the mixture is in his digital art. This is a difference that makes a huge importance and makes the digital unique.
He is the master! He is the best! Congratulations my friend!
This professional is fantastic, I never knew another person like him. He is unique because he makes magic!!!
Mr. Hudson is very creative, talented and experienced designer. I believe that he will continue to share important projects with people from all around the world.
As a designer, I support him with all my belief!
He is an excelent professional… Dedicated, competent and innovative.
A legendary master and my friend.
…That the force be with you…
Wow that’s a great professional!
Keep going in this way!
Very nice interview, an excelent professional, I like a lot!!
congratulations hudson your job is amazing
He was my professor. What I can say? The best!!
It is a serious, talented and very, very dedicated professional. Congratulations boy.
TEM A MANHA ESSE RAPAZ !
He is the master! He is the best! Congratulations my friend!
Congratulations Mr. Hudson! You deserve a lot of success!!
He was my pupil in Piano!!
I´m so proud of you, dear Ludgero!
Congratulations and Sucess because you are an excellent profissional!
A professional who makes a big difference everywhere he is…
Creative, intelligent, great teaching, a full web professional!
Hello, congratulatios for the interview is very interesting meet someone like this guy, very talented and professional!
I’m suspicious to discourse about him. When you recognize a talent from distance, it´s already such an awesome newness that can make you learn and become inspired a lot just by seeing his works/art. But if you have the privilege, as i do, to know better the professional, teacher, friend and person,… i’ve learned talent is not just about dedication but also humbleness and honest help to others. Yeah MY FRIEND, congratulations!!! You deserve to be the top of the top!
He is really great. Good thing I get a chance to have a chat with him and visit his website. I like his idea of being not just a visual designer but being both at the same time. Keep up the good work Hudson! ~^_^~