Marko Prljic is a web designer from Zagreb in Croatia. He originally started designing for print creating everything from brochures, business cards, posters and more and he eventually found a new outlet for his creativity in web design. Marko studied electronics at the TGM (Technologisches Gewerbe Museum) in Vienna, Austria before making the jump to web design as a career.

1. How did you get started in web design?

I used to do graphic design, like business cards, brochures, posters, invitations etc. I even worked in a big printing office doing all kind of stuff. I got so bored with that and all this CMYK and going through the same process every time You design something new. That repeating process just made me so sick that one day I switched my PS mode to RGB and since then never turned it off

2. When did you start designing websites?

I remember…it was a hot summer day, just finished my High School, and I was sitting with my school mate in the house when we started talking about one “big” project we had in mind. It was like an event schedule type of website. We were dreamers with big plans…hahaha.. Just didn’t know that. That was the key moment when I started to take web design seriously. I quit my graphic design job, moved to other town with my girlfriend (now my wife) and continued to design websites every day.

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

Wow, today with ever growing technologies and standards it’s challenging to design and develop a good looking, quality, user friendly website. I try to think about website from the user point of view. It gets tricky when client does not understand the needs of his users, so I find this most challenging trying to explain him why his idea is so bad (ok we’re all facing this I guess). Seriously…today when you design a website there are so many things you have to take in count to build a good looking, accessible, user friendly website. It’s not a one man show any more. If you think only about screen resolutions, browser support, JavaScript degradation, copyright etc. .. And what about PDA’s and other stuff?

4. Why do you refer to yourself as a Front-end developer over calling yourself a web designer?  Is it a way to brand yourself to your clients?

Who said I am a Front-end developer? Hahaha….. I like to call myself web designer as this is what I do, I design websites or should I say better, I design content, so i would call myself content designer but that’s something You can’t tell someone if he asks You what You do for living, right? I also do (X)HTML/CSS so that falls in the front-end developer category. I offer my clients all possible services from design to heavy development, because as said above this is not a one man show any more. Over the past years I got to know some really talented developers with whom I work today on BIG projects. At the end I find myself drawing websites and letting others do their work. To conclude…I’m a web designer

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

Oh I like this one “web designer/front-end developer”

I studied electronics at TGM (Technologisches Gewerbe Museum) in Vienna. I lived in Austria for 3 years and then I decided to move back to Croatia. I’ve finished my school there and then moved to Zagreb for College. Don’t ask me which College it was I quit my education the moment I discovered web design. I’ve made a decision I will never regret. My opinion is that there is no diploma that will get you anywhere unless you’re passionate about your work and you always learn more. I know a lot of people with diploma, sitting home or doing some underpaid job they never thought they would be doing. Maybe it has to do with the current situation in my country and maybe it’s the same all over the world, don’t know.

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?

Absolutely it has changed! And for better of course. I remember the trend of flash websites and intro pages, music players etc. that was a hit not long ago (still is for someone). Also thinking about standards and browser compatibility….today almost every good website is cross browser compatible and meets at least some standards.

Another good thing that happened to web is accessibility and by that I mean accessing the web from Your iPhone or other mobile device.

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

A piece of paper, pencil and hot coffee. Then later it’s Photoshop time. I also design sites in Fireworks from time to time but mostly PS. Why I love PS? Who doesn’t? It’s because I got into it really good and I manage to create something in matter of minutes. I used to work in a agency for a very short time (just love freelancing) and the guys there got me addicted to Fireworks. It is such a great tool to work with. The main thing that i loved about fireworks are the Pages or Frames, so You have one document with the all design You need for a web site (ok PS has this too but FW is faster) and also the pixel preview in FW is great thing. These are the only things I miss in PS, really. Online tool I really like is Adobe Kuler, sometimes it helps me to get the right color palette for some project. I get my inspiration from some awesome artists (not just web related) I have in my bookmarks and of course popular CSS or design galleries.

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

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