Spicy Web Designer Interview with Marko Prljic
6 Mar
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.








