SpicyWebDesigners.com by Luc Arnold

Dave Harrison is a web designer from Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. He started designing websites back in 1997 using Netscape composer and Photoshop 4 and has only continued to strive since then. He studied Business Studies from Napier University in Edinburgh in 1995 but he what he learned about web design he learned on the job. Dave is a student member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

1. I know this seems like a generic question but how did you get started in web design and when did you start designing websites?

I sort of fell into web design after being offered a year’s work placement at a university funded web company in Belfast, while doing a ’software creation’ course at a training organization. It was the governments chosen approach to getting people like me off the dole at the time. I had graduated a few years before with a degree in business studies, so design, and computers were completely new to me.

I started way back in 1997. To put it in context, websites were built with Netscape composer and Photoshop 4 or paintshop pro, and people browsed websites with IE3 at a resolution of 640×480 and in 16bit color!! IE4 and NN4 arrived soon after and I remember being so excited by the all the great things they offered (<marque> tag cringe!) (Then the browser wars started for real and the can of worms was well and truly opened. The web standards Project was launched across the pond the following year, but didn’t appear on my radar until quite a few years later.

2. I also checked out your site and see that you dabble in user experience design and i am wondering what you consider the best way to map out user experience when you go about designing a project?

For me user experience is really the reason we should design websites in the first place, Brand and Image are important and certainly have a large part to play in the overall experience but I think the ability to carry out tasks easily and without frustration is the key to successful web design, that and communicating effectively to the user. Before you undertake any web project you must endeavor to find out what the objectives are that you are trying to meet, the needs you must satisfy if you will. It is against these benchmarks that you measure the user experience. If budget allows this can be achieved using, usability studies and testing. There are a number of tools available to assist in this process. Not sure if that answers your question properly, this in itself is affecting my current user experience of this situation.

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

Helping clients understand why they should pay for good design, educating clients. Persuading people to invest in their website and educating them that it can be so much more than being able to say, I have a website.

4. Do you code any of the web sites that you design currently? If so, what language(s) do you code in?

I design and code all my sites. I really am a hybrid, always have been. I design with the build in mind even when working in Photoshop or sketching on paper for that matter I am always thinking ahead to the build and the semantics. All coded in (x)HTML, CSS, JavaScript (frameworks now mainly), PHP, ASP. Dabbling a little with HTML5, but my main deal is making sure all my sites are cross platform/browser compatible guided of course by audience profile and budget.

5. Did you study design at school or are you self-taught?  If you went to school, how has your education helped you become a better web design professional?  What other skills has it helped you to gain and what else has it taught you about design in general?

Completely self taught and learned on the job. I think for me the greatest teacher is my own experience of being a user of the internet myself. You can’t learn by reading alone you must do. Having said that I constantly keep myself up to date with new techniques and develop my own knowledge on an almost daily basis, using books, blogs, forums, video tutorials. Every day is a learning day!. As someone who is self taught, I don’t always know the theory off the top of my head, but I know how to find the information I need, which in my view is the best skill of all.

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 was mentioning to an ex-colleague, who has recently started lecturing at a university teaching a new media design course, that until about 2 or 3 years ago there were hardly any web standard designers/freelancers in this neck of the woods, now we are coming down with them, so in that respect things are looking up for the industry as a whole. Also I think back in the day it was all about “look what we can do” and trying to sell websites on the back of that functionality, (in my honest opinion it rarely served its purpose and certainly didn’t further the interests of the client a great deal. Now there is more of an ethos of OK what is your business issue? Here is what we can do to help. This is the design and functionality we will employ to do this, tailored specifically to you. Of course you could argue that this is the natural progression of any designer/developer and not really a reflection of how the industry itself has changed overtime. I mean back in the day, surely someone was doing it properly, weren’t they??

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

It’s becoming a cliché but pencil and paper for sketching; it’s just a lot faster than trying to do everything with a mouse and keyboard. It’s the only tool that can keep up with the speed of my ideas! I also use Photoshop for the main bulk of the design work, although like most of us I probably only use a tiny fraction of its capability, I would say I am a little bit institutionalized when it comes to the adobe suite.

I am also getting more into HTML/CSS prototypes as an agile approach to web design and so use of CSS frameworks comes into play. I use this approach with clients who I know aren’t going to be to picky and who trust my ability to deliver exactly what they need not what they think they want. It also works on clients who aren’t too hung up on aesthetics and understand that the decoration is secondary to the main purpose of good design, to communicate and solve problems. However if a client is more likely to want to exert their control or presence more than it is definitely prudent to stick with the review approval process right from the outset, including all the design and planning stages

Conceptshare is an interesting tool for sharing comps online with IT savvy clients and get feedback and I hope to try it out in the future

8. Considering you are a “seasoned veteran” of the web design industry which part do you enjoy the most after 12 years of working in web design in various roles?

Being given a problem to solve. Its all about problem solving and communication. Good design is all about communication not decoration! I enjoy combining my years of experience and knowledge into an overall solution that is exactly what the client needs from a visual and functional perspective. So suppose that role would be as ’solution provider’.

9. What do you find most rewarding about the career and field you are in currently?

Again the most rewarding thing is seeing the look on a client’s face who is totally and completely thrilled with what you have created for them. When their expectations have been blown out of the water then I get a feeling of fulfillment. I enjoy being able to take something that a lot of people are afraid of and put it to work on their behalf. I Work mostly with local people and only do work for people who I want to see succeed. I know this rules me out of a lot of projects, but it is worth it as it means I can put my whole heart and soul into the work I do undertake.

Oliver Ker is a web designer from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. He is a “self taught” web designer who has been designing websites for about the last 10 years learning the ins and outs of PHP, Javascript, HTML and CSS along the way. He works for ML Badges & More as their sole designer.

1. How did you get started in web design?

I started in ‘proper’ web design when I created my first website for ML Badges & More (www.mlbadges.com), the company I work for. I am the sole designer at ML and they had no web presence when I got the job, They sent me on a course which was teaching in table layouts, little did I know this was old hat before I’d even learnt anything, I took some of the knowledge, built our website and have not stopped learning and don’t think I ever will. We now have a successful e-commerce store for school badges (www.mlbadges.com/schools).

2. When did you start designing websites?

Probably about 10+ years ago on a free WYSIWYG but not professionally until just a few years ago

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

Clients’ budgets. We all get the requests for big dynamic websites for £500 and less. There are many articles out there that are better written than I could, but due to the web industry being fairly young and not fully understood, means clients don’t know how long things take and the effort and research that goes into it – it’s not clients fault (most of the time)

4. Do you code any of the web sites that you design currently? If so, what language(s) do you code in?

Yes, I do most of my own front end coding (HTML/CSS) and use textpattern to build the majority of my sites. I am a trying WordPress at the moment, but find textpattern easier to achieve exactly what I want.

I do use PHP and JavaScript (moo tools) but cannot write in either of these languages.

5. Did you study design at school or are you self-taught?  If you went to school, how has your education helped you become a better web design professional?  What other skills has it helped you to gain and what else has it taught you about design in general?

I studied graphic design at A-level, and got half way through foundation year, but got bored and wanted to leave and get some work experience. I believe the best learning is by doing real life examples day in-day out. Also learn from others, follow what your peers and colleagues are doing and how they have done it. There are a lot of well written articles that give you help and expertise, but leaning by trying whether at school or work is the best way to learn.

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 social media “web 2.0″ has taken over, but it has not only changed the web, but the way a lot of companies now do business and spend their advertising budgets – So I think the web has changed the business world more, even If we don’t notice it.

Also fonts on the web is changing, we have always had fonts, by using image replacement and sIFR, but only the other day typekit was announced and looks promising for new easier type on the web.

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

For design mock ups I used to use illustrator, coming from more a graphical background, but have used Photoshop for the last couple of projects, which I find a little bit better for web designs.

For coding I use Coda, but if I am creating an HTML email I switch to Dreamweaver because of its ease to create table based layouts.

Pete Orme is a web designer from Guildford in Surrey, England in the UK. He originally got started working as a support engineer and began to teach himself about the web and sub sequentially designed his first web page in 2001. Recently he teamed up with another designer by the name of Matt Hamm to form a studio called SuperEight Studio. Pete is a self taught web designer with his educational background in industrial design but his passion for web development shines through in the caliber of work he is producing.

1. How did you get started in web design?

I started my first job for a call centre software house working as a support engineer for UK and international banks. I’ve always had an interest in all things creative and this was my first real exposure to the web. As the company’s services started to encompass the web I began to teach myself a little HTML and JavaScript. I decided I wanted to get into web design and noticing that the current design team was really just print designers and artists I thought learning the nuts and bolts of web pages would stand me in good stead when I asked for a career change. So I moved into the design team where I started to get some considerable experience working with industry standard tools and putting the code I had learnt into practice.

2. When did you start designing websites?

I started working on my first web design projects around 2001. I’ve recently founded my own web design company, Supereight Studio, with another partner which I’m very excited about. And busy!!! I’ve only designed for employers before but it’s great to be doing it for myself and gives me a slightly different perspective. I’m finding it very rewarding so far

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

As ever, time and managing workload are always a challenge. But an exciting one. I think it’s important to re-use design elements (buttons, forms, tabs etc.) and adapt them to a specific project to help save a little time. I think this also starts to help build a recognizable style or personality in your work.

I think there’s a real skill involved in repeatedly producing high quality, creative work against the clock and I think this separates top web designers from average ones. As far as generating income goes anyway. Inspiration and a fresh mind are big factors here and I often find inspiration in the most unsuspecting places. Get out there and take everything in!

Another challenge probably all of us face is keeping up with the pace at which things move. With new technology, techniques etc. constantly popping up it’s hard to find time to learn without getting in the way of paid client work. If you can combine these new ideas with new projects and learn that way then even better.

4. 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?

I’ve always called myself a web designer and always will. That’s the way I want to be branded. While front-end development is part of my day to day job, and should be a given for any web designer today, I really enjoy the UX, IA and creative side. I think nowadays if you want to call yourself a web designer then you should have a solid working knowledge of HTML, JavaScript libraries, dynamic content etc. and understand how these can influence your design decisions.

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

I did my degree in industrial design and at the time there was more of a focus on freehand and technical drawing without computers so that hasn’t really proved that useful in my current career apart from feeding my creative side! I’m self taught as far as web design/development goes and I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunities to take my career in this direction.

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 guess one of the biggest changes has been the adoption of web standards. The benefits for accessibility, natural SEO and general flexibility are considerable. I built table-based layouts many moons ago (and don’t miss them) but I found the transition very straight forward.

Social networking is another biggie and designers have had to shift a lot of their focus from aesthetics to user focused sites and apps. User generated content and the rising popularity of content management systems have also had a huge effect on designers and looking through any of the popular css showcase sites this is plain to see.

I’m a big typography fan and I’m starting to enjoy using formal grid systems a lot more. I’ve really noticed how much more important these have become in the last 18 months. And all for the better!

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

I do all creative layout work in Photoshop and use Illustrator as and when I need it. I like working with layers and find this really useful when organizing my psd’s for developers or for myself to build. Depending on the platform I’m working on I use Visio or Omnigraffle for wireframing. For coding I’m happy hand coding in Dreamweaver or in Textmate, again depending on the platform. I’m comfortable using this range of tools; they’re simple, quick and very powerful.

Jack Herbert is a web/front-end designer from London, England in the UK. He has been designing since the days of his Geocities drinking strong cups of coffee and he loved every minute of it. Jack received his Masters in Electronic Publishing from the City University in London after getting his initial education in an unrelated area of study.

1. How did you get started in web design? When did you start designing websites?

The first website I made was a disgrace. I was at university, and couldn’t get to sleep one night, so I thought I’d find out about how the whole internet thing worked. Eight hours and four strong cups of coffee later, I had a Geocities site online, complete with links to pictures of cats in scanners and other tasteless material. I realized web design would be an amazingly exciting job to be doing, and I’ve been making websites ever since. Fortunately my technical abilities have moved on a little since then (even if my tastes haven’t).

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

My biggest challenge is definitely self-control. There are so many great technologies I’d love to master – I’d love to be an AJAX ninja as well as a Flash samurai – but everything’s moving so fast that there just isn’t enough time to keep up with all this stuff and actually make a living as well. A while ago, I realized I would be better off focusing on my core skills: design and layout, usability, HTML & CSS coding. That might seem unambitious to some people, but to do them properly is enough of a challenge for a simple person like me. I like to play with Flash and JavaScript sometimes – like the jQuery effects on my portfolio – but I try not to get distracted from the core 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?

In my first web design job, I was the only web designer in a print agency, so I was in charge of all the back-end work as well as the front-end. I quickly realized that many clients don’t see a difference between those two skill sets – they assume “web designers” always do everything. Some people are lucky enough to be brilliant at development as well as design, but I think they’re rare, and I’m definitely not one of them. I guess I’m branding myself as a “front-end designer” to avoid the kind of hardcore development work I’m not interested in (no offense to all the lovely developer chaps out there!).

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

My original degree was unrelated to web design, and I wanted a qualification I could show to potential employers and clients, so I did a Masters degree in Electronic Publishing at City University in London. In terms of best practice, it was probably quite helpful, but too much time was spent talking, and not nearly enough spent actually making websites. A friend of mine recently asked for advice about getting into web design, and was considering the course, but I suggested his money and time would be better spent on a few decent books and a lot of hard work in front of a computer. Basically, if you want to make good websites, you need to make a lot of shit ones first! I’ve been doing this for years, and I still make a few pretty crappy websites, but they’re getting better.

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 guess the biggest change from my point-of-view has been the big “Web 2.0″ shift towards increased interactivity and community on websites, which has definitely changed the web – and the world – for the better. We already have static, unresponsive media like books and magazines, and they work very well, but we don’t need websites to be like that. I guess the only problem is for people like me – not to mention the poor developers – whose clients expect the latest fad (wikis, forums, social networks, etc) incorporated into every website they own. I guess clients haven’t changed…

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

My design process always starts with pencil and paper. I’m always a bit suspicious of people who claim they don’t need to do this – Photoshop is a great tool, but it doesn’t exactly encourage creativity when you’re just knocking ideas around. Then I’ll mock up the layouts in Photoshop. I’ve also tried Fireworks – back when it was a Macromedia product – but I never really got on with it for some reason. When I’m ready to start coding, I usually hand code using Dreamweaver. I know using Dreamweaver for hand coding seems silly when I don’t use any of the powerful WYSIWYG functionality, and I know there are cheaper, leaner products out there that are better suited to hand coding, but I just like the way Dreamweaver is set up. At my previous job I managed a lot of websites, so the file management and FTP integration was a godsend. I tried Aptana a while ago, and enjoyed using it, but eventually drifted back to Dreamweaver. I think I’m just set in my ways. Maybe I’m getting old.

Luke Jones is a web designer from Redditch, Worcestershire in England. He originally started designing websites back in 2003 for different businesses and has been designing ever since as he continues to improve his skills. Luke did not learn earn his web design skills from formal education and is an extremely talented “self taught” web designer.

1. How did you get started in web design?

I became interested in website design whilst I was at school; a friend of mine was really into the development side of both applications and websites, and got me involved in application testing on various forums around the internet. Because of this, I set a website up for myself, displaying my skills, and realized how interesting and exciting it was to set up a website for yourself, so I started reading about design much more, and becoming more creative with my designs, which subsequently led me to becoming a full-time website designer (freelance).

2. When did you start designing websites?

I started designing websites in 2003 for various different individuals and businesses around the world. It was an interesting time, because early in the 21^st century there were many different developments in design and changes in web standards.

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

The biggest challenge at the moment is competition; many people are jumping on the ‘internet bandwagon’ and think that just because they’ve got Dreamweaver they can design a website, when really it’s much more than that. It’s a shame, because people are spending thousands on designers who don’t have a clue – the amount of upset clients who come to me because of this is ridiculous. Another hurdle is international designers; hopefully companies will realize that by outsourcing design work to other countries that offer lower prices may mean decreased costs, but generally mean substandard websites and poor service.

4. What kind of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) services do you offer and what kind of results have they yielded for your clients?

I only offer standard SEO packages. I am primarily a website design and try not to stray away from this too much because it gives me the chance to concentrate on a design one hundred percent. That being said, many of my clients do use me for SEO and get very good results, increased hits on websites, and more business. A lot of less experienced designers on the net still think that META tags are the answer to everything, but they’re wrong.

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

I’ve never had any formal training in web design, and I don’t see any advantages to having formal training. I have experience that many designers my age wouldn’t; they’d be in massive debt after studying for years in something that they could learn at home by having an open mind and reading as much literature as possible. I’ve spoken to hundreds of people who’ve just finished web design courses at university, leave and have nothing to do – the reason being that they have no real experience. There are many online communities and resources that can help people a lot, and have helped me a lot. I’m not saying don’t go to university to study website design, I’m saying assess the situation at hand, because there are many courses that you need to go to university for such as medicine, but do you really need a degree to help you to be creative and effective?

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 industry has definitely changed, as I said earlier, there has been a surge in the interest in web design and the amount of work. The web is a booming industry at the moment, despite the state of the economic climate. The industry is constantly becoming more interesting, and definitely improving. It’s good that businesses understand the importance of using the internet as a marketing tool, because an effective website could decide whether or not your business survives.

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

I swear by Photoshop and Notepad++ in every design. I use Photoshop because the functionality is great, the different tools within the software are great and it has never failed me. I think the price of the software is the main deterrent, but it’s like audio equipment, you could buy yourself a set of JVC speakers that are okay, and do the job to an extent, but if you buy some Bose speakers, the spectrum is extended and you have more than just some speakers, you’ve got the extra features, guarantees and great customer support, which you wouldn’t get from cheaper software. Notepad++ is great because it’s open source, GNU software that has many features that are necessary for everyday web designers, automatic syntax, tabs, automatic tag closing, templates and much more.