Spicy Web Designer Interview with Christopher Scott

Christopher Scott is a web designer from Philadelphia (aka “Philly!”), Pennsylvania in the United States. He first started designing websites back in 1998, it was table-based and had a really cool rotating 3D logo and since then his design style has improved dramatically. Web design started off for Chris as a hobby in high school and it wasn’t until a stint in the National Guard that he got serious about web design as a career. He is passionate about Web Standards and Front End Design in general and this really shows in the work he has been producing.

1. How did you get started in web design?

I guess it all really started when my uncle showed me how to program in Basic on a 1981 IBM PC.  Eventually, my family would get a shiny new computer of our own – around the same time that the world wide web started become more main stream.

2. When did you start designing websites?

I launched my first website in January of 1998, for my father’s business, when I was a sophomore in High School. It was table-based, filled with <font> tags, and – true to the era – had the coolest rotating 3-d logo. Me and my father were both really proud of it though, and I remember how excited he received his first overseas order. Back then, there weren’t a lot of companies (let alone boat upholsterers) even on the web, let alone doing international business.

3. How did you go from being a Combat Medic in the National Guard to becoming a web design professional?

Well, to be honest, I never really thought that becoming a web designer was a realistic goal. Throughout high school, web design was more of a hobby to be, and back then the standards themselves were still being figured out. I was also fairly immature back then, and so after a couple years drifting around at a local community college, I decided to join the National Guard. I signed my papers two weeks before September 11, 2001 and after four months of training; my unit was activated for a year in Colorado. For about two years I was without a computer, and I missed the beginning of the whole web 2.0 movement. I’d eventually get back into web design, first as a hobby, and eventually as my career (thanks to the encouragement of my then girlfriend, and now wife).

4. Do you feel that focusing in Web Standards and usability as a part of your freelance work gives you an advantage?  And, what do you feel are the biggest selling points of using web standards in your web design business for your clients?

Absolutely! I always think of Jefferey Zeldman when I hear the term standards, and how every industry has them, and adheres to them. To me, folks who haven’t embraced web standards are sort of like chefs who decide to make up their own measuring systems. It almost always makes things harder on everyone, and in addition to bloated, disgusting code can lead to some real accessibility issues.

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

Convincing clients or employers that I’m not just a pixel pusher or code geek. I consider myself a student of design, and how design is changing to meet the needs of a hyper-connected, always-on culture is fascinating to me. Too often though, I think web designers are seen as the guy who knows CSS, or the  kid that can make pretty things in Photoshop.

Also, finding time to keep your skills current (in an atmosphere where new techs spring up all-the-time), is another big challenge.

6. Do you ever refer to yourself as a Front-end developer or a web designer?  Do you code any of the web sites that you design currently?  If so, what language(s) do you code in?

Typically, I’ll mark-up and style everything I design in xHTML 1.0 strict and CSS 2.1. I like to tell folks that I’m not a programmer, but that’s ok, because I know enough about JavaScript and jquery to do everything i need to do. However, I have a lot of experience tinkering with, and debugging various scripts in all sorts of languages (.net, PHP, JavaScript, etc…).

7. Where did you go to school and has it helped you become a better web design professional?

By far, some of the best lessons I ever received was in the National Guard. Teamwork, attention to detail, discipline, and learning how to train others was fundamental to shaping the way I work and learn now. When you know how to save lives, and teach other soldiers to do the same, learning html, or JavaScript doesn’t seem all that hard. I did attend a couple years of community college, but honestly I didn’t get much out of it (I was too busy having fun with my friends and being out on my own).

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

Without a doubt, web design has grown leaps and bounds from that first website of mine back in 1998. The web is looking, and working better than it ever has before. More and more talented designers are looking to the web, either as a primary medium, or to supplement their portfolio, and i think as a result, we’re seeing almost a golden age of web design. There are still old issues we’re dealing with (IE6, the browser that won’t die), but for the most part i think innovation is the name of the game, and it’s amazing to see how these designers take on these new challenges.

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

Photoshop, Illustrator, a good text editor (I use Textmate), and Firefox + the web developer add-on + the firebug add-on are pretty much my main tools. I love to turn it all off though, and sketch through any sort of problem (design, IA plan, content, etc…) the old-school analog way.