Spicy Web Designer Interview with Julien Coutellier

Julien Coutellier is a web designer from Winston-Salem, North Carolina in the United States. He has been designing websites for the last 5 years but he originally started out in television as a cameraman in Los Angeles and then decided to make the move into web design. Julien has his BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia in video and film. He later decided to upgrade his education at Clark University in Boston and took a 6 month course in Graphic and Web Design.

1. How did you get started in web design?

Web design is relatively new to me. My background is television. I used to be a cameraman in Los Angeles and worked mostly on Reality TV shows like Biggest Loser and For Love Or Money. It was a great job, but just not for me. I had to travel a lot and be away from home for weeks at a time; dream job for a bachelor but not for someone like me trying to build a family. One day on a shoot in Hawaii, I decided I’ve had enough. My wife (also eager to leave LA) and I packed our stuff and move back to the East coast where I attended school for Graphic and Web design. At that time, I was more interested in print, but as soon as web design was introduced to me, print was history!

2. When did you start designing websites?

About 5 years ago and when I look back at what I did then, I just want to slap myself. Like any profession, you get better at what you do with time and practice. My style and techniques have improved considerably since my first job – I won’t say what that was and I feel more confident about the products I put together for clients.

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

Because I’m working in the newspaper industry, the biggest challenge I face is to be the “Enemy #1″ for many print folks. The way news is served is changing rapidly and the print industry is now facing its biggest crisis since its creation. Fingers are often pointed at the online department. We’ve been accused of everything and we are far from being the popular kids. We are the black sheep of the family. I do understand the struggle of those who feel threatened by the new online era. I always try to lend an ear rather than debating who is right or wrong. However, you can’t stop the world from evolving. Blaming it on the web community is not going to stop progress. People who feel threatened will soon have to realize that their only way of survival is to jump into the “Online” train before it is out-of-sight.

4. 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?

I am definitely a web designer and wouldn’t portrait myself as a developer. That side of my brain doesn’t work very well. I am quite happy in the world of pixels, shapes and colors. I do code all the websites I design using XHTML 1.0 Transitional and CSS 2.1. I have also used Flash for clients who requested such websites (restaurants mostly). However, one cannot be a successful web designer without knowing some development tools. PHP, JavaScript/AJAX, etc. are necessary languages in modern web design. Even though I can’t write anything from scratch, I can usually debug scripts I find online. I do have quite a library now and use it frequently.

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

I attended the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia for my BFA in video and film. I wouldn’t say the skills I learned there are directly linked to web design, but the study of lighting, color theory, framing and motion can be quite useful when approaching any web projects. 3 years later, I attended Clark University in Boston and took a 6 month course in Graphic and Web Design. I am a strong believer that education is the key to a successful career. It helps you develop the foundation you need in the field you study but also helps you build confidence and self-esteem.

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 constantly changing. I am relatively new at web design compared to other designers. When I started, CSS was already the way to go. But in the past 5 years, I have seen some major changes in trends and technologies. I love the fact that AJAX is slowly replacing what could only be done with Flash before. I was so happy when PNG’s became supported in most browsers allowing more than 1-bit transparency. Even Internet Exploder had to line up. The whole Web 2.0 experience (Twitter, Facebook…) has made the web a better place. Everybody wants a piece of the action and more and more businesses are turning to the web for exposure. Those businesses want an online presence that will crush their competition. This is a great time for designers and developers looking to push the limits. As long as the need for online marketing exists, designers and developers are going to find new ways to make the internet a better place by coming up with new design trends and innovative technologies to make those clients happy.

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

I am a big fan of the Adobe Suite. I use Photoshop and Illustrator for all my graphic needs and code everything by hand using Dreamweaver as a text editor (never in design mode! – the one option Adobe should get rid of). I use Flash from time to time, especially for video implementation, which I combine with Flowplayer. I also do enjoy working with Jquery and WordPress. Firefox is by far my browser of choice combined with the Firebug extension, Colorzilla and MeasureIt. But I would say that most of the tools I use come from fellow designers and developers who are kind enough to share their work with the rest of us. I religiously check websites such as Smashing Magazine, Six Revisions, Tripwire Magazine, Tuts, Dzineblog, among many others for resources and tricks. It’s like digging in a gold mine.