Spicy Web Designer Interview with Anne Halsall

Anne Halsall is a web designer from San Francisco in the United States. She originally grew up in Chicago where her passion for design started. She’s been designing websites for about 10 years now and has been learning along the way. She runs her personal site Random [Non Sequitur] and her design site Black Sheep Design. Aside from designing for the web she also designs for the iPhone.

1. When did you first start designing websites?

I built my first website ten years ago. It was a personal page called “The Pumpkin Patch” (Pumpkin was my nickname at the time) and it was mostly about things I liked, like frisbee and Ben Folds Five. I remember the biggest problem I had was figuring out why my images weren’t working. Turned out that the Mac OS was stripping the filename extensions off of them, which of course wouldn’t work on the web server. Oops!

2. How long have you been designing websites?

Isn’t this the same as question #1? Ten years.

3. Do you code as well as design on web projects? If so, which languages do you code in currently?

Yes, I consider myself an engineer at heart, though I don’t do as much coding these days. I write HTML/CSS of course, which isn’t really “coding” per se, but still requires planning and precision if you want to do it right. I also use JavaScript and Python.

4. I was reading on “Black Sheep Design” that you design for the iPhone. How do you currently design for the iPhone and what does that involve?

I love working on the iPhone. It’s such a tactile device that it adds this whole other dimension to design. You want the interface to feel as real as possible, so you get to use a lot of natural materials – wood grain, plastic sheen, even textiles. There’s this awesome new app, Classics, which looks and feels like an old book, even down to turning the page!

I do all sorts of graphics for the phone, from icons to UI design to animation. Every app seems to need something different, so it always keeps you on your toes.

5. I’ve been noticing that more “web designers” refer to themselves as “Front-End Coders” when they use JavaScript, Python and other assorted languages in the design of a web design project. Do you consider yourself a “front-end coder” as well as a web designer?

I think designers by nature are insecure about their technical skills, but web design is an extremely technical profession. They use the word “front-end coder” to distinguish themselves from “real” programmers, but I think that’s a mistake. “Front-end coders” are no different from any other coders – they have to think about speed, accessibility, security, and maintainability. It’s true that not all designers are coders, but unless you do nothing but churn out PSD files, you are a coder! So yes, I consider myself a coder, because I concern myself with not only the design but also the details of implementation.

6. What are some of the biggest problems you’ve faced since you started designing websites?

Honestly, I think the biggest problem with working on the web is the web itself. Web apps are awkward and web browsers make a really lousy platform – they are inconsistent, bloated, and limited. Desktop apps are really catching up now that sync is getting more sophisticated. I think we’re going to see a lot of users giving up their web apps in favor of desktop apps that sync seamlessly with their mobile devices and other computers.

Being a web designer five years ago was very frustrating. It’s just as frustrating now. Standardization has happened only very slowly, and all the major browsers still have their share of issues. I think web technology needs to move a lot faster if we’re going to keep up with the rapidly evolving desktop/mobile world.

7. What do you want people to know about you, your company and your web design skills?

I’m a pragmatist. I like to get my hands dirty when I work on design – I don’t just talk to my single point of contact in a project. To really do a good job you have to know what is and isn’t technically possible – that means talking to the engineers. You also have to know what users are asking for and complaining about – that means talking to the customer support team. And finally, you want your work to fit in with the bigger picture of the company’s identity – that means talking to the marketing team.

This is an important principle of my company. We always allocate time for proper planning and research, and doing the legwork means we spend less time in front of Photoshop and less time iterating. It’s a good deal for everyone involved.