Spicy Web Designer Interview with Luke Jones

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.