Website Inspiration Blog | SpicyWebDesigners.com by Luc Arnold

Hank Toet is a web designer and art director from Los Angeles, California in the United States.  With over 10 years of experience in the field of design he has worked in various positions from “web designer”, “graphic designer” to a “Lead Designer” and most recently an “Art Director” but he received his education in Business Administration.  In one way or another he has been designing for the web since 1996 when Hank discovered websites and wanted to learn how to design and program them.

Hank recently got together with SpicyWebDesigners.com to talk about his experiences in design, why he loves designing for the web and his views on formally educated designers versus self taught designers.

Luc asks: Hank, with your extensive design experiences, how long have you been designing websites?

Hank says: I first started playing around with Micrograpx Picture Publisher around 1996.

I enjoyed browsing around the web and wanted to learn how to design and program websites.

I used Microsoft Front page to put together my websites but when I got my first job working as an html editor I was forced to stop using Front Page and learn how to code by hand. I’m happy I did because Front Page sucked!

Soon after that I left my PC behind and got my first Mac, haven’t look back since!

Luc asks: Are you formally educated in design or self taught?  Do you feel it’s better for a designer to have a formal education or be a self taught designer?

Hank says: Back when I started designing websites there were really no courses you could take or schools you could go to, to learn how to be a web designer.

I really wanted to learn but didn’t know where to go so I was forced to figure it out for myself. In hindsight I think it would have been nice to have had some formal education but the benefit of being self taught is that I’ve never had to unlearn the rules that are imposed on you with a formal design education. I was free to do whatever I wanted which allowed for a lot of experimentation and probably led me to solutions I would not have thought of if I was formally trained.

Luc asks: Why do you love being a web designer?

Hank says: Growing up I never really knew what I wanted to do in life but I always had a strong interest in design, I loved graffiti culture, urban design, underground music and the style that goes

along with that. When the internet started to become popular and I started to design for it. It was like all the puzzle pieces fell into place and I finally found something that was me. Whenever I sit down in front of Photoshop and look at an empty canvas I get this rush and anything is possible. It’s being excited about the possibilities and trying to do the best you can and hopefully being proud with the results when you are done. I also feel this process of learning and getting better at what you do will never stop. At least not for me, I want to keep doing this until the day I die.
Luc asks: I see that you have experience working on mobile design projects, what are your major concerns or considerations you make when designing a project for a mobile device?

Hank says: My main concern is UI; there are a lot of applications out there that just don’t make any sense. It’s easy to make something look good but it has to be usable.

Adam McCombs is a web designer and developer based in Texas in the United States of America.  He has been freelancing for almost the past 10 years and he has held a number of web design and development positions.  In this time, Adam has had the opportunity to work with and design for many types of website development platforms from WordPress, Joomla!, Drupal, Expression Engine and he has also working with various ecommerce platforms including Magento, Shopify, Virtuemart and osCommerce.   He started off freelancing and eventually started his own company called “McCombs Creative” while working in a number of full-time design positions.

One of Adam’s latest projects has involved authoring a book called “The Definitive Guide to Magento” and he talked about his experience doing this and being contacted by an editor at the publishing company via twitter.  The book was later released in December of 2009.  Adam is a big fan and supporter of the Magento Commerce platform and really enjoys working with it and designing for it and he’s been working with it since January 2009.  In this interview, Adam McCombs, has a chance to talk about his experiences designing for the web, working with Magento Commerce and authoring his book “The Definitive Guide to Magento”.

Luc asks: Adam, how long have you been professionally designing and developing on the web and when did you start to work with Magento?

Adam says: The first website I ever designed and built was actually an ecommerce website for a client back in 2002. After college and a few years working as a webmaster [yuck, I know] and designer I got back into freelancing and soon formed McCombs Creative. I discovered the Magento platform in January 2009, when a client needed to manage several websites through one administrative interface. Magento was the perfect solution. Since then I’ve built or customized at least a dozen Magento stores and I continue to work with Magento on a daily basis.

Luc asks: Why did you choose to focus on developing for Magento for your ecommerce clients?

Adam says:  Magento is an amazing platform; I can’t speak to that enough. It filled a niche in the ecommerce market that was seriously lacking. I often joke that Magento has features that other platforms dream about.  However Magento isn’t for everyone. It does have some decent hosting requirements and there is a learning curve. It’s very easy for clients to manage products, customers and orders but can be tough to customize and develop for. Even with a few shortcomings I still think it’s the best ecommerce platform in today’s market.

Luc asks: I see that you’ve co-authored a book called the “The Definitive Guide to Magento”.  How was this experience and how did you get into authoring a book about Magento?

Adam says: Writing the book was crazy! I was actually contacted via twitter because an editor for Apress, the company who published the book. The editor, saw that I was working with Magento and contacted me. She told me they had wanted to publish a book on Magento for almost a year now and couldn’t find anyone to write it. We started writing in July and I was writing a chapter every 10 days. Half way into the book and under a tight deadline, we decided it would be in our best interest to bring someone in and help wrap it up. I spoke with my good friend Robert Banh (@robertbanh on twitter) and he was more than happy to help. He was already involved as the tech editor for my portion of the book and ended up writing the second half. The book was published and on the shelves by the end of December 2009.

Luc asks: What tips do you give to people that approach you for help with their Magento website?

Adam says: That depends on the needs of the project or site. The majority of my clients are actually other agencies, several of which I act as a Magento consultant. Typically there is some sort of discovery period with the client, to find out the needs and goals of the project. During that time we’ll explore the features within Magento and see if the site will need any additional development. If I had any advice to give potential Magento users I would say, don’t be intimidated by Magento. It’s a beast but the end rewards are worth the effort.

Luc asks: I see that you’ve worked with WordPress on a number of web development projects and i must say that i love working with WordPress.  Do you develop or design for any other content management systems on the market today?

Adam says: I absolutely adore WordPress, with its latest version it’s become a fierce competitor in the CMS arena. I’ve also worked with platforms and systems like Joomla, Drupal, Shopify, Expression Engine, OsCommerce, Virtuemart, xCart, and Ubercart just to name a few. I think the platform is irrelevant as long as it meets the needs of the project. One of the worst things you can do as a designer or developer is only using one platform.

Luc asks: Would you consider yourself a web designer or a web developer or is there another name that you give yourself as a creative professional?

Adam says: I’d consider myself a front-end web developer. I’m not a fan of saying that I’m a web designer because most times I bridge the gap between designers and developers. Most times I’m juggling roles that include project management, user experience and interface design. It’s not always easy running your own business but I’ve never been happier. Striking out on my own was one of the best decisions in my life!

Andrew Reifman is a web designer from Atlanta, Georgia in the United States.  He studied and earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from the University of Georgia.  He bills himself as a designer primarily and not a developer and confides that one of the most difficult things he’s dealt with on a web design project is programming.

Andrew likes collaboration with others and he also likes the social interaction of working with a team of people.  Lately he has been working with MailChimp, also known as The Rocket Science Group as their web designer.  When he isn’t busy working he likes to shoot pool and working towards mastering Javascript.  Here is what Andrew had to say about his passion for web and graphic design, where he sees himself in 5 years and his experiences using social media.

Luc asks: In your design experiences to date, what has been your favorite project to work on and why?

Andrew says: Aside from working on my own site, which is always fun to do, my favorite project(s) to work on has been for MailChimp. Working for MailChimp has been very different from previous work experiences because my only clients are the people I work with. It also happens to be that my coworkers are very fun and open to being as creative as possible.

Luc asks: With your background in Fine arts, how and why did you get into web page design?

Andrew says: I was an undecided art major for several years in college. I reached a point where I had to decide which art career I would pursue. It was between continuing with a focus in drawing or entering the graphic design program. I decided that I would like to get a paycheck on a regular basis and was accepted into the graphic design program. For two years, I produced mainly print and identity work, learning very little about web design.

I was really introduced to web design as an intern. Over the next few years I immersed myself in web design, following blogs, viewing CSS galleries daily, and keeping up with trends. Design made up 50% of my job, front-end developing the other 50%. Being a developer really helped grow my abilities in design by knowing what could and couldn’t be done. It also allows me to remain in complete control of my projects from start to finish.

Luc asks: To date, what are the most difficult things that you’ve dealt with on a web design project?

Andrew says: The most difficult thing that I’ve dealt with, and still deal with to this day is programming. I’m a designer first and a developer second. In design, if things don’t work, it’s really a matter of opinion. Nothing breaks in a design that prevents you from seeing your project on the screen. Code on the other hand, forget to close that one div and your whole projects decides to explode. This was definitely a more frustrating issue when working with dynamic sites using Ruby. Now I work with more static sites, and this whole issue has gotten a little easier for me to handle.

Luc asks: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Andrew says: In 5 years, I hope to still be loving graphic design. I would love to go back to my design roots and do both print design and web design. As liberating as freelance can be, I imagine myself still working for a design firm. Once again, I’m big on working with other people, and I really need human interaction during the day. I don’t want to become a design hermit.

Luc asks: What are your favorite web technologies to work with currently?

Andrew says: jQuery is awesome. I’m really getting into CSS3 and I’m anxiously waiting for the day when every browser recognizes it. I’m looking at you Internet Explorer.

Luc asks: What role does using social media play in building your freelance web design business?  Do you find that people are responsive to following you on twitter, linkedin and other social media networking websites?

Andrew says: I’m a pretty moderate user of social media, nothing too hardcore for me. My greatest learning tool over the last year or two has become Twitter. There is no other place on the internet that you can receive as much inspiration and information from other designers. Follow the right people and you will have an endless supply of inspiration, tutorials and informative articles. At the same time, Twitter can also be my greatest source of distraction. I will admit that I need to do a better job of giving back to the design community and post more tweets of my own. Sorry about that folks, working on it.

Evan Eckard is a web designer with more than 15 years of design experience who lives in San Francisco in the United States.  Originally starting out working as a photographer later on he enrolled in an art school in San Francisco and after school Evan switched from pursuing 3d design to web design after getting inspired by sites like praystation.com.

Evan considers himself largely self-taught as a web designer but his experiences in photography, 3d and digital design and traditional design make him a very well rounded web designer.  He uses PHP, jQuery, javascript and other web based coding languages only to make his design work “sing” but he prefers to focus on the design work solely.  If you get a chance to check out his portfolio website you check out some of the WordPress themes he’s developed with his designs.

Recently when I talked to Evan about his experiences in design over the past 15 years he had following to say about his experiences to date and how he prefers to sometimes use pencil and paper in his creative process so please read on and learn a bit more about Evan Eckard…

Luc asks: With over 15 years of design experience how did you first get involved designing websites?

Evan says: Around 1994 I started playing around with Photoshop and digital media in general. As the web slowly evolved, I started coming across other designer’s websites and thought I’d like to take a stab at creating one of these. My first portfolio site was built all in frames, was extremely clunky and had a horrible user interface, but it looked awesome to me and was fun to build. Some of the first sites I came across that really inspired me were sites like praystation.com, design is kinky and others.

After that, I would work on web sites here and there for a couple of years, and then I found myself right in the middle of the internet industry working full time on web design and static development. The entire process has been self taught, with a lot of web research on how to code and implement functionality. The design aspect was just in my blood and picked up along the way in art classes at school.

Luc asks: Are you formally educated or self taught as a design professional? If so, where are what did you study?

Evan says: Mainly self-taught, but have slept through some art classes. I’ve taken a lot of traditional art classes, but hadn’t taken much in digital media outside basic Photoshop classes and such. I learned more sitting in front of a computer at home than in a classroom.

Luc asks: I like the fact that you offer free WordPress templates on your portfolio site. Why did you decide to add this feature to your portfolio?

Evan says: I started learning WordPress to run my own sites and gained an interest in theme design in the process. After I had worked on my own site and client sites, I still had ideas for potential themes I wanted to try and it grew from there. A couple I sold off, but a few I just couldn’t find a finishing point. The ones I offer for free are themes I still have ideas and updates for and enjoy working on them when I have the time. Since they were ongoing, I figured I’d just release them to the public to enjoy as well.

Luc asks: If you could tell us just one reason why you love doing what you do what would your answer be?

Evan says: I’ve always loved designing. It just so happened I fell into an area where the main media of choice was HTML. If I wasn’t doing web design, I’d be doing visual design and art in general in a different form elsewhere.

Luc asks: Do you code (using JavaScript, PHP, mySQL, etc.) the projects that you take on or do you consider yourself a hardcore designer not interested in coding?

Evan says: I use javascript and PHP only out of necessity. Ideally, I’d focus all on design, but I still have the need to develop the designs when they’re ready. I use jquery often and had to learn PHP to get WordPress to do what I needed it to do.

Luc asks: Being a designer with a number of years of experience under your belt what experience has helped you most on your career to this point and how have they helped you?

Evan says: Stay sharp. Even though I work full time for a company, I still find the need to work on other projects on the side to keep my creative ideas flowing. Variety is “key” to stave off burnout and keep the enjoyment levels up. I see so many designers that focus on certain niches and when they come up for air, everything around them has changed too much to keep up.

Also, don’t create solely on the computer. Pick up a pencil and sketch anything you can. Real world experiences applied to the web makes designs richer and more natural.

Soh Tanaka is a web designer and front end web developer who’s based in Los Angeles, California.  He first started designing websites in 2005 but he first got interested in 2004 while he was in college after picking up a copy of Photoshop.

When Soh is designing for a client these days his approach is to understand the scope of the project with respect to the person, product or company he is designing for.  He is very critical of his own work and he always strives for better on projects he takes on.

Here is what Soh Tanaka had to say when I caught up with him about his web design background, where his experience has taken him and where he plans to go moving forward.

Luc asks: I see that you started designing websites back in 2005 according to your site and i wanted to ask what were you doing before in terms of design and what got you hooked on designing for the web?

Soh says: I got my first copy of Photoshop in 2004 after taking my first HTML class in college. I was going to school for CIS (Computer Information Systems) and this was one of the only classes that really grabbed my attention. After learning the basics of HTML, I quickly became obsessed and started exploring the world of web design. Before this, I had no prior experience with design or art in general.

Luc asks: When you first start in on a web design project what do you use to inspire your creativity?

Soh says: For every project, I research the background of the company/product/person and try to understand its audience. Sometimes I bounce around the various web galleries out there, but my main goal is to visualize the environment and experience of the users and the goal of the website. To explore the theme and feel of the site, I check out various magazine layouts/design, photography, and other related sources of media to gain inspiration.

Luc asks: How many projects have you worked on since you first started designing websites?

Soh says: I lost count, but I don’t claim a lot of them. I am my own worst critic, and tend to dislike my creations after time goes by.

Luc asks: What are your favorite web technologies to work with currently and why are they your favorites?

Soh says: I would say CSS & jQuery for front-end development. I don’t really have a reason why I love them, but they are my bread and butter when developing interfaces.

Luc asks: I really loved checking out your portfolio.  It’s very professional and pretty slick!  I’ve noticed that your design style on projects is pretty broad.  How do you manage to turn out work that looks unique and different on every project?

Soh says: I actually feel like my designs look too similar. My goal this year is to break out of the box and experiment. I tend to have the typical CSS designer feel, which has a very “boxy” feel to it. I love clean and simple design, but there are times when I feel I lack proper design foundations like typography that I can definitely improve on. There are some inspirational designers out there (Jesse Bennett-Chamberlain, Yaron Schoen, Rob Morris, Martin Balhar to name a few) that make me want to challenge myself further so I can be a better designer. I hope to grow as much as I can and go beyond my usual comfort level. Gotta get back into training mode!