Website Inspiration Blog | SpicyWebDesigners.com by Luc Arnold

Andrew Greig is a web designer based in Australia and the creative force behind DesignFlavr.com.  When he first started designing for the web he never thought it would turn into a full-time career but he is happy that it has.  His side project, DesignFlavr.com, has seen over 10 million pageviews to date and it all started from an idea of letting good art get the recognition it deserved.

Andrew refers to himself as a “creative developer” which might seem like a contradiction in terms but given Andrew’s talents the title fits because he focuses on the overall development and design when he works a project.  Andrew was nice enough to take some time from his busy schedule to answer some questions recently and here is what he had to say…

Luc asks: On your site you call yourself a “creative developer”.  Now, personally when i think of a developer i think logic, programming, methodologies and things like that but throwing the word “creative” before that is curious to me.  Do you consider yourself both a creative type and a developer?  Please explain a little more.

Andrew says: I suppose what I mean in saying that is whilst I have skill as a programmer, be it PHP, AS3, or Front End, everything always starts from the ground up as a design. Design is one of the most important aspects of project development for the web and is often left as an after-thought by many programmers or put aside for someone else to interpret. I work the two angles, Design and Development, together to try and create more harmonious endings. So yes, whilst I currently have more of a programmer focus in my current work, I am a trained Designer and always make sure that it gets shown through in the output.

Luc asks: How and why did you decide to create DesignFlavr.com?  Do you personally use what you see on the web for your own inspiration on web design projects?

Andrew says: I originally created Designerflavr out of a desire to fill a niche are in the web. I used to use places like deviantArt to try and find inspiration for design projects, unfortunately due the massive size of the site and the amount of content that just wasn’t relevant, I often found the really good art went unnoticed. So I set forth building a web gallery that would feature all the high quality art that deserved some appreciation from lovers of art and design. When I go out looking for design inspiration, I always look at it from an ideas based perspective. I don’t go looking for great designs to replicate and steal ideas from, but to help encourage my own ideas to flow. So if I see a beautiful color scheme for example or an interesting use of Typography, I might use that as a starting point in a design and work out from there. I find that design inspiration should be more of an idea igniter.

Luc asks: When you first started designing websites did you ever think it would turn into a full-time career for you?

Andrew says: Not at all. The original start to my career was in the area of Motion Graphics, Video Production etc. I slowly started migrating across to static print design and from there ended up doing website design on the side to get me through my studies at university. It was good money and was relatively easy. Overtime I started doing more and more web design and actually started enjoying the whole thing. But even then, I was still in denial that web design would become my full-time career. Now I love it and wouldn’t, for the current time, dream of doing anything else.

Luc asks: I see that you’ve done a bunch of design work using WordPress and i wanted to ask you what are your favorite WordPress plugins to use?

Andrew says: To be honest, I usually try to avoid the use of WordPress plugins wherever I can. I find that many of them offer simple fixes to solutions that, with a bit of PHP knowledge, anyone can fix much more efficiently. However there are still some brilliant ones that I find very useful, one is the ‘All in one SEO‘ plug-in which does as the name would describe and the ‘Search Excerpt’ which runs the search feature on my site very well.

Luc asks: What did you study while you were at Griffith University? Has your education helped you in your professional career?

Andrew says: Whilst I was at University, I studied a BA of Visual Media which offered a broad scope of studies in areas such as Motion Graphics / Visual Effects, Graphic Design, Typography, Design theory, Photography, Fine Art etc. I made use of all the available teaching areas and ended up finished my studies with a very well rounded skill-set. I still utilize many of them today. The most invaluable have ended up being areas based around Art Theory such as Semiotics, Human Interface Studies, and Color Theory etc.

Australian web designer, David Jonsson comes to us from Byron Bay where he crafts websites with branding and amazing graphic designs.  He got his start in designing for the web when he was living and working in London, England and got hired by a web design agency called “Pod1” and learned a lot of his skills on the job.

David has been designing websites since 2005 and more recently, in the past 3 years, he has been freelancing full-time as a web designer.  David uses typography and his graphic design skills to rework designs for the web and end up looking amazing.

Talking to David, it’s easy to see why he is so passionate about web design, his freelance career and the fact that he has never missed a deadline.  Read on to see what David had to say…

Luc asks: David how did you originally start designing website and what got you interested in web design?

David says: It all started when I left Australia to live in London for 12 months. Luckily enough when I arrived and was looking for a job, my brother mentioned that he had a friend who worked at a design agency that was looking for somebody for a couple of days to do data entry.  Fortunately for me, I learned to touch type at school and got the job. What I didn’t realize though was that I was walking into an amazing web design agency called Pod1. They had some amazing designers who I got the opportunity to sit next to and watch them create some stunning websites from scratch.  I decided then and there that this is what I wanted to do. Thankfully Pod1 kept me around for a bit and my love for design and web design just grew from there. They were all extremely passionate about what they did and the designers would settle for nothing but their best – I think that’s the most important thing that they taught me, be proud of what you do and do it as well as you possibly can.

Luc asks: Do you think in the web design profession it’s possible to become uninspired and bored of your job?

David says: If you don’t love web design or design in general it would be very easy to become uninspired and bored of your job. I on the other hand absolutely love what I do and can’t imagine myself doing anything else, web design brings in a lot more challenges as it’s more of an ever changing monster than say print design – I think this is why I love it the most, it’s challenging and is always changing. That’s not to say I don’t have days where I feel bored, uninspired and overwhelmed, but those days are very few and far between.

Luc asks: I see that your portfolio consists of a lot of graphic design work and i wanted to ask do you code any of the projects that you work on and if so what languages do you primarily work in?

David says: I code a few of the projects that I work on, it is a skill that I’m constantly learning and improving. Primarily the languages I work in are xHTML and CSS. My CMS of choice is WordPress which I’m comfortable with but when it comes to the bigger, more technical websites and e-commerce jobs I work with a highly skilled development team based in Brisbane, Australia and their work is nothing but exceptional.

Luc asks: Do you currently freelance on a full-time or part-time basis and how do you juggle the work that you do with your life in general being that you are under deadlines at times?

David says: I’ve been freelancing full time for the past 3 years. The work vs. life balance is something you learn over time. Deadlines really shouldn’t be an issue if you’ve accounted for your time correctly and set milestones that are achievable. That’s not to say I’m not extremely stressed 24hrs before launching a new site or submitting logo designs to my clients but I’m proud to say that I’ve never missed a deadline.

Luc asks: When people who become your clients what is your usually process for gathering information about the project you are going to become involved in? Also, what part does the “Questionnaire” play for your clients and potential clients?

David says: I have certain questionnaires for my clients depending on the project.  The questionnaires take care of the essential information and it’s a great way for the client to really think about their project and gives me a breakdown of what they’re hoping to achieve. I like to meet with my clients, either face to face, over the phone or a video call on Skype, this takes care of a lot of questions that they might have and I can also give advice on certain things that they either don’t understand or are not too sure about.  It’s nice to have a personal touch, I think a lot of clients appreciate that and expect it when dealing with a freelancer directly.

For those of you who’ve never heard of David Vuu, he is a multimedia designer from Melbourne, Australia and for those of you who have he’s a great guy isn’t he? David has been designing since 2004 while attending university and through a combination of paid and volunteer work he was focused on building his portfolio of web design and multimedia work. After graduation from Multimedia Systems at RMIT University in 2007 he decided that his passion for web design should become his fulltime profession. Outside of working fulltime as a Lead Designer he also moonlights as a freelancer doing everything from brand and identity work to web design and mobile web design. David is the “real deal” in a web and multimedia designer and with a vast skill set he shared more about his experiences scoping out projects, designing for mobile website viewers and his experience freelancing while working a fulltime gig with me and SpicyWebDesigners.com.

Luc @ SWD: David, how do you balance working fulltime and taking on freelance design work?

David says: Good Question! Initially, this was a difficult scenario trying to balance not only fulltime work and freelancing, but also having a social life. Now, I keep a calendar diary, adding all ad-hoc tasks that need to be completed – chipping at it piece by piece. This method is quite “old school”, but very effective in my case. Any freelancing job that is too big or requires attention during business hours would be shifted to the creative web agency I work at. It is a compromise that keeps all parties satisfied – the client would receive business hour support, the creative agency gains another client and as for myself, I would have an easier time juggling tasks.

Luc @ SWD: What is your approach to scoping out a web or multimedia design project?

David says: Once I receive the client’s brief, I do my research – it’s the most important part that builds the momentum for the rest of the project. Firstly, I research websites in the same industry getting the general feel on what is required. I then proceed with the theme and aesthetic research. Following that, I do wireframes and a sitemap. This is the process I always take within the research stage, once all that has been approved by the client, it builds the foundation for the rest of the project, which consist of designing, building and managing.

Luc @ SWD: How much designing do you do for mobile websites currently?  What are the biggest problems you face when designing for mobile audiences?

David says: Currently I spend about 15% of the time designing mobile websites. As clients are getting up to date with their technology, both new and existing clients are requesting their websites to be mobile friendly. The most common challenge I face is trying to determine what content is most important: it may sound simple but taking a website that contains content, photos and videos, and stripping it down to the bare essentials can be quite a challenge on its own.

Luc @ SWD: How long have you been designing websites professionally?

David says: My first commercial website design was in 2004 whilst I was attending university. While studying, I did the regular freelance and voluntary jobs to build up my portfolio. In 2007 after I graduated, I made web design a fulltime profession.

Luc @ SWD: Where and what did you study while you were in school?

David says: I actually began my university life studying environmental engineering. After the first year, I took the time to think about what I REALLY wanted to do – so I took the risk and did a 180˚ change: I chose to do Multimedia Systems at RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia). I have not regretted it since!

Luc @ SWD: David i see that you’ve got some experience coding in JavaScript and PHP.  Do you prefer working on coding or more graphic based projects or does it matter to you?

David says: I specialize in both front-end design and development, making sure it looks great as well as functions the way I envisioned it. I love customizing jQuery components to make it work with my designs. Overall, I enjoy both coding and designing – anything that involves a challenge to improve myself.

Dean Oakley found web design a refreshing change after finishing his information Technology degree at Griffith University back in 2004. He took his time building his confidence and his portfolio of web design work. Dean has been designing websites for the last 4 years professionally relying on a combination of HTML/CSS, PHP and JavaScript. Lately, he has been doing more and more design work and getting away from the hardcore programming of his college days. From his personal headquarters in Brisbane on the Gold Coast in Australia he has his sights set on developing his passion for the web into a full-time business and here is what he has to say about his journey in becoming a web designer.

1. How did you get into web design considering your concentration in university was in Information Technology?

We did a few web projects at the end of my course but actually studied very little Web related subjects. I just started by making sites for friends and family.  People seemed to like them and design was a nice change after years of programming. I moved to London to get more experience. I started working for a little web design / coffee shop that was running out of a disused petrol station in Shepards bush. It was really nice when you got sick of coding and making coffee you could watch the homeless alcoholics have street fights outside.

2. When did you think to yourself “Hey, I can be a web designer?”

I think it was once I had a portfolio. It takes a while to build up enough work to feel confident and it’s tricky to get job with no proof of your experience. Also there was so many bad sites around when I started it wasn’t too hard to know I could do better.

3. How did your education from Griffith University help you to become a better web designer and developer?

I did some pretty fun subjects at Griffith. But I think the software engineering subjects, although they put me off programming a little, stopped from being such a dirty hacker. If I could only get the years I wasted on Macromedia director back.

4. What are your favorite tools to use when designer websites?

All I really use to build sites are Dreamweaver, Firefox and Photoshop. I love WordPress as a basic CMS at the moment.

5. How long have you been designing professionally and what advice would you give to someone just starting out as a web designer?

About 4 years. I guess don’t take your work for granted. Try to do things well and get paid for ALL the hours you work. It’s easy to do things for free when you are excited about web design but that is when you do your best work.

6. You also say that you are a web developer.  What languages do you script and code in and do you consider yourself a stronger designer or coder?

Well I have been doing more and more design. But I’m pretty good with PHP, JavaScript and of course HTML and CSS.

7. What are your plans in the next five years with respect to your career in web design and development?

I would like to create my own profitable web based business.

Kai Brach is a web designer originally from Saarbrücken, Germany now living in Melbourne, Australia. He has been designing for the last 10 years and first got into web design when he was 19 years old taking a part-time job as a junior web designer. As he became more established with web design and he eventually decided to take his passion for web design into a full-time profession. Kai is also putting together an eBook called “Love Freelancing” that is set to come out in 2010 showcasing some great web designers. He continues to work for companies both large and small and notes his experience working at Google headquarters as an “amazing” highlight of his career to date.

1. Kai, when did you first start freelancing as a web designer?

When I was around 19 I took a part-time job as a junior web designer at a company called netmedia in my home town in Germany. As I got more experienced and confident in my skills, I started doing smaller jobs for colleagues, friends and soon after clients. Most of the work was very basic and – compared to my clients today – not so professional. But the experience in dealing with projects and clients helped my organizational skills.

While I was travelling to Australia and Asia in 2002-2003, I kept working here and there on some designs projects and only in about 2005 made web design my full-time profession.

2. How did you first gain exposure to web design and what was possible in design?

As mentioned above, I think working within a company – even if it’s just part-time – is one of the best ways to gain experience and find encouragement to work on your design skills.

Putting your best pieces of work on your portfolio site is a no-brainer in order to be seen and get enquiries.

However, I think most of the exposure and praise I received did not come from client work, but more so from my personal projects. This is also where you try out new things and have complete freedom to go down different design alleys.

The problem with client work, even if you get creative freedom, is that most of the time you get another client right afterwards that wants “something very similar”. I find myself pigeonholed quite often, so personal projects help to break the pattern and give different styles a try.

3. In your “Love Freelancing” ebook that is coming out in 2010 what can people and web designers in general expect from this ebook?

Most of us web designers have “idols”, other people in the industry that we look up to and admire (and follow on Twitter). I’m very curious as to what their life and work environment looks like. How do they work? And what do they do to come up with such good work?

As freelancers we all share a similar lifestyle – working from home or a small office, sometimes getting up late, taking the dog for a walk and having a cup of tea before we get started on checking our emails.

With this ebook I want to show a more personal side of some of the top design freelancers. It’s kinda like a behind-the-scene-look. I will conduct over 20 individual interviews and show photos of people’s office set-up, their house or neighborhood etc. It’s gonna be a cute little ebook that reminds us of the privileges of being a freelancer.

4. How was the experience of working at Google?

Amazing! I was very lucky to get the opportunity to be involved in a project there (thanks to amiando.com) and saw how things work at the Google HQ in Mountainview. All the rumors that go around about the employee benefits and incredible work conditions – yep, they are all true!

Although it was just a 1 week experience, working with some of the folks at Google really opened my eyes in regards to professionalism and open mindedness. I’m certainly aware of some of the issues that come with such a mega-company, but they really understand how to foster creative knowledge and encourage new thinking.

At the same time, it wouldn’t be a company I would try to be employed by. As we all know from Douglas Bowman designers can have a hard time fighting the data driven ethos of the company.

5. I see that you’ve developed a number of projects including GoFreelancing.org and Ausmag.de.  Do you find that you have a personal interest in the projects you choose to develop? Also, what motivates you to design these projects?

Definitely. All of my side projects come from a personal interest in the subject matter. Back in 2004, when I was traveling more I was thinking about a community where people could meet, share blogs and photos easily and stay in touch with family and friends at home. That resulted in www.globalzoo.de – a German travel community with now 11,000+ members.

Ausmag.de was also an idea I had while I was traveling. There are numerous backpacker magazines in Australia that help independent travelers find hostels, tours and activities while they are on the road. I thought it would be great to have that kind of info before you get here. So I got in touch with the publishers and shortly after started selling magazine packages to people in Europe. They love the pre-departure info and I earn a few bucks. Last year I also wrote a 250-page ebook about my experience as a backpacker traveling and working in Australia which I now also sell on the site.

Since my move to Melbourne earlier this year I also write about my life in Down Under in my (German) blog www.australien-blogger.de. It’s a great way to stay in touch with Germany and share experiences as a migrant.

As a freelancer who loves his profession there is a lot to explore and talk about with others. That’s why I started things like www.gofreelance.org and www.lovefreelancing.com

6. Since you moved from Germany to Australia what is your favorite thing about your new home of Melbourne?

Australia is a great country. People take life less serious (which is something I still find hard to adapt to) and quality of life in general is higher than in many northern European countries, I believe. Melbourne in particular is a great city with lots of art, culture and creativity to explore (did you see the new Melbourne logo?

As most migrants-by-choice I keep comparing things with my home country a lot though. So there are definitely things I don’t particularly like about Melbourne or Australia (most businesses haven’t realized the potential of the web yet, environmental awareness is almost non-existent, there is very little urban history etc.)

The traveler that I am, I might just pack up my things and explore other cities or countries in a few years time – who knows. Actually, tomorrow I’m getting ready to fly off to New York for a 3 month stay over Christmas. Anybody wants to catch up and talk design over a coffee or so?