Website Inspiration Blog | SpicyWebDesigners.com by Luc Arnold

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!

Travis Isaacs is a web designer from Dallas, Texas in the United States. He started designing back in 2000 when he took his first HTML class and since then he has become passionate about the “user experience”. Travis graduated from the School of Telecommunications at Indiana University taking a broad range of courses. He also designs currently for the iPhone as well and has designed user interfaces specific to his clients needs.

1. How did you originally start designing websites?

I’ve always been artistic – sketching, drawing, and painting, so the idea of creating art with a computer was a natural fascination. Long story short, a friend loaned me a copy of the program called Photoshop (I think it was version 5) and I spent my senior year planted at my computer trying to figure it out. I spent months making really ugly, cliche graphics using every filter in Photoshop. I thought I was making masterpieces.

Fast forward to college – I took my first HTML class my sophomore year and the rest is history, so to speak.

2. We did you start designing websites?

Around 2000 in my first HTML class. The final for the class was to get a real client and get them to pay you money to build a real website. The site I built isn’t around anymore but trust me, it was awful.

3. On your site you refer to yourself as a “Visual and Interaction Designer”. Why do you call yourself that and what does that involve?

I use that title rather than “web designer” because I don’t want to limit myself to just web interfaces. I’ve designed interfaces and experiences for the web, mobile devices, Television apps, etc.

Interaction design is about focusing on the behavior of a product or interface – specifically how people interact with it. Broad definition right? Interaction design isn’t about how something looks necessarily, but how it acts, and reacts. I really love focusing in on the nuts and bolts in regards to how people will use a specific widget or functionality.

4. I also see how much you stress the “User Experience” aspect of design.  What do you feel makes the “User Experience” successful on a web project?

Success means that your project delights the people who use it. They achieve their goals and feel empowered, not helpless and stupid.

5. I also see that you’ve designed for the iPhone. How did you originally become involved in this area of design and what is specific to designing for the mobile user?

I worked on 2 great mobile projects while working in the User Experience group at Sabre Travel Network. One project was a standard mobile site, and the other was an iPhone specific site for Travelocity.com.

Designing for the mobile web can be really tricky, and in some ways more difficult than designing for the desktop web because there are so many platforms, screen sizes, and capabilities. Aside from the device considerations, you must factor in the context of the user. Are you building a site that they’ll use on the train ride to work or running through the airport terminal because they are trying to make their flight?

Generally speaking, you want to think light when designing for mobile. That means minimizing the amount of images you use keeping your HTTP requests down to as few as possible.

6. Where did you study (College/University/Other)?  How has this experience helped you in your career?

I graduated from the School of Telecommunications at Indiana University. At the time there were many “multimedia” classes spanning everything from audio recording, video post-production, and web design, but no formal curriculum or track so I took just about every class I could, including a few graduate level courses.

I don’t use a lot of what I learned in school today simply because the technology changes so quickly, but my time in college gave me solid foundation that I’ve built my career on. There are a lot of intangible things that you learn at school that help you become a professional later, no matter what you study.

7. What web technologies do you use on a regular basis?

XHTML, CSS, and a bit of JavaScript. I try to build everything as clean as possible, but I am no means a “Standards Nazi”. I also really love the YUI JavaScript library.

8. What is the biggest challenge you face as a web designer?

Staying current. The technology a moving a target, and things like the social web and constantly-connected mobile devices have drastically change the way people use the web. You can’t get too comfy because you’ll go stale!

Ramiro Galan is a Web Designer and Art Director from McKinney, Texas in the United States of America. He’s been designing for the web for the past 6 years and is currently an Art Director. He graduated from the Art Institute of Dallas with a BFA in Interactive Multimedia Design. He has worked for a wide array of companies including Dell, SouthWest Airlines, and Verizon just to name a few.

1. How did you first start designing websites?

I started doing print work and eventually as the demand for web went up so did my work in that medium.

2. When did you first start designing for the web?

Around 5 – 6 years ago.

3. In your role as an Art Director how does this defer from simply being a web designer?

It’s definitely a lot more pressure because the team depends on you to establish a vision that is solid for projects and also communicate that to the rest of the design team and ensure everyone else is on par. The pressure is higher but so are the rewards.

4. What are the most important web technologies that you use on an ongoing basis?

I used to be a huge fan of flash, and still am, but have found that with JavaScript and AJAX many things that were once done in flash can now be executed with those technologies and also be friendlier to update and not take as long in loading. Also, Photoshop, It is such a deep and powerful program that if you get to know it well enough, nothing else really compares.

5. What is the biggest challenge that you face designing for the web?

Innovation and a seamless user experience is always at the top of my list for any projects I do. You want something that is simple and engaging yet not do something that is typical or over done.

6. On your site you speak about “User Centered Design”.  What do you feel is great user centered design and how do you work to achieve it?

Great user centered design is when point A to B is attainable with as few clicks as possible, all the while providing a seamless and engaging experience that will encourage the visitor to come again.

7. How do you strive to achieve a cohesive design experience for your clients? What is involved in the initial steps of the planning process when you begin a new project?

With all projects, even small ones, I try and take a list of important needs of the clients as well as goals for the project. Based off of that I can begin establishing important components, information and other items to feature into my design.

Jen Germann is a web designer, coder and dog trainer from Austin, Texas in the United States of America. She got her first taste of web design in 1999 when she worked for a university admissions office and she had an interest in helping produce some of the HTML they needed at the time. With her education in English and Medieval & Renaissance Studies (a double major) she says this prepared her for the research skills she needed to stay on top and become a gifted web designer and coder.

1. How did you first get started in web design?

In 1999, I worked for a university admissions office and we had little or no online presence. I think there were a few text pages up, but that was it. So essentially I fell into web design because no one else in my office had the time or interest in doing it. I took an HTML class and loved it. It was the first time I had fun at work. I had always liked making things, I always loved learning new computer stuff and I happened to have a few extra hours to work on it. It’s one of the few times in my life I can point to and say Providence stepped in and pushed me in a certain direction.

2. When did you design your first website?

So, same year, same job, I built what, at the time, seemed like a really great site: table-based, inline styling, the works. I still have it, but trust me it’s hidden away in the darkest corners of my computer. I look at it whenever I need a lesson in humility.

3. On your site you mention that you do the graphic work as well as the “coding”.  When you say coding do you mean coding related to the front-end design of websites using CSS, XHTML, JavaScript, etc?

Yes. Many better writers than I, have blogged that web designers should write their own code (i.e.: David Heinemeier Hansson at 37Signals: http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1066-web-designers-should-do-their-own-htmlcss) and it’s so true. I like to code what I design, and I take as much pride in my XHTML+CSS as I do in my design. I’ve tried to learn a bit about all aspects of web development, but that’s not to say I’m a good programmer. I write all my own XHTML+CSS from scratch (with some help from Eric Meyer: http://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2007/05/01/reset-reloaded/) and as for JavaScript or PHP or whatever, I know enough to be able to collaborate with developers and programmers. If I can find a script that works fairly closely to what I need, I can adapt that script for for what I need. But I’m not good at writing scripts or functions from scratch. I’m even trying to write my own Ruby on Rails app, mostly just to figure out what RoR is, but I might turn that over to an RoR guru pretty soon.

4. You mention that you are a dog trainer as well.  Is that something unique or quirky that you just wanted to add so that people remember you?

Well, it is a bit of that (I do answer dog questions people send me). But it also speaks to my thought that manipulating basic animal behavior is not completely unlike guiding basic user behavior.

My tagline – “I create simple, intuitive solutions that deliver rewarding experiences.”

– It rings true in either case.

My job is to break down a complex idea, whether it’s the “Roll over” command or an interface for a real estate site, and present it in its simplest, most easy-to-use form. Basically, it’s all about decreasing the learning curve. For dog training, that means breaking down the “Roll over” command into simple steps the dog can earn a reward for performing until finally he does the whole trick. For web interface design, it’s presenting the information on the page in a way that it is intuitively easy to find, easy to navigate, and ultimately easy to take the action the user originally came to the site to do.

The big difference in dog training is the “client” is less likely to complain that he doesn’t like that green because his first car was green and it broke down on the highway in the pouring rain.

5. Has your educational background helped you in your career as a web designer?

Not directly. I was an English and Medieval & Renaissance Studies double major in college. I gained research skills from that experience, but my design training has been on-the-job. I worked in print design for a number of years and was very fortunate to work with a couple of talented designers who were so generous with their design knowledge and advice. Almost all of my coding skills has been self-taught, either through books, blogs or trial and error.

6. How do you usually price out your web design projects?

That’s the $64 question, isn’t it? Two years of working as a freelance web designer and I do not have a set method I use for every sing client. About 85% of my project load is contract work for one client, so we have a set hourly agreement and I invoice monthly for that. For other clients, I am trying a set project price, where I break down a separate price for design, coding and WordPress integration. Hourly rates seemed to scare people off. But I’ll let you know how this goes.

7. When did you first know that web design was something that really interested you?

For many years I worked primarily as a print designer. I started thinking web design was for me when I would get a project back from the printer, opening up the first page, and right there would be a big typo. I love print design because I know how it’s going to look for every person who uses that material, but web design is much more flexible and fluid and reaches such a huge audience. You constantly have to learn and improve your skills to stay ahead of the game.

8. Do you network with other web designers in your area or online that you can learn from and exchange ideas and tips with?

I do. Plus, I follow a crowd of hot designers and coders on twitter, and some nice folks featured my site in their galleries so I’ve met a lot of people that way. I think that’s one of the hardest parts about freelancing: staying connected so I don’t feel like an island.