This got me thinking about something that I see a lot when I visit a web designer’s portfolio.  Their resume.  Now I understand that web designers use their portfolios and sites as a way to showcase what they can do, who they are, where they are in the world and what they know.

What surprises me is how easy it is to get a hold of a copy of a web designer’s resume.  A resume is a powerful tool in the right hands but should it be readily available to anyone with internet access or should it?

Show them some “leg” but not the whole leg

Some web designers currently prevent this issue by listing web design projects they’ve been working on with the skill sets and tools that they used to complete certain projects.  The good things about this is that it shows your skills specific to a project you worked on and makes you look like a rock star and it protects your identity a little bit more. Have a look at a few examples of this in action can be seen below…

But how can you have your resume online and collect information about the people downloading it?

Why not squeeze a name out of it?

In marketing, specifically web marketing there is a term called “Name Squeeze”. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? The idea behind a Name Squeeze is that you offer something in return, from a document or report in return for your potential customer’s name (and other details about them). The benefit is that you have the information about parties who are interested in what you are offering and have the ability to email market back to them. It’s the “happy medium” in terms of offering your resume for people to download.

Because your portfolio acts as a lead generator this is a technique that serves a propose while providing interested potential clients vital information about yourself, your skills and talents and past work experience. This is something that not a lot of web designers take advantage of but should consider when they design a portfolio of their web design work.

If someone is interested in your skills send them a copy of your resume

One option that is always available is for people to request your resume when they are interested in your web design skills.  This way you keep your information safe and sound and can stop unwanted people from contacting you about projects or jobs that you may not be interested in or have the skill set for.

Keeping your resume publically available as a web designer while it seems like a smart idea really depends on you, how you’ve designed your site or portfolio and what you are looking for in terms of employment or how you want to develop your business. Giving too much information to the general public comes with some risks that you should weigh when you think about adding your resume to your portfolio.

Dan Lindop is one half of the creative force behind SureFire Media. Dan originally started doing freelance work and has recently moved away from freelance web design to starting a company. He has been involved in many projects including working for .Net Magazine on various projects. His work speaks volumes about the skills that he has acquired since he started designing websites during university and has progressed ever since.

1. How did you first get started in Web Design? And did your education help you get there?

I first got started in web design during my year out at University. I was on a placement at a telecoms company and they got me to develop their first website. This was during the late 90s so a lot of businesses didn’t have sites. Thinking back, that first attempt wasn’t pretty but it got me into web design.

Practically all of the skills I use day-to-day have been self-taught. I didn’t really find my University course useful to be honest. I’ve always found that the best way to learn a new skill is to use it in a project situation. For example, I recently taught myself WordPress whilst producing a new company blog.

2. I see that you’ve had a lot of success designing websites for various clients in the past. What made you decide to join forces and create SureFire Media?

I started Surefire Media with a developer who I’ve worked with at another agency for years. It just so happens that we’re really good mates too, so it seemed like the natural thing to do. I’d built up a number of good contacts from my freelance work and was getting a lot of new work in, so the time was right to take the next step really.

3. Do you still take on freelance web design work outside of Surefire Media?

No. As co-director of Surefire, I bring all of my freelance leads into the company now.

4. What are you in charge of at Surefire Media?

As we’re a small, young company, I’m in charge of all sorts of things from new business, to accounts, marketing and so on. My actual job role is mainly front-end design and development and online marketing. Andy Johnston, my business partner, takes care of back-end development work and technical jobs such as server management.

One of the things I like about running my own business is that you get to have a hand in everything from initial client meetings to delivery of the final projects. It’s a good feeling knowing you get to make all of the important decisions about your business. So if things go wrong, you’ve only got yourself to blame. You don’t get that working for someone else.

5. How did you get involved with .Net Magazine’s Build Off?

I was approached by the deputy editor and asked if I’d be interested in contributing to the feature. I jumped at the chance as it’s a great magazine and good publicity for me too.

6. What inspires you to design the website that you do?

Every website is different really. At the end of the day, a good design is one that solves a problem for the client or one that communicates their message successfully. With this in mind, the clients themselves inform the design to a certain extent.

As far as design inspiration goes, there are a lot of good designers out there producing some great work. The important thing for me is to keep getting better and producing better work. It’s a good feeling when you put a design together that you’re really happy with or that the client loves.

7. How do you usually price your projects for new clients? And do you have a different way of pricing ongoing projects?

We keep our pricing structure quite simple. Basically, we have an hourly rate for all of our work. When we’re quoting on a project, we work out how long we think it’s going to take us and then apply the hourly rate. We find this works pretty well most of the time. As we’ve built a lot of sites over the years, we’ve got a good idea of how long jobs are going to take.

8. Outside of designing some amazing websites what else do you like to do with your time?

Lots of stuff! I like going to watch live bands, going to the cinema, reading, watching Crewe Alex (even though they’re awful), going out for a few drinks with my friends… Like most people, I don’t get as much spare time as I’d like though.

9. Do you listen to music or do anything to charge the creative juices when you are sitting down to design?

Yeah. I pretty much always have the radio on or iTunes. One of the good things about working from home is that you can listen to whatever you like whenever you like.

Luc Arnold

founder

SpicyWebDesigners.com

Saeid Mohadjer is a web designer from Vancouver, British Columbia. As a Canadian web designer Saeid has established himself as a strong, independent and knowledgeable source when it comes to web design. Originally from Tehran, Iran and working as a multimedia design, Saeid eventually moved to Canada in 2005 and has been designing websites for the past 10 years.

1. Where did you start your web design career? As a freelancer, an employee or something else?

I started around 10 years ago back in Tehran, Iran where I worked as a freelance multimedia designer and 3D animator. I never worked as an employee in Iran partly because the salaries weren’t that exciting back then and partly because there weren’t too many companies around that I wished to work for. After three years of freelancing, I moved to Germany where I worked for another three years as 3D animator in computer game industry and finally moved to Seattle in 2004 and immigrated to Canada in 2005.

2. Is there a tool you use for designing websites that you cannot live without?

For coding there isn’t really any tool that I can’t live without, though Firefox Web developer toolbar and HTML-Kit (both free to download) come close. HTML-Kit allows validating inside the editor as well as comparing Firefox and IE renderings side by side which are neat features. For design, Adobe Creative Suite is all that I use. Some other tools that I like and use often are CutePDFWriter, Basecamp, and Filezilla.

3. Do you follow compliant CSS and XHTML design standards?

Definitely. I’m a big fan of W3C standards and always validate my markup and CSS both during the development and before the final delivery. I try to avoid CSS hacks and keep the markup semantic, though it’s not always easy or even possible. I also offer free lifetime warranty with the Websites that I build, so by following Web standards in a way I’m saving my own neck as it’s less likely that future versions of browsers will break the Website.

4. If you could tell a potential client that may be reading this interview what your pricing is like for projects what would you tell them?

I estimate the number of hours it will take me to complete the project and then multiply it by my hourly rate which provides me with a figure that I refer to as the raw quote. To make the raw quote as accurate as possible I make sure there is nothing about the project that is not crystal clear to me. After I have the raw quote, I go over a list of things that could affect the price and adjust the quote accordingly before submitting the final quote to client. For example the timeline available for project can affect the cost, the tighter it is, the more expensive it gets and vice versa. Also how interesting the project is to me, does it have any educational benefit, can I reuse the code I write in future, have I worked with client in the past or not, etc. All these can have an effect on the final quote.

5. How did you get involved in designing Panago Pizza’s website? And what challenges did you face designing a website for an established brand like Panago Pizza?

I was only involved in Flash development of Panago’s Website. A friend of mine knew the creative director at Mercer Group which does all the branding and design for Panago and recommended me when they needed help to build the Website. One challenge was that we had to build the Website based on InDesign mockups rather than Photoshop or Illustrator mocks. The lack of pixel measurements in InDesign was frustrating at first and we had to follow a tedious process to reproduce the mocks in Flash that involved grabbing screenshots from InDesign, taking them into Photoshop for resizing, and then dropping them in Flash as semi-transparent layers so we could follow the kerning and placements accurately. Also integrating Google map into Flash was challenging since Google had not released their GMap API for Flash at the time.

6. What are the most important aspects of a web design project to you?

It depends on the project, for example search engine optimization may be an important aspect of one project and not even considered in another project. It’s very important to know the users of the Website nevertheless. Perhaps what matters most to me is how useful a website is to the end user and how does a user emotionally respond to the Website. I try to consider these in every step of the design process. One thing I avoid doing is to compromise the usability of a Website for pure aesthetic reasons. I read this quote once somewhere that said “don’t make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don’t hesitate to make it beautiful”. I think that quote sums up my approach to Web design pretty good.

7. What type of educational background do you have and did it help you get into web design?

I don’t have any academic education in web design or related fields. Most of what I learn comes from everyday experiences, books, magazines, DVDs, and online resources. I visit Vancouver library almost once a week and check out galleries or art exhibitions regularly. I just returned from Paris where I spent a month visiting the various galleries and museums. Studying the work of people whom I admire not only is a source of inspiration for me, but also helps me to educate myself.

8. Do you like listening to music when you are designing websites? If so, what do you find yourself listening to lately?

I don’t listen to music when coding, but when sketching or creating mockups I don’t mind listening to some music to get the creative juices flowing. I don’t have time to follow the music industry closely and most of the stuff I listen to are pretty old. I like listening to jazz or classic music too as they are not as distracting as the music with lyrics.

9. I see that your portfolio lists a lot of agency work. Do you work with agencies exclusively? Or do you accept new clients?

I accept new clients, but my clients are mostly design or interactive agencies. There are advantages in working with agencies such as one can count on continued supply of work and the opportunity to work on diverse projects. Also, I prefer to spend my time on design and development rather than looking for clients. Establishing good working relation with couple of agencies means no more wasting time looking for clients.

10. What are your future plans for your web design business?

Future doesn’t usually unroll according to my plans, so I think it would be wise to skip this question.

11. How long have you been building websites?

Off and on I would say ten years, but it’s only the last four years that I’ve focused solely on Web design and development.

More about this Web Designer

URL: SaeidMohadjer.com

Email/Contact: saeid@fastmail.fm

Phone: (+1) 604 683 9665

Skype: (+1) 646 797 3163

]]> http://www.spicywebdesigners.com/174/spicy-web-designer-interview-with-saeid-mohadjer/feed/ 0 http://www.spicywebdesigners.com/154/spicy-web-designer-interview-with-claudia-adler/ http://www.spicywebdesigners.com/154/spicy-web-designer-interview-with-claudia-adler/#comments Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:35:55 +0000 Luc http://spicywebdesigners.com/?p=154

Claudia Adler is a web designer from Montreal West Island, Quebec Canada who we recently interviewed. She is a designer that uses WC3 standards to develop and build some exceptional websites but also does print design as well as web design. After interviewing she had the following to say about web design…

1) What is the most exciting web project you’ve ever worked on?

The most exciting web project I’ve worked on is Powerwatts. It is the product of a very fruitful collaboration with a group of bike racing Pros. They were completely open to my suggestions concerning design, development and SEO which allowed me to use technology that I felt worked best i.e. DomScripting for the Header animation rather than Flash, collapsible and tabbed panels and a WP-blog ….

We just launched the site in August.

2) Do you find a lot of your clients who’ve had a bad experience hiring a web designer before? How do you deal with that when the topic comes up in conversation with a potential client?

Actually I only had one client having a hard time with the web team they hired from India. They felt that they were not getting what they wanted, a communication problem working with a large team.

But there is always 2 sides to a problem, I try to be diplomatic when it comes to work of other designers. But information is key, I try to supply as much as possible so that the client has everything in hand to take their own decision, no pressure.

3) How did you first start in web design?

I started as a graphic designer working for a large international consumer products company in Montreal, when they were sold and moved to Toronto we all got compensation and I went back to school to learn web programming.

4) Where did you go to school and did that influence your choice to become a web designer?

When I first studied Graphic Design at University of Quebec in Montreal in 1990 there was not much going on in web design, things started to happen a bit later when connection speed picked up and browsers were able to display formatted pages.

In the early days web design was excessively ugly. As a graphic designer I got interested when Flash came out because it allowed you to actually “design” a web page.

When I went back to school in 2002 I wanted to catch up with the technical aspect of web coding, I like to know how things work, WYSIWYG was out of the question for me. I like to use Dreamweaver to spead up the process but write my own code.

So I went for the real deal JavaScript, XML, PHP, HTML, CSS. With the web you never stop learning I am upgrading my skills constantly.

5) Are you working on any interesting web design projects at the moment?

Yes, but its to early to talk about it.

6) Do you have any other creative talents that you like to pursue outside of designing websites?

Mostly photography, I carry my camera with me all the time. I sold a few images and some of my photos are used in web sites I created. I also like to draw and paint but rarely have time.

7) Have you ever worked with a creative agency on web design projects?

I used to work for IATA as a senior graphic designer and HTML specialist, I created HTML email campaigns and Flash animation. When we got “restructured” I decided it was time to go solo as I had enough background to do design and coding.

How do you usually become involved with new web design projects? Word of Mouth? Agency? Advertising? Etc.?

It may be luck but usually clients find me via the web or word of mouth.

In the beginning I bid on projects on GAF (Get a Freelancer) and GAC (Get a Coder), occasionally I still do. I also design for print. Being versatile definitely is a plus. Many of my clients come to me because I offer both, print and web design.

More about this Web Designer

URL: ClaudiaAdler.com

Email: info@claudiaadler.com

Phone: Not Available

I had a chance to ask Chris Dawson, a web designer who runs tall hat designs in the UK some questions about the web design work that he does on a daily basis for his clients.

1) How did your career in Web Design start?

1993. I started out creating corporate presentations using (Macromind!) Director for a large marketing agency in the UK. Most of these presentations were used in major pitches to top corporate clients so a lot of design effort went into them. Soon the clients themselves were asking for our services so we began creating external presentations, and then moved onto CD-Rom presentations. On the side we also created little Director games, and a couple of clients allowed us to develop these further to use in marketing.

Microsoft (UK) was a marketing client of the agency and we ended up working with them producing some of their very early web stuff (before even Internet Explorer existed – they had a walled garden proprietary system at the very beginning). I worked on one of the very first Microsoft UK homepages. In 1996 we worked with Microsoft on the Euro 96 soccer website which at the time was the biggest European website; that opened a few doors. Slowly the technology and the industry developed and we grew into a separate web agency.

Flash was pretty straightforward to pick up after using Director for years, so the late 1990s meant we got involved with some nice web marketing work for some big clients such as Guinness.

In 2001 I left the agency and started tallhatDesign as a web design consultancy; I still do agency work, but now work with small businesses too which is a nice mix. It means I get to work on projects with, say, the BBC, but also design a brand and site for a small local business.

2) Did you go to College/University and what did you study?

Coventry University in the UK. I studied Graphic Design at degree level and in the 3^rd year specialized in ‘screen design’ which meant I did video work and some interactive Director stuff. The best thing about the course was that it wasn’t geared towards teaching software or design techniques. It was an old school ‘design is communication’ approach which is really important because over the years technologies change dramatically, but that basic approach will always remain the same.

3) What are some of your favorite tools when it comes to Web Design?

Probably the standard stuff – Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, Textwrangler, Dreamweaver. I’m interested to see how things like Flex and Thermo pan out.

4) What advice would you have for Web Designers just starting out in the industry?

Create a portfolio of work that you’re proud of. It doesn’t need to be leading edge technically. Keep things simple, but if you’re a designer then you need to show you can communicate a message. Pretty imagery is all well and good, but it’s only part of the equation. It doesn’t matter if initially some of the work is ‘personal’ but set yourself a realistic brief to get the ball rolling. Talk to the local design agencies and let them know how you’re developing. Be honest about what your strengths and weaknesses are. If you have to start off bashing out JPGs for an agency then so be it; be patient and keep learning; persevere.

5) What are your favorite Web Design sites that you follow?

I don’t religiously follow web design sites. I find they tend to regurgitate a lot. Most of my influence comes from everyday design, offline and online. Designing ‘for’ design awards and other designers isn’t really my approach; I always work with the client to deliver a business advantage. A lot of the ‘inspiration’ sites and blogs don’t really focus on the important issues – there’s some lovely looking work on them, but it’s quite often let down in terms of the overall interactive process or usability. Sometimes this sort of work becomes too tied up with pushing the tech boundaries for the sake of it, at the expense of the user. A lots of designers and developers forget that many real world users have machines and browsers that are 3, 4, 5 years old and their silky smooth flash interfaces actually end up perceived as clunky and over-engineered indulgences.

6) What web design project are you working on right now?

A few. Main ones are…

i) Early stages in a very interesting ecommerce site which will involve branding right through to delivery. It’s going to have a very funky interface.

ii) A ski chalet site (the whole bag).

iii) A publishing association site (front end).

7) Do you work with local, national or international web design clients?

All sorts; I work with large corporate clients, but also get to do lower key local startups. I like the mix. I’ve worked internationally fairly often too – for an Australian agency and a couple of clients in the States. I once had to translate a game I’d done into Hungarian and Dutch which was interesting! I generally like to meet who I’m working for, but it’s not always essential.

More about this Web Designer

URL: Tall Hat Design

Email: See Website

Phone: +44 (0) 1225 445505

What is Woo Themes?

Woo Themes is a premium WordPress Theme shop where buyers can come and get the latest Premium WordPress Themes for your website created by Elliot Jay Stocks, Adii, Magnus Jepson and Mark Forrester.

What do you get?

You get the choice of 3 different options…

1. Single License – This is good for when you know exactly which theme you want to buy
2. Developer License – This is good if you are a web developer that is looking to use a theme on multiple web projects
3. Club Membership – This starts at $150 and allows you access to all the themes that Woo Themes offers

WooThemes promises a minimum of one theme per month to be added to their site available to download and buy so if you are looking for a new theme for your WordPress website.

Elliot Jay Stocks

1. How did you get into Web Design?

I took a year out between school and university and set up a small record label with some local bands. I handled the artwork for the compilation CD we released, and when we needed a website, I was the one who ended up doing that, too. It all went from there, really.

2. How long have you been building Websites?

Since then, which was in 2001, when I was 19. I then went to uni and dabbled in web design a bit more, until I was majoring in ‘digital media’ by the third year. At the same time, I’d begun freelancing and designing sites for friends’ bands. By the time I left uni I’d built up a fairly substantial portfolio, which landed me a job at EMI Records.

3. Outside of designing for the web do you have any other creative passions?

Absolutely. In fact, web design is only my latest creative passion, really. I drew from a very young age, and I was pretty sure I was going to go into illustration as a career until I went to uni. I wrote and illustrated comic books, which I’d really like to get back into one day. Writing’s always been a big thing for me and right not I’m writing a book about web design. But I’m also planning a fictional book at some point. Also, I’m a musician, although on a very part-time basis. I’ve self-released a couple of albums, which you can find on iTunes. Just search for ‘Sourhaze’, which is my band name.

4. Do you think the Web Design industry has received a bad reputation from designers who over promise and under deliver?

Those designers are certainly out there, and there are a lot of them, but I don’t think they’ve damaged the industry, really. The success of the industry is dictated by the professional designers.

5. What inspires you to design the way that you do?

I like making things that are pleasant to look at. In a way, it all just comes down to that. As for my own style, I always try and do something a bit out of the norm… although I don’t always succeed! I think a lot of my stuff has been inspired by nature, stylistically.

6. Do you listen to a certain type of music when you design websites?

Not any one particular kind, no. I’m into all sorts of music, and although my personal tastes often lean towards Metal and Rock in general, I usually put on some decent, fast-paced electronica when the deadlines loom!

7. What are you working on now?

I’m creating Photoshop mockups for a usability company’s new website, designing a template that will ship with a fairly major web-authoring application, writing a speech for an event I’m doing next week, and drafting the initial parts of my book.

8. Who do you look up to?

Miguel Ripoll is probably my favourite web designer. I think he creates truly beautiful, out-of-the-ordinary work. John Boardley, who runs ilovetypography.com, also gets my respect, for the typography gems he finds and publishes every week. Outside of the web, my favourite artist is Alphonse Mucha from the Art Nouveau movement, and I’m currently in love with the work of comic book writer / illustrator Jonathan Hickman.

9. Where do you see yourself when you retire?

Living comfortably but still creating lots of stuff purely for the fun of it.

10. Tell us something that we don’t know about you

I used to print up my hand-made comic books at (comic book illustrator and Doctor Who concept artist) Bryan Hitch’s house, when he lived round the corner from me.

Check out some of his latest work by clicking here.