Webia: Who are you and what do you do? Tell us something about yourself.
Bartosz: My name is Bartosz Sulkowski - know as Tweex, 21 year old graphic designer from Poland. Currently I'm studying Computer Graphic and DTP at the WSTI University in Warsaw. In future I would like to work as a graphic designer.

Webia: Describe your design style.
Bartosz: Delicate and clear but it depends what the client wants.

Webia: What is your specialization (Flash / XHTML / PHP / Graphic Design etc)? Why have you chosen this particular domain.
Bartosz: Mainly graphic design but I know XHTML, CSS, PHP, SQL (and currently I'm trying to learn Flash). I chosen graphic design because I just love this.

Webia: What is more crucial in design - professional look or usability?
Bartosz: I think both, but usability is probably more important.

Webia: What are the three things any web designer (freelancer) should know?
Bartosz: It's my closely-guarded secret [smiles].

Webia: What sort of attention has your online portfolio brought you? Would you say it's profitable to have one if you're a web designer?
Bartosz: I thing that online portfolio gives a lot - mainly new customers. Would I say it's profitable to have one? YES! [smiles].

Webia: What is your favorite software? What would be the ideal web graphic design software? What software couldn't you live without?
Bartosz: I would lie if I don't say - Photoshop. But I like GIMP (or GimpShop). Ideal web graphic design software? Software with good quality - but I think that right now Photoshop/GIMP is very good and it's that kind of software I couldn't live without.

Webia: What do you think about web 2.0?
Bartosz: Magic name of current Internet style - but in my opinion it's nothing new.

Webia: What is the first graphic software you ever used?
Bartosz: Let me think... Probably MSPaint - I was 8 year old [laughs].

Webia: How did your very first project look like?
Bartosz: I really don't remember.

Webia: Do you have any information or career advice to offer to our reading audience?
Bartosz: Just one... Always develop your skills.

This was Bartosz Sulkowski, owner of tweex.org. Thank you for your time Tweex.

Webia: Who are you and what do you do? Tell us something about yourself.
Steven: My name is Steven Hylands, a 21 year old multimedia designer from Northern Ireland currently operating on a freelance basis. I am passionate about many types of design.

Webia: What designs do you like the most and why? Describe your design style.
Steven: I enjoy visually appealing accessible websites. My style is to combine unique creative imagery with clean standards based design.

Webia: Of your favorite hobbies, which one has a chance of eclipsing your web design career and why?
Steven: Well I have a keen interest in creative writing and film production, an avenue I would love to explore in the future. However currently I am all about design.

Webia: What is your specialization (Flash / XHTML / PHP / Graphic Design etc)? Why have you chosen this particular domain.
Steven: All aspects of graphic design, to keep things interesting I never pigeon hole myself to any specific section of design, I enjoy everything from web/print to illustration and animation.

Webia: What is more crucial in design - professional look or usability?
Steven: A combination of both but usability must always come first.

Webia: What are the three things any web designer (freelancer) should know?
Steven: Market yourself; get your name known as a quality designer. Develop a unique identity, something to really stand out from the crowd, never be afraid to be different. Always be on the lookout for talented people to work who will push your skills further.

Webia: What sort of attention has your online portfolio brought you? Would you say it's profitable to have one if you're a web designer?
Steven: My current design portfolio has been a great platform to advertise myself from. An eye catching portfolio can be extremely helpful to any designer looking for work.

Webia: What is your favorite software? What would be the ideal web graphic design software? What software couldn't you live without?
Steven: Currently I am in love with Adobe Illustrator, clean vectors are very important in modern design. However I couldn't live without Photoshop, it plays a part in almost every project.

Webia: Where do you see the development of your business? Any future projects in mind?
Steven: I'd love to push my work further away from standard web design and create more unique concepts featuring illustration.

Webia: What do you think about web 2.0?
Steven: Generally I think a lot of sites these days that use the web2.0 style turn out badly. However I feel a lot of the ideas of web2.0 are great and some sites really show off what web design should be.

Webia: What is the first graphic software you ever used?
Steven: Adobe Photoshop

Webia: How did your very first project look like?
Steven: A total mess, but I didn't give up!

Webia: Do you have any information or career advice to offer to our reading audience?
Steven: Never stop developing your skill set.

Thank you for your time Steven! This was Steven Hylands owner of Shylands.com.

Well, I am a 32 year old website designer / developer living in the northern tip of Michigan's lower peninsula. I've been creating websites and working with the web since 2001. Prior to working on the web I received a bachelor degree in "Plastics Engineering" from Ferris State University, and was working as a project engineer for a tier 1 automotive parts supplier, in the suburbs of Detroit. In 1999, a diving accident left me paralyzed (C5/C6 quadriplegic) from the chest down. Soon after the accident, I returned to my hometown and spent most of my spare time on the web.

After learning to create websites via the internet, I created a couple for some non-profit organizations and a few personal ones. Through word-of-mouth, the business took off and I started MCG Web Development as a sole-proprietor in 2001.

I incorporated the business in 2005, and now work full time at it from my home based office.

What designs do you like the most and why? Describe your design style.

I like all kinds of styles really. From grunge to minimalist. However, most of my designs are kind of customer driven. Personally, I prefer creating sites that are clean looking, accessible and fast loading. Having spent many years on a dial-up connection, with poor phone lines to boot, I know what is like to wait and wait for a site to load. So, I still design my sites to be dial-up friendly whenever possible.

Of your favorite hobbies, which one has a chance of eclipsing your web design career and why?

I doubt any. I don't know many people willing to pay me to watch movies and sports, spending time with my family, friends or my Airedales (dogs). Maybe playing blackjack, but that's always a crap shoot.

What is your specialization (Flash / XHTML / PHP etc)? Why have you chosen this particular domain.

I'd have to say using "Web Standards" and "Table less Designs" with XHTML/CSS. I choose this because it has so many benefits (SEO, Accessibility, Usability, Fast Loading, Easier Site Wide Updates, etc).

Don`t you think flash is disadvantaged because in most cases it requires high speed internet?

Yes, but that is not the only reason. If not done right, Flash sites have all kinds of issues with accessibility, usability, search engines crawling them, etc. Personally I believe Flash should be used sparingly to enhance a site, not be its focal point.

What is more crucial in design - professional look or usability?

Definitely usability, but a site's "look" can also be really important. If a visitor is unable to get the information (or buy the product) they came to the site for, then the site failed them. Regardless how the site "looks", I doubt that visitor will look favorably upon that business, or ever return to that site.

What are the three things any web designer (freelancer) should know?

• 1 Try to avoid cheap customers. This is hard at first but you will be better off without them. Trust me.
• 2 Treat the customer good no matter how bad they are to work for. Existing customers are the best way to get new work (AKA: word-of-mouth).
• 3 Never stop honing your craft. The web continues to evolve, so you should too.

What sort of attention has your online portfolio brought you? Would you say it's profitable to have one if you're a web designer?

Not sure about the attention but I definitely recommend every designer have one. I find most potential customers will browse through your portfolio prior to contacting you regarding a new project.

What is your favorite software? What would be the ideal web graphic design software? What software couldn't you live without?

PhotoShop. PhotoShop. PhotoShop.

Where do you see the development of your business? Any future projects in mind?

None in the near future as I'm currently too busy with my current workload. However, I plan to offer my customers open-source blogs and content management systems that have already been pre-configured, so little customization is needed.

Thus they get a great looking and functional website which they can maintain at a reduced cost with a fast turnaround time.

What do you think about web 2.0?

I think we will see a very steadily increase in popularity with advanced sites like online banking and other sites that store your personal information. However, I do not see it greatly affecting the majority of informational type sites anytime soon due to its cost of development.

What is the first graphic software you ever used?

Probably Windows Paint (how sad is that). I also used the free IrfanView (I actually still use it sometimes to make FavIcons).

How did your very first project look like?

My first real project turned out really well considering I was using MS FrontPage at the time. Of course it had a table based layout, a scrolling marquee and probably a few other features that are frowned upon now.

Do you have any information or career advice to offer to our reading audience?

One thing I learned is not to provide every potential customer with a free mock-up. It's OK if you already received the job, but many projects never see the light of day or are awarded to a low-ball bid. Often the mock-ups are even given to other bidders! If a mock-up is required for a bid, make sure your compensated for your time.

Thank you Matthew, we appreciate a lot you spent dome of your time to talk to us.

My name is P.J. Onori and I am a design technologist - in other words, I am a hybrid designer/developer for the web medium. By spending so much time sitting on the fence of both worlds, I have really come to appreciate the importance for both the visual and the functional. Because of that, I have lately taken a deep interest in user experience design - something that is not particularly pervasive in my current portfolio.

What is your specialization (Flash / XHTML / PHP / SEO etc)? Why have you chosen this particular domain.

At this point, I would have to say that Flash/Actionscript is my technical area of expertise. I have recently been working in Flex as well. However, running your own blog really forces you to expand you horizons in order to bring more visitors to your site. I have begun to study up quite a bit on SEO and put a lot of thought into community-building techniques which definitely falls closer to the realm of where my current interests are.

Of your favorite hobbies, which one has a chance of eclipsing your web design career and why?

I have a huge passion for photography, more specifically manual film photography. I hold this dream that my photography will improve to the point to where I could make a living on it. I feel that dream subconsciously drives me to go out so often to take photos.

Don`t you think flash is disadvantaged because in most cases it requires high speed internet?

Less and less everyday. Additionally, I think that question may be better suited for high-end Javascript front-end programmers. Many of the Javascript libraries nowadays are 50 to 100 Kb alone. I have developed high-end Flash video players that were in the range of 40 to 50 Kb. Many very poorly crafted flash sites/applications created a very bad reputation for Flash as being heavy in terms of file size, but a good Flash app is going to be very small with a more on-demand model for requesting assets. I think there are many reasons to refrain from Flash, but I'm not so sure that file size is one of them.

I think a lot of it depends on who your target audience is, although I would strongly lean towards usability. If you look at the big winners on the internet (Google, Craigslist, Amazon and most recently YouTube) their UI visual design ranges from uninspired to sub-par. However, each of these sites could be used as a model for making the user's experience through the site very easy. My philosophy is that the 'needs' of the audience should be met before their 'wants' are.

What sort of attention has your online portfolio brought you? Would you say it's profitable to have one if you're a web designer / web development company?

Actually, the articles on my blog have been a much greater attention-getter than my portfolio. I really do feel many people, including myself, are just as interested in the thought-process of a designer as they are the final designs. Just because someone can create visually aesthetic work does not automatically translate into successful designs. Showing that you can think both critically and creatively is just as important if not more.

Where do you see the development of your business? Any future projects in mind?

I personally would like to move much further towards information architecture and experience design. I feel very fortunate that I have the opportunity to use my blog as a testbed for ideas running through my head. I have recently put a lot of thought into projects that can engage readers of my blog and promote various forms of interaction. When it all boils down, we make sites so that users can interact with them. I feel much more interested in spending greater time directly considering how users interact with a particular site.

What do you think about web 2.0?

I think the functional foundation of web 2.0, where information and content is shared more freely across sites and applications, is a great step for the web as a whole and will continue to move the web towards a more open model. I have integrated quite a lot of content from various web 2.0 services (Flickr, Google Maps, etc.) because it makes publishing content easier and the end result richer.

Of the projects listed on your site, which one was the most challenging and why?

I actually consider my site to be the most challenging project I have taken on yet. Engaging your readers, attracting new visitors, working in new features for a site and keeping up a steady stream of content coming takes a tremendous amount of effort and time. With projects for clients, I would meet the specifications by a certain date and I was done - the rest of the responsibility for its success rested on them. With my blog, the design really was just the beginning.

Do you have any information or career advice to offer to our reading audience?

Get away from the computer.

You are a judge over Standards Reboot. Tell us what do you think about the concept, judging, challenges of it.

I definitely like the idea of treating standards-based web design as a genre to be judged in and of itself. Just like web design cannot be compared to print design, the same goes for standards-based web design. There are different problems to be solved and different methods of crafting a site in a standards-centric manner. Flash offers so many more interactive and visual possibilities, but usually at the price of less accessibility. I would like to see more sites built with standards and accessibility in mind, my hope is things like this will help promote just that.

What's your opinion on standards? Would you say it is better to have a valid website or an invalid one with more features that do not validate.

I would once again say that it depends on the audience and the type of site that it is catering to. I am a very large advocate of web standards, but I understand that the time and money it takes to create a XHTML/CSS standard and fully accessible site could sometimes be better used elsewhere. For a video site such as YouTube, making a site that can be viewed with a screen-reader is not going to make as much sense as, say a governmental department for the disabled. In a perfect world, all sites would be standards compliant and fully accessible to all. Until then, I think we need to strike a healthy balance between user accessibility and user experience.

Thank you for you time P.J. It was a great pleasure to talk to you. P.J. Onori is owner of Some Random Dude, and he is one of the judges over Standards Reboot.]]> http://www.webia.info/oldsite/old_interviews/2006/behind-standards-reboot-with-pj-onori/feed/ 1 http://www.webia.info/oldsite/old_interviews/2006/we-bring-you-the-consult/ http://www.webia.info/oldsite/old_interviews/2006/we-bring-you-the-consult/#comments Thu, 27 Jul 2006 23:42:47 +0000 Bogdan Pop http://www.webia.info/?p=30 Who are you and what do you do? Tell us something about yourself.

I'm Alex Atkinson, Creative Director of UK based graphic design agency The Consult and I think it's safe to say I live, breathe and eat design.

What designs do you like the most and why? Describe your design style.

My style is clean. I don't like fuss in design unless it enhances the message.

Of your favorite hobbies, which one has a chance of eclipsing your web design career and why?

Football! I'm obsessed!

What is your specialization (Flash / XHTML / PHP etc)? Why have you chosen this particular domain.

We try not to specialize as we're scared of pigeon holes! We're big champions of not using Flash for the sake of it though. For me, there is nothing worse than an elaborate bit of animation for no reason.

Don`t you think flash is disadvantaged because in most cases it requires high speed internet?

I like Flash sites. If everyone had access to the player and broadband I think we'd be experiencing a different kind of web, but yes, it can be a bit of a pain for the average user and is annoyingly banded around as a buzz word by clients who want to exploit the latest craze.

What is more crucial in design - professional look or usability?

I think you can't separate them.

What are the three things any web designer (freelancer) should know?

• 1. Listen. Especially to the client's needs, not just what they think they want.
• 2. Learn Constantly! There is always room for improvement.
• 3. There is no such thing as a bad idea. Ideas, even the not so good ones, can lead to great things. We like happy mistakes.

What sort of attention has your online portfolio brought you? Would you say it's profitable to have one if you're a web designer?

Online folios are a must for any type of designer. They are a snapshot of your style, calibre and are a valuable sales tool that's there even when you're not. Our's has opened doors that would have been closed had we tried a cold call or mail drop.

What is your favorite software? What would be the ideal web graphic design software? What software couldn't you live without?

I used to really love Quark 4. Then it all went down hill. I think Illustrator is my top choice but the whole Adobe CS range is great. I also love OS X with the widgets. What did we do before them?

Where do you see the development of your business? Any future projects in mind?

We're working with a range of clients and will continue to do so. We find our experience from one sector translates well into others and can offer up valuable insights. We'll never be an agency that just does design for financial sector or just PLCs. We like the variety that comes with working with a broad range of clients. In the coming months we'll be doing lots of branding and identity work, as well as some interesting web work and printed literature.

What was the most challenging project you had to work on? Why?

A prospectus for an art and design college over 200 staff, most of them practitioners in art or design fields. Try satisfying them all! Not easy, but the end results were great and very well received.

What do you think about web 2.0?

Great if it's more than just a glassy effect logo.

Do you have any information or career advice to offer to our reading audience?

Focus on what you excel in. Look for the best bits in a project, as there is no such thing as a bad one.

Thank you for your time. It was a great pleasure to talk to you. This was Alex Atkinson, Creative Director of UK based graphic design agency The Consult.

My name is Paul Lewis, I'm 25 and I live in Newcastle upon Tyne in the north east of England. My Dad bought the first family PC when I was 13 and was hooked instantly. At 18, I moved up here to Newcastle from my home town (a small place called Nelson) to go to University where I studied Computing Science.

University was great as it gave me a scientist background, not a graphic design background. I loved surfing the web and I remember the first time I saw Flash work that made me hit refresh tens, if not hundreds, of times. That was when I knew I wanted to be in web as a career! But I was trained to be a programmer, not a designer, so I've had to learn design skills as a hobby.

Thankfully the guys I work with at The Roundhouse, particularly Tom Knowles have been amazing and I've come on really well there.

What designs do you like the most and why? Describe your design style.

I love anything that is executed well. I've always liked the execution of 2Advanced, since the motion of their work is superb. I really like Fantasy Interactive's work, too, as they combine gorgeous design with really great implementation.

My own style is really difficult for me to pin down; in fact, I try not to. I think there's something to be said for having no style. For my own site, I've adopted a vector look and feel. It comes back to execution: so long as it's done well, it shouldn't matter. It should match the required look and feel of the site and, as a designer, you should be gutsy enough to force yourself to design for the occasion. I'm not a fan of designers who always put the same spin on all their work just because they don't know how to do something different. I'd always try to view that as an occasion to learn!

Of your favorite hobbies, which one has a chance of eclipsing your web design career and why?

Oh heck, this is embarrassing. I'll be honest, I'm one of those guys who live and breathe nerdy things, so if I've not been near a PC for a while I'll start getting twitchy! In actual fact, the hobby that is most likely to drain my time is hanging out with my wife and watching movies. Mainly action movies, since I can put my brain in neutral and let it coast along enjoying explosions, guns and vacuous plot-lines!

What is your specialization (Flash / XHTML / PHP etc)? Why have you chosen this particular domain.

Again, I try to execute anything I do as well as possible. I am not built to say "I did that poorly because I'm no good at that". I've got a Computing Science background and that means by rights the straight forward (and probably normal) answer to that question would be PHP (or Java or whatever coding language you like), since it's web development, but I've made it my business to learn Flash, Photoshop, 3D (Blender, since it's free!), Fireworks, PHP, Java, XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, Premiere and After Effects. I've done this partly because I live and breathe nerdy things, but partly out of pride; I want to be the best that I can be. On a personal note, I'm a Christian. For me, God has given me the talents that he has - I want to use them, grow them and give them back to Him. I'm not as good a designer as I am a developer, but I'm improving, trying and working as hard as possible to get there!

Don`t you think flash is disadvantaged because in most cases it requires high speed internet?

Not if Flash is used properly. (Paul pops away for a second). I'm back! I've just checked the size of my Flash image viewer (the one which shows the banner images on Any Given Friday) - it's 3.1Kb. That's teeny!

I take your point, though, that large, sound-heavy, video-heavy sites require a fast connection. I'd have to take a step back and ask why they have been built that way and ask who the audience is. If there's a good reason for it then I think it's right to make the site in Flash. The alternative, of course, is to provide Flash and non-Flash versions of sites.

We did that at The Roundhouse for Chromazone Imaging. That always works well! So the people who *do* have the fast connections get the showbiz and the people who don't still get the information.

What is more crucial in design - professional look or usability?

What a sneaky, trick question! [laughs] Hopefully designs will do both. In fact, they are equally important to me. A site is inherently more usable if the design supports the usability.

What are the three things any web designer (freelancer) should know?

What sort of attention has your online portfolio brought you? Would you say it's profitable to have one if you're a web designer?

Loads. I used to be one of those guys who was permanently "Under Construction". I was never happy. I'd design my site and it wouldn't be what was in my head or I'd get bored of the concept and go back to the drawing board. Be tough on yourself, get the site designed before you start. Don't start building until you're sure you like it and then, if you do, take it to completion. Even if you feel like you could do better when you get to the end you can always go back and start again.

In my case, I had to get my site finished in order to get job interviews. Amazing what a potential lack of employment can do to concentrate your mind! Once I started working at The Roundhouse I was working with people who didn't fail to complete their work and I learnt to complete my work to the best of my ability - it took discipline. And is it profitable? Absolutely!

I've had offers of all types since I completed the latest and the last version of AnyGivenFriday. It's a space I can put my experiments up on, my thoughts on life and, perhaps most importantly, my personal perspective on the work I've done. That pre-supposes that my life is, in any way, interesting to other people.

What is your favorite software? What would be the ideal web graphic design software? What software couldn't you live without?

Oh heck, another one. I'm going to cheat and say the Adobe Studio 8. All right, all right. It would have to be Flash. But I had to really think about that and now my head hurts. Flash is the environment that allows me to combine design and development, and I've had some of the most satisfying results in my career from working with Flash.

What do you think about web 2.0?

To me I think it means tighter integration of web-based applications and technologies and community-driven content. They are good things, I guess. Although calling it 2.0 is some kind of implication that it's better than the "current" Web 1.0, which it isn't. It's just different. What I mean is that I wouldn't want to do my online shopping in some kind of community-driven site. I quite like Amazon, Play.com and the other sites I use. They do the job perfectly well, and if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Mainly, though, as Dan Richard (of Pixel 2 Life) said, it's a buzzword and we're all better off thinking of the web as an evolution.

What is the first graphic software you ever used?

Erk. It was, brilliantly, Deluxe Paint 3 on the Amiga 500. That beauty had a picture of a Pharoah on the box. It always infuriated me because I want to recreate it, but I just couldn't. That's brought back a *lot* of memories! Ha ha! The Amiga 500, Speedball Deluxe 2, Magic Pockets, James Pond. Now you've put me in a nostalgic mood and I'm thinking about my SNES, Street Fighter 2 and Mario Kart. Happy days.

How did your very first project look like?

I remember the first thing I did in Flash. It was a red circle and I got it to move across the stage at, like, 12 frames per second. It was all downhill from there. To be fair, I've only been slightly happy with my design work in the last 2 years, and I know I've still got a long way to go!

Do you have any information or career advice to offer to our reading audience?

Take your time, work on your style, work hard, take time out for family and friends, don't be afraid to try something new!

Thank you for your time. It was a great pleasure to talk to you. This was Paul Lewis, currently working with The Roundhouse, owner of Any Given Friday.

Bombay Creative is a web design, print design, and marketing firm. Although we work with a spectrum of clientele, we particularly enjoy helping nonprofits.

What is your specialization (Flash / XHTML / PHP etc)? Why have you chosen this particular domain.

We use CSS, Flash, PHP, ColdFusion, and Ajax depending on what a project's needs are.

Don`t you think flash is disadvantaged because in most cases it requires high speed internet?

Flash has its pros and cons. A website should never be 100% Flash, but Flash can be a powerful tool for accessories such as banners and interactive features.

What is more crucial in design - professional look or usability?

When it comes to foundational necessities, usability is more crucial. An ugly but usable website is still better than great looks that cannot function. But once you get past web design 101, I believe that looks are more important. Web aesthetics determine credibility during first impressions.

What are the three things any web designer (freelancer) should know?

• 1. How to technically design. A designer should be reasonably good at CSS etc.
• 2. How to aesthetically design. A good designer understands the principles of design and how to use them.
• 3. How to communicate branding. A web site should communicate the core values of its purpose/organization in its appearance and user experience. This means that a good designer must (a) know how to learn what makes his client unique and (b) know how to incorporate that quality into the design.

What sort of attention has your online portfolio brought you? Would you say it's profitable to have one if you're a web designer / web development company?

An online portfolio is the best investment a designer can make. It works for you.

Where do you see the development of your business? Any future projects in mind?

We seem to be taking on a greater number of specialty projects that involve high levels of interactivity and user-generated content.

What do you think about web 2.0?

I see it as a catalyst and a stepping stone that will transform the Internet into a whole new world of possibilities.

Of the projects listed on your site, which one was the most challenging and why?

Oaktreeidea.com has been the most challenging because we took an existing social network with a substantial user base and completely overhauled it for enhanced looks and usability within a few months. Social networks are quite different than developing a typical website. They are constantly evolving and require constant tweaks to accommodate the growing and evolving needs of the members.

Do you have any information or career advice to offer to our reading audience?

If you want to be a great designer, surround yourself with great design.

Thank you for your time. It was a great pleasure to talk to you. This was Kent Shaffer from Bombay Creative.

My name is Dan Richard, I'm 30 years old and I live in Montreal, Canada. I'm a full time dad and I also happen to run the tutorial search engine Pixel2life.com, as well as a personal tech blog and some other hobby sites for movie collectibles. I like a wide variety of hobbies and topics, so my web work reflects those interests. I've been a freelance web designer and IT professional for many years, with my first paid web design job dating back to 1996 or so.

When did Pixel 2 Life start?

The creation of P2L in terms of a tutorial portal was a complete fluke. I had been doing freelance work for years prior to P2L and was on a designing hiatus due to the birth of my daughter and just working my full time job as IT manager for a retail technology firm here in Montreal.

In December of 2003, some pork purchased at the grocery store lead me to some extremely nasty food poisoning and I could barely move for a week. About the only thing I could do was type on the computer, so I thought maybe I'd look at creating a new portfolio site for my work, maybe create a few tutorials on graphic design and get back in some small freelance jobs.

I started snooping around for a domain name, and that's when I found Pixel2life.com. It was perfect! The site would be about everything from my online work and design, to about stuff that happened in my life (This was before anyone knew what a blog was), so in other words, everything from my pixels, to my life. Now you know where the name comes from.

From there, I started to design the site and that's when I noticed that I was scouring Google and tutorial sites trying to find some specific tricks I wanted to do on my site. I started to get frustrated and couldn't believe there wasn't just one huge site that covered everything. Sort of like a Google for tutorials. That's when I had my light bulb moment and figured "Hey, why don't I try to make one?!". I recruited my friend Shao who had done some work with me in the past to handle the programming, and a few weeks later, Pixel2life v1 was born. It was tough because the net wasn't stuffed with tutorial search sites like it is now, so we had to do A LOT of learning. I hadn't even seen Good-Tutorials at this point so we did a of guessing. In fact, the first version didn't even have avatar preview icons.

Pixel 2 Life has about 25000 tutorials. How did you manage to achieve this number since it all started?

When I first started, I sent out hundreds of emails to webmasters asking for their permission to add their tutorials to the database. If they responded, then I would take the time to add them all in personally while at the same time I was establishing affiliations with many other sites. Eventually I was receiving enough traffic and daily submissions that I didn't need to look for tutorials, people were submitting them by the dozens every day. I think we're at almost 50,000 submitted tutorials now.

You have more than 80 categories. How does the management team deal with this to ensure the quality of your content?

I actually do all the tutorial approvals myself, while the staff concentrate their efforts on community development, making sure the forums are in top shape and keeping the database clean from dead links and sites. You don't need to know how to use all the applications to sort out the tutorials for good and bad. After awhile you can recognize a well written tutorial almost immediately, and you can tell which ones are rotten apples even faster. There's a common look and feel to well written content. The topic is usually fairly irrelevant. Our lead forum administrator Donna is crucial to the database as well, she also checks the listing for dead link reports and works very hard to make sure everything is running in top shape.

We also have a very dedicated community, and they're not shy to let me know when something is broken or just stinks in general. I'm surrounded by an awesome staff and great community and it really helps.

What was the most challenging moment in the growth of P2L?

Version upgrades have always been extremely problematic and the most stressing experiences of my life. P2L is so big now that I don't think we can really have complete version upgrades any more. Now we just work on the site in sections and upgrade areas as required, rather than having complete "Site Version 5 BETA" releases. I've always found the site version release concept to be silly, and now I have a good excuse not to conform to it. The worst was when we were upgrading from version 2 to 3. It was a very rough time for me and the staff and we underwent a lot of changes. I knew things would come through eventually, but man did it feel like it would never end!

Current version of P2L was developed in 2005. What are the future plans?

Well we already employ AJAX throughout the site and we're always working on new goodies for the community. Our new Publishing System was a huge upgrade and we'll be working on that with some new upgrades to it. We also just released a new PPC/CPM advertising system last night to compliment our current ad area, and then we have to finish up the APIs such as the auto-submit system. I'm definitely never sitting on my thumbs, there always something I'm stressed about finishing up. As for web 2.0, it's an empty buzzword that has been done to death. It really has no meaning for me. Version numbers aren't my thing, I prefer to just plug away on the site and see how the community reacts. I rely pretty heavily on them when it comes to brainstorming new projects.

What do you think about web 2.0?

Well, again, Web 2.0 is a meaningless buzzword to me. I understand the concept of what web 2.0 is SUPPOSED to be, but user driven content and cross site integration is the natural evolution of the internet as technology becomes more readily available to the public. Why do we need to attach version numbers to everything? I prefer to think of the evolution of the web and of my personal projects as an ongoing, daily change, be it a reaction or an innovation. There's no version numbers, it's just consistent change.

Do you have any information or career advice to offer to our reading audience?

Freelance is a tough field to play on, because so many people low ball their prices, especially on freelance job sites such as elance. It's important to build up a solid portfolio and be very professional and bid on jobs constantly. It's also important to realize that it takes years of work to become a skilled designer, not months. Nothing drives me further up the wall than a 15 year old who titles himself a designer and has a portfolio full of forum signatures. If your work time is influenced by when your parents tell you to go to bed, or the extent of your drawing skills is based on the tutorials you have bookmarked, you've still got some work to do. It doesn't happen overnight, so be patient, trust in your style and the work and skills will come. I worked for YEARS before I finally had some measure of success, and even then, I worked on Pixel2life 60 hours a week for a couple of years to get it off the ground, and that was above and beyond my full time job.

So patience is critical in everything you do. It takes time and consistency, but when it does come, it feels GREAT!

Thank you for your time. It was a great pleasure to talk to you. This was Dan Richard, who runs Pixel 2 Life.

Hi, I'm Alec and I am a freelance web designer/developer. I don't do it full-time, lets say in my life I have my fingers in many different pies. The Internet is a big part of my life and I have been designing since I was around 14.

Your web site is amazing. Describe your design style.

In the past I have always gone for the 'design company' typical look. I had a design company www.acedesign.org which I ran with a friend, but when I sold that recently, I wanted to do everything with my client on a more personal level. Not to pretend to be some big multi-national company, but to just be me, and give reasons why that is a good thing! I spent hours looking through different design sites, and really took my time with every aspect of the site. I suppose I would describe my design style as finding simple solutions to complex problems. I have this saying somewhere on the site.

What designs do you like the most and why?

I like sites where almost every part of the design can me managed from the CSS stylesheet. Sites that look massive to the eye, but look at the source and there is hardly any HTML. I love simplicity, and some popular sites that I think have really achieved this are www.facebook.com and www.last.fm .

What is your specialization (Flash / XHTML / PHP etc)? Why have you chosen this particular domain.

My specialization out of those must be xHTML. I am a CSS addict primarily, but have developed my own Content Management System with PHP. I don't use Flash, because I don`t think quite yet enough Internet users have the Internet speeds required for it. I would also consider myself an experienced SEOer and have read many books on the subject.

What is more crucial in design - professional look or usability?

Most professional designs are usable, otherwise I wouldn't class them as professional. I would say usability is paramount.

What are the three things any web designer (freelancer) should know?

• 1. You're not the first person to have thought of that idea.
• 2. Build up a friendly relationship with clients, don't try to be overly professional and airy.
• 3. Find one part of development you like, and learn absolutely everything about it. You cant be the best at everything, but you might be able to be the best at one thing.

Would you say it's profitable to have an online portfolio if you're a web designer?

It depends if it is visited enough. To be honest most of my business comes from recommendations or me going to the client, instead of someone finding me in a search. I use AlecRust.com as a kind of 'home-base' for all my projects.

Of the projects listed on your site, which one was the most challenging and why?

The work I was sub-contracted to do for www.sygneca.com was tricky. I can't say much about the project because it was for the government (they are a strange bunch) but basically I had to design e-newsletters. This sounds easy, but in order for my pages to display properly in all different online and offline email clients, I had to work using absolutely no CSS. That means old-fashioned HTML 4.0 tags. It was like them saying "here you go Alec, please design these pages in the worst code you can possibly manage".