Webia: Hello Bjarne. Tell us something about yourself.
Bjarne: I'm a graphic designer, based in Denmark. Mostly I work with digital media, but now and then I get my hands in some print jobs as well!

I'm 25 years old, and have been working with graphics and the Internet for about 6 years. The last 3-4 years as a living. Every day I wish that I had discovered my passion earlier in my life.

Webia: What do you do for a living?
Bjarne: As said above I work as a graphic designer, mainly with digital media. Currently I'm employed at JaHallo. It is a new media agency based here in Aarhus (the second biggest city in the small Denmark). I love my every day at JaHallo. I've been so lucky to have spent the last 3 years at the agency. And because of the company's relatively small size (we're only 5 persons at the moment), I have my hands in a lot of different things! I prefer to get around. In that sense, I would be bored if I should do web design EVERY day. I love designing for the web, but not for every day.

And therefore I spice it up with XHTML / CSS front-end development, motion graphics, client management, print designs, brand identities, etc.

Webia: What is your specialty ?
Bjarne: I would go with the Web in general! I mean, I started designing for the web. But after a couple of "destroyed" designs because of half- hearted coders, and my fascination of the creation of web sites, I decided to teach my self to code... That's was a pretty good decision. If you as a designer know exactly how "the web works", you deliver a much better design. And of course, not to forget, no one fucks up your lovely designs, because you can make the front-end yourself. Or at least tell what is possible and in which ways...

In some way I must admit that I've always been fascinated by the web. See, I grew up surrounded by the famous LEGO toy, and already back then I liked to create (like many other children). I've always seen the design process as a brain-thing. Of course you use your hands, but much of design is going on inside your head. But when you leave Photoshop and get your hands in the codes, the architecture of a site, you actually build something literally. And you publish it to the whole World.

I like the short way I have between my laptop and the rest of the World. It's the way I think of it though.

A quite long answer to a short and simple question. My speciality is no doubt the web.

Webia: What was the most challenging project you were (or still are) on?
Bjarne: Many. And these projects keep on coming... I think that because you develop in a certain pace, and tries different projects, get in touch with bigger and bigger clients, then the challenges also has to be bigger and bigger. It was a big day when we landed the whole Fobazo project at JaHallo. We're still working on their head-portal, but through the project I've been working on the Official websites of some of Europe's biggest soccer players, among others Ronaldo, Robinho, Seedorf, Rafael van der Vaart, John Heitinga, Marta (FIFA Best female player), and got my work seen by Nike, Adidas, Carlsberg, bwin, etc.I'm looking forward to finish up the more corporate part of the project.

Webia: Tell us about your website arnii.dk
Bjarne: Hmm, I'm the person who always have some kind of ongoing personal project. Partly to learn new things or just for the fun of it and developing my skills. Arnii.dk was actually born because of the challenge I gave my self.

I had just discovered WordPress. I thought it was phenomenal! Now I could not just make front-end development but also build back-ends so that clients could update their websites on their own... So I decided to make my first entirely WP powered site, my portfolio with a custom- made WP CMS to control content.

Now Arnii.dk is working as my online portfolio and my blog. But I wish I had some more time writing my blog though, but other projects are waiting...

Webia: Your portfolio shows websites, DTP, animations. What do you enjoy most, and why?
Bjarne: I think I partly gave an answer to that in question number 3. I like to create, and it just makes me feel even better when I create across medias and platforms. But agian, I enjoy the Web the most.

Webia: How spread around the world are your clients? Do you consider easier to pitch someone in Denmark or "around the world" works too. What will be the next major step in your career?
Bjarne: For now I only have clients through JaHallo. I'm employed there and doesn't really do any work besides that. I think if your portfolio is speaking for itself, it doesn't matter a bit how long away you are from your clients. Luckily the World isn't that big anymore because of email, phone and services as Skype.

Webia: Any advice for our audience?
Bjarne: You can never learn to much and you are never guaranteed an 8-hour workday in this business. Get used to it! I've always believed in obtaining at least basic knowledge about everything you will potentially be in touch with. That has helped me a lot.

Webia: Hello Chris. Tell us something about yourself.
Chris: I am a web designer who like to dabble a bit in development too, although I have a lot to learn in both departments.

Webia: What do you do for a living?
Chris: At the moment I work for a small design company out of Madison, WI. We are only three guys and I am the only one with any web experience so my official title is "Web Guy". We have quite a few clients who we run websites for, so this role keeps me on my toes having to bounce around doing all kinds of different things to keep the web sites running, functioning well, and looking good!

Webia: What is your specialty ?
Chris: CSS is definitely my specialty. I have been trying to branch out into more advanced technologies lately and have been having a lot of fun with that, but I always find myself enjoying coming back to CSS. Controlling the look of a web page is just so rewarding.

Webia: You specialize in CSS. Do you also do graphic design? If yes, what software do you use. What styles do you like most?
Chris: I started out in Graphic Design and I think that's technically what my degree is focused on. I also worked in Prepress in the printing industry for a lot of years so I am very at home in the print world. Nowadays I do a whole lot more web work than print work though. I use the same stuff I use for web work for print work, basically the Adobe Creative Suite 3: Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. I like a lot of different styles, but I tend to like simple and clean more than busy. I also like designs with interesting typography, but yet again, that is simple and clean.

Webia: You are the man behind CSS Tricks. What exactly is CSS Tricks about. Is it just CSS or more?
Chris: It's only about a year old now and in some ways it hasn't quite found itself yet. It has always been about more than CSS, but always within the realm of web design. Anything I write I tend to try to at least connect to CSS in some way, but not every time. I am not going to write a restaurant review or talk about my cat though, this is a resource blog for web designers.

Webia: CSS Tricks contains not only articles, but screen casts, downloads and > more. What is your main focus now? What do you plan for the future?
Chris: I want to keep the blog as the main focus because that is the material that drives the popularity of the site and what turns out being the best reference material for people. The downloads section is really just an extension of that. A permanent home for some of the better examples from the blog. Some people just don't care right away how something was done, they just want a download they can play with themselves. I understand that, I am that way a lot of times.

The screen casts are a newer thing that I have really enjoyed doing and plan to keep doing on a weekly basis. I have gotten more positive feedback from that than almost anything else I've ever done. Everyone learns better visually and screen casts provide that a lot better than writing does. There are also forums now on CSS-Tricks, which I am happy to say have built up a nice little helpful community. I could not be more grateful for that.

Webia: What was the most challenging project you were (or still are) on. Describe how start ups can overcome difficulties.
Chris: The challenging part of projects for me isn't usually anything technical, but communicational (that really should be a word). I consider myself a pretty good communicator, but there are some clients who are just extremely difficult to deal with on some level or another. Either you can't get information out of them that you need, or they like to get micro-manage-y with your design process, or expectations get mixed up somewhere along the line.

Technical problems have clear solutions. Interpersonal problems never do. These same type of problems can pop up not just in client work but on working on a team in a startup environment too. I am blessed with CSS-Tricks, in that it's pretty much a one-man-show, that I can basically do as I please as long as I keep the readers and advertisers happy. I've had pretty good luck with that so far.

Webia: Do you think that one should use css tricks to make a complex website multi browser, or should the design be simplified so that it doesn't require IE hacks and alike at all.
Chris: When you say "hacks" I think of thinks like the "underscore hack" and stuff like that meant to "trick" certain versions of certain browsers into doing what you want them to do. I am generally against that type of thing.

For one thing, conditional stylesheets achieve the same results only are valid code and easier to understand. For another, "hacks" that work today could cause serious problems tomorrow if a new version of a popular browser came out that didn't like what it was seeing. Keep you code standards compliant and you shouldn't have any problems.

Webia: Any advice for our audience?
Chris: Sure. Never stop learning, but don't overwhelm yourself.

Chris is the owner of CSS Tricks, one of the best CSS resource sites out there.

Webia: What do you think about Youtube? ( Past, Present, Future )
Brett: I think YouTube is an incredibly fun site. It's so much more enjoyable to watch user-generated video content than to watch corporate television. I don't even have cable TV, I rely totally on the internet for watching video now. I watch a lot of IPTV channels in my living room on a Mac connected to my HDTV. I think internet delivery of high- definition video is going to be really big in the future. We're going watch the cable companies and old, corporate media die out, kicking and screaming, or else evolve and survive. Whenever I watch daytime TV, it's always shocking how old-fashioned the ads are - and how they assume we are dumb. There's definitely a new kind of digital consciousness emerging - people are quickly becoming more aware and more discriminating.

Webia: How about Twitter?
Brett: I have been using IRC for over 15 years so the idea of "tweeting" updates to friends doesn't seem so revolutionary to me (and neither does the Twitter interface or backend) - but I can really appreciate the community of new social media types that has gathered and blossomed on Twitter. It's defintintely a vibrant community where information travels much, much faster than on blogs. I'm really liking the interface on Plurk, though. I haven't gotten really active on the site yet, but I've tried it, and it seems much more polished.

The thing I've learned over the years is you have to be careful not to let IM services suck away all your time. Use them in short bursts and then close the application. I believe that our brains are going to have to evolve new powerful ways of multi-tasking in order to help divide our attention between so may different windows, applications and messages. 20 years ago, the only time we received personal messages was maybe once a day at the mailbox. Now we receive hundreds or thousands of messages competing for our attention. Some people are going to adapt quickly to it, some people are going to get left in the "stone ages." The digital divide will widen.

Webia: And Digg, Magnolia, Reddit, and alike?
Brett: Digg is awesome for reading, but it's not as fun as it used to be. I used to be a very active Digger, but as the community has grown and the site algorithm has changed (harder to Digg friends' stories, takes 150+ Diggs to go home page) - so it's much more time consuming and less enjoyable to actively participate. Reddit has intelligent commentary and good content, and the team is doing a lot of good changes to the interface. It's cool that you mentioned ma.gnolia - I really love that site! The user interface design is amazing, and it's such a pleasure to use - much easier than del.icio.us. I wish more people used it.

Webia: Where do you think the web is headed in the near and distant future?
Brett: In the near future, I think that people are going to get overwhelmed with the sheer amount of information they need to process, and there are going to be all kinds of digital aggregation and simplification services. For example, here in Colorado, there's a local company called Social Thing that has a pretty good prototype of a social media consolidation system - where you can get updates from various services in once place.

I also think there is going to be a major crisis with various closed systems, DRM and proprietary formats. Stuff like Windows / Exchange and Apple / iTunes are all designed to lock people into systems and keep them purchasing the hardware forever, making it extremely inconvenient to quit. People are all excited about Apple's shiny new gadgets.. but they are all locked and designed to only play nicely with content that you buy from Apple. It's designed not to give you any freedom or flexibility. I think people are largely oblivious to this now, but as Apple's corporate greed increases and the screws tighten, there will be more outcry in the future. I fully support open source software projects like Linux operating systems and alternatives to iTunes. I run OS X now, but I can see myself switching to an open source OS in the future.

Webia: How much does social media influence SEO on a scale of 1 to 10. Describe.
Brett: I think social media is having a profound influence on SEO. Social media is one of the last legitimate places on the web that a site can get links from. Just yesterday, Google's Matt Cutts did an interview with an SEO, and he basically says that Digg is an acceptable, creative way to get good links.

SEO providers who don't evolve, those don't understand about making social connections and promoting viral content... will lose out to those who do.

Webia: What books, and websites do you recommend for this domain?
Brett: Hmmm. I really like Dosh Dosh. Maki is one of the brightest minds in social media today. On the lighter side, I'm impressed with Cracked magazine. When I was a kid they were struggling along in old print media, but they've really taken to the web and learned how to make a lot of "grand slam," viral social media content.

Webia: Not so popular as Youtube, Digg etc is Second Life. Do you think it will become as used and popular as Youtube? What will happen next? Do you consider that a Virtual Life phenomenon will occur sooner or later?
Brett: Ya know, I have never tried Second Life, so it's hard for me to say... but I think game-like systems only appeal to a small sect of "geeky" people for now and in the near future. I think that social media is a kind of "virtual life" - and maybe it has more mainstream appeal. I think the lure of such digital worlds that stimulate the intellect and imagination can be very strong.

Webia: Any advice for our audience?
Brett: If you are reading this now, you are an early adopter. Most of humanity doesn't read blogs, most people scarcely know about them yet. I don't think that social media is a fad. It will not disappear. The information age is a real thing, not a theory. Social media is the human connection and community that we all innately crave, that got disrupted by mass media for the past 100 years or so. But now the connection is back.

If you feel the call, try and get more involved. Become less of a social media consumer and more of a producer. Create content. Get creative and help make the digital world a better place. I think we are on the cusp of something big, and that any effort you put into honing your social media skills now will really pay off in the near future. Go for it!

Thank you for your time Brett!

Webia: Who are you and what do you do? Tell us something about yourself.
Chris: My name is Chris Bewick, I am a self-taught web designer based in Reading, England. As well as doing freelance work through Stompfrog.co.uk. I am currently a full time employee of Yell where I work on the team responsible for designing, building and maintaining Yell, Yell Direct and Yell Mobile.

Webia: What designs do you like the most and why? Describe your design style.
Chris: At the moment I am really excited about bold blocks of color and vector-based graphics. Initially I spent a lot more time learning to code than I did thinking about design. It is only In the last 6 months or so that I have really gotten into the design side of things. I am not sure how I would describe my style as I think it is something that I am still developing.

Webia: Of your favorite hobbies, which one has a chance of eclipsing your web design career and why?
Chris: When I am not behind the computer I am working on my other hobby, music! I currently play bass in two bands with which I have gigged all over the country and had national radio air play. International rock-stardom, however unlikely that is, is probably the only thing that could jeopardize my design career.

Webia: What is your specialization (Flash / XHTML / PHP / Graphic Design etc)? Why have you chosen this particular domain.
Chris: I would love to develop my skills in all these areas but in reality it is necessary to focus on specific areas. Everything I do is based around well-formed XHTML, CSS and attractive imagery. It is this solid grasp of the basics that I feel is my main strength. Recently I have been rapidly expanding my understanding of javaScript in order to add dynamic elements to my work. This is something that I am really enjoying and intend to expand on further.

Webia: What is more crucial in design - professional look or usability?
Chris: I think the answer here is both. It is quite ridiculous to think that a design cannot have usable/accessible functionality whilst also having an exciting, professional presentation.

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

• 1. W3 Schools - an excellent learning resource for XHTML, CSS, javaScript and more.
• 2. Firefox plugins are life savers: Firebug, all-in-one gesture, Colorzilla, web developer and IE tab are crucial for me.
• 3. When they are getting paid!

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?
Chris: I only launched my current portfolio website a few weeks ago and have been delighted by the response. It has been featured on CSSVault, CSSClip, Screenalicious, Most Inspired, CSSWalk and numerous social bookmarking sites. The response from these has been amazing with hits spiking up to 700 in a day. I am lucky to have a stable web design job on top of my freelance so am not to concerned about the profitability of Stompfrog but to get such positive feedback from the design community was a wonderful thing.

Webia: What is your favorite software? What would be the ideal web graphic design software? What software couldn't you live without?
Chris: I find that the best software for trying out layout ideas and color schemes is Fireworks. Fireworks is always my starting point for any project. It handles shapes and objects much more intuitively than photoshop and I can achieve better results in a shorter time.

Webia: Where do you see the development of your business? Any future projects in mind?
Chris: At the moment I most enjoying designing sites for small businesses and creative individuals e.g. musicians, authors and composers. These projects tend to be of a small scale which suits the part-time nature of Stompfrog. This also means that you get to work with exciting and passionate individuals rather than a board room of suits. Who knows what the future holds?

Webia: What do you think about web 2.0?
Chris: I think web 2.0 is a difficult thing to define. Everyone I speak to has a different idea of what it means. In my mind a large element of web 2.0 is the social book-marking and user generated content revolution. I think this is a very exciting area of the web and can't wait to see how it develops further.

Webia: What is the first graphic software you ever used?
Chris: My first experience of computer graphics was MS PowerPoint on my dad's work laptop when I was a kid. Whether you can really call that a graphics package I don't know!

Webia: How did your very first project look like?
Chris: Very basic. Two frames; a plain, un-styled list on the left for navigation and the content on the right. The whole site was black text on a white background with purple and pink headings. This was site I made for my band in 2002.

Webia: Do you have any information or career advice to offer to our reading audience?
Chris: Read as much as you can about usability, design and software. You will never stop learning and your work will always be improving.

This was Chris Bewick, owner of stompfrog.co.uk. Thank you for your time, Chris!

Webia: What designs do you like the most and why? Describe your design style.
Chris: My design preferences lean towards utilitarian and clean. We stress that to our clients every day. Mostly corporate, these clients want and need to get information to their visitors quickly and easily.

Webia: Of your favorite hobbies, which one has a chance of eclipsing your web design career and why?
Chris: Photography for sure. I love just taking my camera out and shooting whatever I find. Then again, I feel at home in the studio too.

A few years back, there was a big struggle for us to get original content for the web. It seemed like we always had to beg, borrow, and steal from existing print campaigns for text and photography. Nobody wanted to spend the money on a professional photographer. We wound up making a deal with a client, that if we provided original shots, he would help us subsidize some studio lighting equipment... but only if he liked what he saw. The trade was great. We wound up with some incredible new toys and he got the images he needed to set himself apart from his competition. Starting with a ping-pong table with a piece of white shower board for a white seamless background, we grew and included a full-fledged photo studio, complete with psyche wall in our offices. This makes for much more affordable content for our clients and a lot more control over the final images for the sites we design.

Webia: What is your specialization (Flash / XHTML / PHP / Graphic Design etc)? Why have you chosen this particular domain.
Chris: As a company, we specialize in 3 areas: Design, Development, and Strategy.

Design is the obvious. It is what everyone sees. But if you dig a little deeper, we stress usability over entertainment in a site. That's mostly driven by our clients' requirements, but it just makes sense if you're trying to communicate.

Development has changed a lot from just a few years ago. At first, we worked with full Flash sites. Lots of Actionscripting and animation. But as Google got to be more popular, so did SEO. Once things started to shift, we dropped back on the Flash and started to concentrate on XHTML/CSS driven sites with some Flash elements if needed. Of course, nearly all of our sites are dynamic. The technical transition(s) in recent years have gone from PHP, to Ruby on Rails, to Python with Django.

Strategy is another big area we stress. At about 1/3 of our business, we definitely want to be in a partnership with our clients. It really helps effectiveness when they teach us about their business, and we educate them about technical possibilities and utility best practices. It really comes down to educated choices. If we're free to communicate and debate best practices *with* the client, as opposed to one side dictating to the other, the results are overwhelmingly more successful than if we're just pushing pixels. We feel lucky to have these kinds of relationships with our clients.

Webia: What is more crucial in design - professional look or usability?
Chris: Without a doubt... Usability. If a site is beautiful, but you can't figure out how to find the info you're looking for, what good is it?

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

• 1. Content is king. It is what gives a site shape and purpose for being.
• 2. Budgets are important. Freelancers - make sure you spend less than you make. Sounds pretty basic, but so many people forget this.
• 3. Be nice. Another simple basic, but so very important. Karma can catch up with you pretty fast if you're not.

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?
Chris: As a web designer, it is absolutely necessary. Whether freelance or full-time, an online review is the first step in evaluating new talent. This goes for print designers too.

Our online portfolio *is* our business. No matter how someone hears about us, they always visit our website first to see if there is a good fit.

Webia: What is your favorite software? What would be the ideal web graphic design software? What software couldn't you live without?
Chris: Photoshop. Photoshop. Photoshop.

Webia: Where do you see the development of your business? Any future projects in mind?
Chris: Most of our work is repeat work from existing clients. I'm certain this will continue, but we're also developing a resource workflow product called Almanac. We tried a lot of different tools to help us juggle internal and external resources. After a long and exhaustive search for that perfect tool, we wound up creating our own. After several clients and peers commented how they thought it could benefit others, we decided to open it to the public. There are other product ideas floating around out there. Now, it is just a matter of finding the time to spend on them.

Webia: What do you think about web 2.0?
Chris: It really depends on who's definition you use. I love the idea of new usability and presentation practices associated with web 2.0 and Flickr is one of my favorite sites.

Webia: What is the first graphic software you ever used?
Chris: I'm not sure. It was either Aldus Pagemaker or Aldus Freehand.

Webia: How did your very first project look like?
Chris: Like shit. Oh... can I say that? I meant to say... "Like doo doo". I was very proud of that first project at first. I used New Century Schoolbook, Helvetica, Courier, and one or two other fonts that were available on my boss' Mac Plus. I managed to squeeze in a big piece of clip art. But as with most designers, I hated it the second it left the press. Maybe that's how designers get better.

Webia: Do you have any information or career advice to offer to our reading audience?
Chris: Find something you love to do. Then figure out a way to make money doing it. Then learn to take constructive criticism. Don't ignore it. Just learn to use it. Finally, ask a lot of questions.

This was Chris Blanz, head of Cabedge. Thank you for your time Chris!

Webia: What designs do you like the most and why? Describe your design style.
Alessandro: Alessandro Benini:Generally I like simple design but well-groomed and sought. Every style has itself a particular appeal, if it follows every rule. Mostly, I try to differentiate the graphics depending on the typology of customer, always preserving a "clean" and essential style.

Webia: Of your favorite hobbies, which one has a chance of eclipsing your career and why?
Alessandro: Hobbies are a privilege of whom has got time. I dedicate most of my life to work and to satisfy my clients. Maybe one day, when l'll make my activity work at high levels, l will be able to devote more time to me and to my greatest passion: traveling.
Valerio: Poetry, because in it everything has to be reduced to essential, even so it has to sound well. Furthermore words have intrinsicly something magic and suggestive: in web development linearity and project logic blend perfectly with design in an alchemy that brings itself something magic.

Webia: What is your specialization (Flash / XHTML / PHP / Graphic Design etc)? Why have you chosen this particular domain?
Valerio: PHP and database, and more generally every machine language that make me realize the product I want in the best way. Lately I've been developing following web 2.0: ajax e xml.
Alessandro: In my office I take care of communication and design but unfortunately I have to cope with requirements I hope I could delegate to others. A web designer have to know all the technologies used by his team . I must say my specialty is to "create" graphic layout.

Webia: What is more crucial in design - professional look or usability?
Valerio: Both, of course. Be disposed to aesthetic you find yourself without a web site, but with a beautiful statue buried in the garden! On the contrary, a web site devoid of aesthetic gives a featureless image of whom realised and ordered it.
Alessandro: The answer goes without saying: balance. Design is vital not only to create "beauty" but above all to communicate. Colors and shapes permit to emphasize the web site's most important parts. I deem a well done design is the first sort of web marketing. The graphic impact is essential to draw the navigator's attention. The practical skill comes consequentially if you followed all the rules.

Webia: What are the three things any web designer / developer should know?
Alessandro: The most important is surely the theory at the base of graphic (color theory, lineup rules, objects size's administration); and then communication rules and a excellent knowledge of the software used.
Valerio: If you work with quality and passion, there aren't any other things you must know.

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?
Valerio: We always show our portfolio to the clients, so they could figure out immediately if they like our style and they can be aware of the quality of our work.
Alessandro: I would say a positive feedback, although unfortunately they mostly reach big brand names than quality.

Webia: What is your favorite software? What would be the ideal web graphic design software? What software couldn't you live without?
Alessandro: I would say the software I can't give up to is surely Adobe Fireworks: capabilities are very high and it consents to the designer to work in vector (and so to have the full control on shapes) and to convert successively images and the layout in bitmap. I think Fireworks should be at the base of every template e I keenly hope in an on-going development and investment from Adobe.
Valerio: HTML-Kit and in general all those softwares that make the developers have the total control of processes, easing the chore.

Webia: Where do you see the development of your business? Any future projects in mind?
Valerio: Business is bringing us to a complete management of the client, the design, the web marketing e the development till an integrate communication of the whole company. In particular web marketing and the alternative marketing are getting always more importance among the services we offer to our customers.
Alessandro: Surely in offering quality, skill and above all an on-going support to the client. The customer has to be pampered in every situation, he has to feel important and always followed but he has also to understand that professionalism and the constant devotion have a price, and it has to be included in the budget.

Webia: What do you think about web 2.0?
Alessandro: Web 2.0? l've been waiting for it for ages, at last a designer can freely express himself without be forced to use Flash that is not well indexed. Through web 2.0 is possible to achieve excellent results keeping a web site indexed and usable.
Valerio: all the best. The development of shared applications and all web 2.0 have been the natural consequence of wideband's diffusion and of a more aware internet use. We invest a lot in formation and updating to develop according to the latest standards. Web 2.0 it's a challenge. We can't keep a straight face to it, if we would like to give quality and professionalism to our clients.

Webia: What is the first graphic software you ever used?
Alessandro: Aldus Freehand then became Macromedia, to create illustrations for school books.

Webia: How did your very first project look like?
Alessandro: If I must evaluate it with current competences I would say it was tin-pot. It's logical, today I see things as a professional; 12 years ago I couldn't have the adulthood to arrange and to pattern a product in total autonomy.
Valerio: Terrible! Incoherent, excessively flowery: I had as soon as begun to work!

Webia: Do you have any information or career advice to offer to our reading audience?
Alessandro: I could give an advice to young designers: purchase editorial design's books and learn well the rules; the software knowledge comes afterwards. As usual, before theory then practice.

This was a back to back interview with Alessandro Benini and Valerio Pianella from Inspiration Multimedia. Thank you both for your time!

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