How did you get into web design?

After joining the creative freelance organization NJ Creatives Network in 1994, I was looking for a better way for the members - designers, illustrators, film & video specialists, photographers, writers and others - to promote themselves and as consequence, myself as well... The organization had been using a printed booklet containing contact information and a written description of the members' services. This seemed to me an antiquated method of self-promotion. Before the ink was dry it was already outdated as people changed phone numbers, addresses and services - and as new members joined, they may have had to wait up to a year before being listed in the next publication. There had to be a better way and I volunteered to lead the effort... The logical choice was a website for the organization so that members' info and profile could be displayed and updated easily, new members added expeditiously, sample images displayed in a portfolio, information and background about the organization, membership qualifications provided, publicity for the monthly meetings and so on.

Do you remember the very first site you designed?

It would be hard to forget the first site I designed. It was called http://swan-net.com - which stood for the original organization's name of Self-employed Writers and Artists Network, Inc. - and went live in 1996. It covered many of the aspects covered in my last answer and has continued to grow over the last 11 years which I continue to develop, update and upgrade. This first site was used as an example and sold my first commercial website and this client is still my client to this day, http://www.worldbusinesscenter.com.

Would you say that you have an area of specialization?

Services provided run the range of registration and hosting as part of the overall services of building informational websites to e-commerce sites, search engine optimization. I do not specialize in any one type of website or business type other than providing value, experience, quality, additional creative services and personalized attention to each and every customer.

Where do you get your art content for these webpages?

Most of the content, whether it is art or illustration, photography or copywriting is commissioned work using the talents and resources from NJ Creatives Network. That is the beauty of having a 'virtual office' that I can call on and count on based upon the professionalism of fellow members... Since I work with my illustrator wife, Liz Kassler, http://lizkassler.com - I have used her talents on a number of projects appropriate to her style. The Garden Defender was such a project that makes a great example. The product is garden fencing to protect vegetable and flower gardens from deer, rabbit and rodent damage. The client wanted to show the change of hungry and interested animals to them being perplexed and frustrated. Illustration was the best way to convey this. View the 'animated' sequence here http://www.gardendefender.com.

Graphic Visions also provides 3D computer illustration services and has incorporated this into a number of website projects. The 'scene' motif for the Gifts for Attorneys website - http://www.attygifts.com - was a combination of using ancient structural elements built into a court house architecture scene to provide framework for the company's product of ancient Roman coins set in Modern Jewelry as gifts for Attorneys and Law professionals.

For projects in need of photography, I use the talents of George Kamper - http://www.gkamper.com. The Gifts for Attorneys project was such a case since the product is of such high caliber and pricing structure, that the photography had to excel to meet the challenge and expectations. George's talent was also employed on the Morgan Cycle website project - http://www.morgancycle.com. With clean, crisp and large photos of the retro style ride-on vehicles for children - customers get a clear view of the product's quality. View the competitors and you'll see how Morgan Cycle's website shows off their products with more visual clarity.

What will be the next big development in webpage design?

A lot of recent talk has surfaced again about the 'integration' of technology in the home. Connectivity and fusing together of appliances of television, computers, audio etc. whereby the distinction between them gets blurred to them being seamless. So there seems to be the opportunity coming soon to watch a TV show, see a commercial or even a product 'placement' in the show itself, place your cursor on the object, search the Internet for the best price, buy it and get it shipped while not missing any of the program since it was being recorded with the digital video recorder the whole time and you could pick up where you took a time-out - using the time shift ability of recording - to buy what you saw in real time.

Have you ever worked with website templates?

Graphic Visions is essentially a custom website boutique vs. a website factory. So the answer is no, we do not use 'off the shelf' templates. We do develop our tailored designs into templates to meet each customer's specifics needs and used solely on their project. There may be a time and place for using a template which may come about from a client's budget restrictions.

What website template providers have you tried?

Templates that were tried came as part of a client's web hosting package.

What was your experience with them?

Those that we have experienced felt like we were wearing handcuffs or a straight jacket. Limiting, restrictive and annoying is what we would call them. Maybe there are much better ones that I may not be aware of. They would have to have sufficient flexibility to change graphics, layout sizes and locations and so on to be useful for my purposes.

What do you think about Flash technology?

They are useful for specifics, like slideshows, or animated intros.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Flash?

Advantages - they can provide elements to a website that they are particularly well suited to. See the Garden Defender project for a demonstration of the easy assembly and disassembly of the product as an appropriate usage... Disadvantages - if the entire site is done in Flash, it is one or multiple binary files. Since search engines are entirely text based, Flash sites are not readily visible and do not have any searchable content. In other words, invisible. At best, there needs to be two websites in this case ? one in Flash and the same thing replicated in HTML. Some Flash sites, load so slowly, either due to size or server issues ? they become useless or harmful as the frustrated potential customers will seek out a competitor with a more 'friendly' and browseable site... Another major disadvantage I have found, is reading any text on a Flash page. It has always been way too small and too fuzzy. Elements can be most annoying when they have bright flashes, never stop animating and repeating. The causes a major distraction from the focus of a website's message or product... Personally, I do not like being poked in the eye and those sites send me running. I also had one client tell me when he views a website with a Flash intro the very first thing he does is hit the Skip Intro button. He is not there to be 'entertained' or wowed. He came to get information, make a purchase, find the right company to do provide a service, get contact information and so on. For people like him, it is all about doing business and getting it done. He does not need to be impressed with the website, how much time, effort or money was spent on it. He needs to be impressed by the company itself, their products or services or guarantees. It's all about communication ? is the message getting across or is it just obscured by distractions and annoyances? Is the viewer motivated to place an order or pick up the phone? Or motivated to move on to another website?

What are your sources of inspiration?

There are many online sources such as well designed sites, image directories and museum galleries, as well as offline ? from hardcopy source books, real museums and the everyday world of nature.

What are your favorite website designs that you did design yourself?

Favorite websites are not so much about the individual site's design but the collaborative effort that makes it happen and results in a success for the customer. A great design may win awards but that award really means nothing without a winning result for the customer and for them - that usually means more or better business.

What are your interests in webpage design?

The development process is what interests and sustains me through each project. When starting a project with a client who does not have a domain name as the starting point, this can be the most gratifying. Researching and finding the right domain name, educating the client, doing the design and layout explorations, pulling the content together from many sources, whether from the client or external sources - like bringing in a photographer for the project to shoot locations, products etc. see http://www.cirrusaero.com or http://www.attygifts.com . . . getting the written content done see http://www.eliteairlineservices.com - copy by Susan Brierly http://njcreatives.org/sbrierly and see http://www.jganesconsulting.com copy by Cos Ferrara http://www.cosferrara.com... for doing 3D illustrations also see http://www.jganesconsulting.com... or getting illustrations done with my wife or other illustrators, to seeing the client get good search engine visibility and having them make sales as a result. All this provides a great deal ofsatisfaction of what I call 'just doing my job.' Of course, there is the feedback from clients that is always good to hear ? 'I can't believe what a perfect look the website has.' to 'I couldn't be happier with the website. It came out better than 'I had expected' and 'It's so easy to navigate and loads so fast'... In the end, it's all about the customer and the customer's results and not about me and my company.

Thank you, Stan, for the creative viewpoint and the customer-centered philosophy.

Helen Walker

Helen Walker graduated with a degree in Mass Communications and Sociology. She worked as a newspaper journalist for two years after that. Having always been interested in cyberculture and its impact on society, Helen switched to online journalism and joined Design Interviews blog in July, 2007. Ever since she's been interviewing web designers and administrating the blog. Helen is a keen movie-goer and she is also a panda lover.


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Get in touch with Helen: helen.walker4@gmail.com