How did you get into web design?

I was about 20 and practicing/studying CG 2D/3D, when some startup - yeah, 1999 or so - asked me to design their new commercial website's header. They liked it so much that they then asked me ?can you design our whole website ?', I said ?Yes of course' and it was a total lie since I knew nothing about the Internet. So I bought a book from Linda Weinmann about the basics of web design - it was really easy at this time : a dozen tags, gif-jpeg formats, tables, and here we go - read it in one week-end and designed this dawn website. As the whole stuff was really well paid - much more than 3D graphics in videogames - I decided to go further in this way.

Do you remember the very first site you designed?

The website I just talked about. About six months later, like so many, I was totally blasted by nrg.be and decided to work with Flash.

You are doing a lot of Flash, is this a specialization for you?

Although I was originally into 2D/3D graphics, Flash and online interactivity became a specialization since the major part of my clients ask me for this kind of work now.

Where do you get your art for these webpages?

Everywhere but on the web. If I'm looking for inspiration, I'll watch ads, movies, objects, sportswear, paintings, videoclips, CD artworks . . . A webdesign-overloaded brain, fueled only with pre-processed material, is the best way to design the same things as everyone else. Adapting, transforming and remixing inspirations from medias to another is the interesting part of the job. That's why I hardly ever go on those award-websites like the FWA.

What will be the next big development in webpage design?

I don't know. It's not a question I'm obsessed by. I like to read and see about new technics and big things coming like everyone else, but trying to do the best work I can with tools of today is quite a job. So I'm interested in things coming next of course, but not enough to predict something.

What are your favorite website designs that you did and did NOT design yourself?

As I said I'm not a webdesign collector, but if I had to chose one studio that blasts me off it would be Wefail.

What was the toughest project or customer situation you've encountered?

Working with some ?Online Project Manager' in a big agency who asked me things like ?please design the website in A4 format so it will be fullscreen' or ?what's the SIZE in centimeters of your .swf file? I want to know how much text I can put in it'. Like many others, the guy just came from print and knew nothing about online medias. Awful experience.

What are your interests and dislikes in webpage design?

I like things with impact. They can be pimp-flashy or minimalist stuff, I like things that have some soul and atmosphere. What I dislike the most in web design is designers who think them as pure artists.

Thank you, Yamo, for your approach to webdesign.

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.


Look for me on:
- Twitter
- VIRB
- Facebook

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