1. You're the founder and president of Thousand Minds. Would you please tell us how you got into the web design industry?

I started the team back into 2002 and we started life out as a mobile content provider. After a few years of getting burned out with the early ages of doing SMS and MMS applications, we started feeling very limited and confined within the spaces of a very small low-res screen.
The web started to have a revival back in 2005 and we begun to explore and stretch our arms around doing something with the web.

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2. Do you remember your first web design project? Tell us about it.

Our first project was www.justanger.com We had started playing around with what we had. We had a few technical skills but at that time, I realized that no matter how technically complicated we could make a site, it won’t hold water without great design.
A believer of the 80-20 pareto rule – 80 % of the work happens behind the scenes, 20% of your work is what people will base their decisions on.

3. Your portfolio shows that you've worked over lots of different projects, which experience was the most valuable for you and why?

It’s hard to name one in particular but I would say the first site always has sentimental value. After we built justanger, I told myself, man we can do this thing! :)

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4. Are there any rules established in your company?

The only rule we have is be willing to learn and explore.

5. What principles do you personally use in your daily work?

I don’t believe in running the company “remote control” style. I’m at work every day but I’m not the type that hunches over everyone while they work. I just make myself available for comments and support. I also believe in hiring a team with varied backgrounds because I want to get as much variety as I can in terms of the design inspiration of my guys.

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6. What are key ways to increase web site interactivity?

I don’t know about key ways because the web changes so quickly but we always put ourselves in the position of our audience and try to see what they might need, what they might want to do in our site and we build from there.

7. What could make you walk away from a web design project?

Clients who think that designs are not worth much … oh, and if I win the $200million lottery. :)

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8. What are the main goals for a web design project to be successful?

One, we believe in content driven design. Two, we believe that design should be usable. Three, if we can successfully achieve one and two while making the client/our market happy.

9. What web design trends do you predict for 2010?

I’m not good with predictions. I’m not sure where it’s exactly going but I do know what I am getting tired of. I believe the web 2.0 designs are ready for a next phase in transformation. We would need a lot more experimenting to come up with something new.

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10. Would you please tell us a few words about your Just Anger project?

Justanger was our first project on a web 2.0 community site. It has been up since 2006 but to be honest, we had sadly left it untouched for 4 years now because we got so busy with other things but I am surprised at how the community still enjoys this site up until now so as our commitment to the site, we are targeting to re-hash the design of the site and get it updated in a couple of months so those who have visited the site, watch out for the face lift coming out soon then.

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11. Do you have any advices for beginners?

1 - I’m quite a logical person so I believe in design that works. It can’t just be all looks but hard to use.
2 - Next, be open to learn. Coming up with good visuals, I believe, is a gift. If you have the gift and your interest is on creating web designs, push yourself to learn the coding aspect as well. Grow your skill sets.
3- Make screenshots of all of the pages/sites that you find beautiful and make your own library. Learn from what other people are doing and see how you can push their design and improve on them.
4- Have fun.

Arthur Johnson

archer@designinterviews.com

Get in touch with Arthur: archer@designinterviews.com