Jeremiah, please tell us a bit about your background. What brought you to design?

Well I started out as a Computer Science major my first year of college. I enjoyed programming but quickly realized I was more passionate about visual design than code after a project in one of my non-CS classes where we had to design a web page. I remember just being obsessed with how the site looked and spending hours playing around with fonts and colors. I had never designed anything in my life up until that point but after that project I felt like I had found my calling. Also during that time I was starting to get really into digital photography. I started playing around with Photoshop to tweak my photos and that just melded with my new interest in design. I briefly switched to being a photography major but once I learned that the future career options for a photographer were pretty limited I started to look into design programs. The university I was attending didn't have much of a graphic design program and it was very traditional and print-based. I saw that a local community college was offering a certificate in Multimedia which sounded perfect so I enrolled there.

Was that program any helpful? How much did you have to learn on your own?

The Multimedia program I attended really served as more of an overview of digital design and the web in general. Nothing was extremely in depth since we covered such a wide range of topics. We learned about video editing, CD-ROM authoring, Photoshop, HTML coding, Flash animation and even a little bit of ActionScript. I definitely had to dig in and learn things on my own through books and web tutorials to get to a more advanced level. I've always enjoyed learning things on my own which I think is a crucial skill to have in this field since things are constantly changing.

Was it easy to find your first job?

No, not at all. I finished school in 2001 which was right at the peak of the whole dot com bust so it was an awful time to be looking for work. People were getting laid off in droves. No one was hiring. When a company was actually hiring they would be flooded with applicants. Needless to say, things were pretty bleak for someone fresh out of school with no experience. After applying to every company I could find and not getting a single response I was forced to take a job working retail. I kept sending out resumes and working on my portfolio during the retail gig, trying to build my skills and make myself more marketable. After a couple months doing that and being pretty bummed out about my career prospects I finally heard from a startup software company who was looking for a web designer. The only catch was that it was an unpaid internship. I knew that I needed experience on my resume and this was the only opportunity I had to get it. I took the job and worked hard and learned as much as I could and eventually it turned into a salaried position. The company eventually went under like so many other startups during that time but with some experience on my resume and a nice collection of projects in my portfolio I had no trouble finding work after that.

How important was your agency experience for your career?

I don't think I'd be where I am today without my first agency job working for HZDG. At my previous job I was the only designer in the company so going from that to working with a team of 20 or so designers was a huge change. I learned so much during my time there and worked with some seriously talented designers. Being around other designers to critique projects with and seeing how other people approach design problems is invaluable to someone just starting out. The environment there was very competitive which I enjoyed - for each project there would be three designers who would each submit a design comp and the client would pick their favorite of the three. So everyone was always striving to have their design picked which I think really pushed people to do their best work.

Your portfolio includes both HTML-based websites and Flash-based ones. Yet the portfolio site itself is all-Flash. Is Flash your favorite medium? Why?

I love Flash because you have complete control over every aspect of the experience without having to worry about inconsistencies among users systems and browsers. And I love being able to use non-web fonts instead of using Arial and Georgia all the time. Obviously it's not the best medium for every website but I love to work with Flash when appropriate. I think portfolio sites especially tend to lend themselves to Flash.

How did you go from web development to Flash development?

It was a pretty natural progression. A company I was working for started landing more and more projects that were Flash-based so just to keep up with my job I had to start really learning ActionScript in depth. Most of the skills in web development are pretty similar - if you can program in one language it's pretty easy to transfer those skills to a new language.

What projects in your career have been the most memorable? What makes them such?

The most memorable projects for me have always been projects that are for myself such as my portfolio. I love having complete freedom over a project and not having to do something to please a client. My absolute favorite project I have done so far is Warm Forest (http://www.warmforestflash.com). It's a site that I created that helps designers without a programming background put together a professional looking portfolio site. I did everything on the site including all the design, programming, writing and marketing. I've found I enjoy projects most when I have a strong sense of ownership in the project and it becomes my "baby".

Why did you decide to become a freelancer?

It's pretty much just something I've always wanted to do. I've always been interested in business and entrepreneurship and the idea of working for myself has always appealed to me. At one point a company I was working for was using a freelancer on a project and I remember thinking, "Why aren't I doing that?". That kind of gave me the kick to venture out on my own.

What are the benefits and disadvantages of freelancing that you've experienced?

The benefits of freelancing are all the things that first come to mind - setting your own schedule, only taking on the projects you want, being able to work in your pajamas, etc. The only real disadvantage I can think of is not having a team of people around you when you work. It's nice having people around to chit chat with or bounce ideas off of. I do work onsite with clients quite a bit though which helps alleviate that problem a little. A lot of freelancers say they hate the whole business/finance side of things like invoicing and money management but I'm weird in that I actually enjoy that sort of thing.

How do you find work now?

I'm fairly lucky in that pretty much all of my work comes through word of mouth or people just finding my site somehow. The first six months of my freelance career I actively sought out work by replying to job postings. Since then though, in the last two years I haven't had to look for work at all which has been awesome. Luckily my skillset has been pretty in demand especially in the Washington, DC area where I live.

You have freelanced for multiple design agencies. How does that work? What are the advantages of freelancing for an agency compared to being employed by it?

I've built up a fairly good relationship with a dozen or so design agencies that I can count on for bringing me a steady steam of projects. There are definitely disadvantages to freelancing with agencies though. A lot of times agencies will come to me when they are overloaded with work and trying to meet a tight deadline so things can be pretty hectic. I might be brought on just for a certain part of the project so sometimes I'll miss out on some of the initial brainstorming stages which are fun to be involved in. The best part about doing work through agencies is the caliber of clients you get to work with. Typically big, nationally recognized brands that would look good in a portfolio tend to work with large agencies as opposed to individual freelancers. I've worked on banners ads for some popular video games and it isn't likely that I could land that type of client without working with an agency.

Do you always code your own designs or do you prefer when other people do it?

I prefer to code things myself when possible. I'm pretty picky about the final product being pixel perfect to the design comps so the best way to ensure that is to just build things out myself. It's nice to be able to mix things up jumping from design to code. It definitely makes projects more interesting and challenging and keeps me from getting bored.

What advice would you give to starting web designers and Flash developers?

Never stop learning and constantly push yourself. If you work hard and are passionate about what you do, you will be successful. For freelancers, always deliver beyond expectations and your clients will keep coming back.

Thanks a lot for the interview, Jeremiah.

Lillian Wells

Lillian Wells has worked on the web for a while but has only recently discovered the joys of blogging. She combines her teaching career with what gives her the most satisfaction - following web trends and taking interviews from outstanding professionals. Her inbox is always open for comments and suggestions. You can also follow her on Twitter.

Get in touch with Lillian: designinterviews@gmail.com