1.    How are you doing Ronnie? Would you please tell us a little about your background?

Good thanks, got a cup of tea and it’s early, too early for my brain to be functioning. I started off in coding back in 2003 but realized pretty quickly that I didn’t have the patience so sauntered over to the side that best fit my natural ability & interest; graphical & user experience web design.

2.    We know that you have BA in Industrial design & Technology, so please tell us is formal education of a great importance? Could you succeed without attending Loughborough University?

Formal education is important for the development of anyone but the question is whether or not you have to be trained within an institution to be good & successful at what you do. The answer in my eyes is no. My Industrial design course didn’t cover web design; I taught myself web design when I couldn’t get a job in industrial design by good old fashioned persistence, research, trial/error and elbow grease. Educating oneself by whatever means is important, attending Loughborough University was my launch pad for that but doesn’t have to be for others. The net & people themselves are rich with information to educate oneself.

3.    Would you please tell us a little about your hobbies?

Other than design,… I like to run because it helps clear my mind after a long day sat at my desk. I’ve thought up of many web design ideas and resolved problems while running through the park. I like to get down the pub with a few friends to have a pint (or two) and chat about all things life & work – you can get solutions & ideas here too. I’m a big fan of rugby but I can’t play it anymore because my shoulders been dislocated so many times. I had to have my tendons pinned to my shoulder so I’ve resided to watching the matches rather than playing them.

4.    Was the first year after graduating hard for you? Cause when people start working they usually realize that theory differs greatly from practice.

It was utterly soul destroying to be frank. I applied for countless jobs all over the UK for Industrial Design work and made many a shortlist but was never picked for the job. That was the main reason why I decided to make the transition to graphical design which then led me to web design. You’re quite right to say that ‘theory differs from practice’ because doing the job and getting stuck in is far more rewarding than learning about it. It took me a while to find my feet in the design world and worked for 8K a year for a small design studio cropping artwork day after day. It was really boring but I learnt some skills back then that I use religiously today.

5.    We know you were involved in corporate event branding for Philips. Was it interesting to cooperate with such a business giant?

Working for Philips was an eye opener and hard work. Big corporates are extremely strict on branding, something that we could all learn from. Your brand and its message are key to the way the public perceive your company. For instance, Apple is perceived to be a company to sell products/software for the creative & free thinkers amongst us. Microsoft is the opposite; it’s perceived to be a company for the techies amongst us. These are brand messages that they’ve fought hard to install in the public in order to attract their target market. Unfortunately, in Microsoft’s case, Apple has been using that against them in the ‘I’m a PC and I’m an Apple’ promo videos?

In the case of Philips I learnt one fascinating fact about their branding and that is they have a strict branding policy that has to be adhered to across all media that doesn’t allow other content within a 2 cm rap around of their logo. This is to draw focus to the brand and not to clutter it. It’s the same principle that applies to Her Majesty The Queen. If you look closely you’ll notice that when the Queen walks in public no-one apart from her advisor stands near here. That’s to draw focus to her, nobody wants Her Majesty to be lost in the crowd now do we,… lol!

6.    Do you think knowing SEO is important for web designers? What other things should a professional web designer learn?

Having a key understanding in the principalities of SEO is very important in the web design process because it can generate free traffic for your client over the long haul. I don’t think that you need to have a comprehensive understanding on how to generate traffic through SEO but knowing fundamental facts that keep the site accessible to all search engines is important. It’s probably best to leave SEO to the so called experts!

7.    You know that everything is changing in a blink of an eye, especially when we are talking about web technologies. How do you think what might be the next big development in web-design?

This is a huge question that can’t be handled by one man alone. I initially wrote 2 pages on this but have whittled it down to the following ideas I’d love to see web design progress to:

Deconstruction of the Boxed wireframe:
In my opinion the design aesthetics of most websites have become samey and off the shelf template website packages are to blame for that. We’re still stuck in the ideology that perfectly balanced and boxed wire framing of content is imperative to its final desired effect of ‘oooo, I love it!’ This unfortunately is because freelancers generally have to work to the preference & taste of their client and they’re knowledge of what good design is - is based on what they currently see online. So it’s a bit of a catch twenty-two.

I my opinion web design needs to move away from boxed layouts too less conventional formatting of web pages that sees the screen size as not a restriction to the web design but an advantage. Scrolling pages are an excellent example of this and you can see one here (http://www.morphix.si/#home)

3D Web Design & Webecology
A website in itself should transport the web browser into the website owner’s world, something I like to call their webecology. Taking websites to 3D would do this seamlessly by pulling the web browser directly into the website drawing out a greater interaction level between browser and content which will generate a higher emotive return. In my opinion that would be a fun & exciting web experience. If you’ve seen Avatar then you’ll know what I mean.

Augmented Reality App design

Augmented Reality Apps seem so futuristic it hurts. The short & curlies (if you haven’t heard of Augmented Reality Apps before now,..) is that you can place any media with a special recognition trigger on it in front of your webcam and it will open up a graphical 3D world right in front of your eyes. This bit of technology meets design is getting more and more recognition and promoters all over the world are using it to create online to offline interacting environments. Like Shaq O.neal playing guitar and dancing to music on a bottle and baseball playing cards that come to life for you to actually play baseball with. It’s hard to explain it, so simple go here and see it for yourself. (http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/03/09/topps-releases-mind-bending-webcam-hologram-baseball-cards/).

8.    Is it better to be a freelance or full time worker?

This depends on your current situation. Freelance is not for the faint hearted because it takes a lot of hard graft. If you go freelance you’ve got to remember that it’s not just about web design but sourcing the clients, contracting them, doing the paperwork & balancing the books, making sure they’re happy, managing the work load, the list goes on and on. In a nutshell if you decide to go Freelance be prepared to work, and then work, and then work some more. However at some point in every freelancer’s career the switch turns on and you realize the goodies that come with being freelance. The main one for me is the ability to manage my time and work on personal projects that will benefit my interests and goals in the long term to becoming self sufficient. I love the fact that if I decide not to work, I simply switch my computer off. Try doing that in full time work.

However a 9 to 5 job has its own benefits, like a secure income and a canvas to explore your creativity without too much financial stress. It’s really up to the individual to decide whether or not they’re ready to take the plunge into Freelance work.

9.    What inspires you most?

Everything,… Being a designer for me is like being a sponge, you have to soak up everything around you in order to better your work. This also means taking inspiration from negative factors as well as positive.

10.    What usually stimulates you while working?

Music, tea and picking up my phone and abusing one of my friends, in a jokingly manner of course. Having something to lift your mood other than the task at hand is a must.

11.    Can you give a small advice for the beginners?

Don’t stop! If you love what you do you’ll inevitably become successful because you’ll instinctively do what it takes to get the job done naturally. If you don’t enjoy what you do then it’s a forced action and you’ll inevitably be looking at ways to complete the job rather than pushing its boundaries to make it that bit better. Let’s face it, who enjoys eating Brussels sprouts? I don’t, but I have to eat the little buggers every Christmas, yuk! Sausages on the other hand I’ll eat all day long,… I could happily do that as a job all year round if I could survive the rigors of life on it.

Arthur Johnson

archer@designinterviews.com

Get in touch with Arthur: archer@designinterviews.com