Grace: Sure, I remember creating sites using Geocities when I was a lot younger, so it feels like I’ve been ‘online’ for a long time! Although I didn’t start designing properly until my first year at University.

After I graduated with a Multimedia Design Degree in 2005 I started work as a graphic designer for a local print company. Concentrating so much on print work made me miss working online though, so after a year I started to freelance in my spare time and build up both my contacts and portfolio to the point where I could freelance full-time. I then formed Postscript5 – a small but perfectly formed design studio here in Northern Ireland, which has now been in existence for over 3 years.

I work with individuals and companies based mainly in the UK and USA, on a diverse range of projects from branding and blog design to application UIs.

Grace: It gave me a solid foundation to the basics and introduced me to CSS which has been the most beneficial. However I feel that I’ve progressed much faster through teaching myself over the years. I personally don’t feel a formal education is necessary to succeed as a freelance designer, as most of the skills that I use everyday have been self taught.

In essence a formal education is only designed to equip you with the necessary skills to enter the working world and that the learning isn’t supposed to stop when you graduate.

Achieving a Degree was only a stepping stone in my development as a designer but it’s my motivation to constantly learn new skills and techniques that has made the most impact on my overall experience and ability as a designer.

Grace: I use a consistent documented process for each project which is constantly being refined. It includes the following phases:

Phase 1: Consultation
Tools Used: Wufoo (Previously Microsoft Word)

I start with a discussion with the client on the scope of the project which provides a solid foundation and understanding of the project as a whole. The project is then defined using the Creative Brief (a Wufoo form). This is a questionnaire which gathers the essential information about the project and helps me determine the estimated timeframe, costs and expertise required.

I recently switched to Wufoo as it is a much more maintainable method of collecting the necessary information, also their forms rock!

Phase 2: Discovery

Once there is a clear concept for the project, it moves into discovery and research. I get to know and understand the exact needs of the project along with research into users needs and goals, target audience or demographic until there is a complete outline. I also build up a thorough picture of the personality and intended style of the website.

Depending on the scale and complexity of the project we may then move into creating a visual sitemap of the project which is essential for organisation of content on larger projects.

Phase 3: Wireframes
Tools Used: Photoshop & Mockflow

I then create sketches of the layout which are turned into wireframes (depending on the project this is either done using the Greybox Method in Photoshop or Mockflow). These are then reviewed and approved before the design process begins.

Wireframing is an essential part of the design process as it gives a stragetic view of the positioning of elements within the layout and shows how the content will flow on the page. I also use it to iron out any problems or missing elements, and acts as the blueprint for the content, design and construction work that comes later.

Phase 4: Design
Tools Used: Photoshop & Notable

Once the wireframes are approved the project moves onto the design phase. The wireframes are taken and given the design treatment and polished. They are then presented for feedback (using Notable) and iteration as necessary until approved.

Phase 5: Implementation
Tools Used: Coda & Mamp

I then build the design into working prototypes using CSS and XHTML (all according to accessbility guidelines). These are presented (using a subdomain and when necessary a Wordpress testing ground), and given feedback on all aspects of the build. I then work with the client to polish and tweak until the build is finalised and complete.

Phase 6: Testing and Launch
Tools Used: Parallels & Browsercam

Although the project is tested through each stage of the build, this stage involves a complete usability test across all platforms and browsers, checking for cross-platform functionality and appearance. I use a combination of my own testing environment and Browsercam to do a complete check, with the results forwarded onto you for review. We are then ready for launch!

Phase 7: Monitoring and Maintenance

Once the site is launched I will do a thorough link check and monitor the site for 7 days to squash any potential problems that may arise.

Although I follow this process closely for all design projects, it will depend on the particular project and some steps may not be necessary.

Grace: Admittedly it’s not always easy to manage my time as effectively as I would like, however I find that by implementing a few steps I’m able to manage my time quite efficiently, as outlined below:

1. Side Projects

I’m a big believer in side projects. They allow a designer/developer to experiment and challenge themselves, however they can take up a huge amount of time if not planned correctly.

The projects I run, including: CSSLoaf & The Freelance Feed, have been created in such a way they are extremely easy and quick to maintain. Both take approximately 1 hour a week each to update which means although they both have a good sized audience and are regularly updated, they don’t become a time sink.

2. Blog & Twitter

With my blog, I write most of the articles over the weekend which leaves my week focused on Postscript5. Most of the research that goes into an article is done over the course of a few days or a week. This is accomplished using a Text document which sits in my Dock which is used to gather snippets of research, thoughts and notes. This is done on an ad hoc basis, meaning I don’t have to take huge chunks of time out to research. I’ve also found using this approach the article feels more organic and flows better.

Twitter is an amazing tool but it can also be a huge distraction. You will probably notice from my timeline that I tweet most often in the late afternoon or evening, as this leaves the majority of my day distraction free. By following certain feeds and groups, I can catch up on a general selection of information or links that were tweeted throughout the day.

Being active in the community for me personally is essential, and being able to join organised Twitter chats like DCTH or just having a conversation on Skype with a fellow designer or developer keeps me grounded within the industry and inspired.

Grace: My favorite trend would have to be the focus on Typography that has really taken off within the last two years. It means more and more designers are putting more thought into the typography they use and now understand that the details of a typeface can inject meaning into a design.

The implementation of the new @font-face CSS property now allows designers to link to any font file and pull it into a webpage. Also with thrid-party font services like Typekit, Typotheque and Kernest, we now have more options than ever before.

It’s already started but what’s slowly taking place is that more and more designers are establishing themselves alongside the already well known figures within the industry. People like Tim Van Damme, Sarah Parmenter and Elliot Jay Stocks (to name just a few) are paving the way for the new breed of designers and thinkers. It’s great to see events (for instance DIBI) with a lineup of new and refreshing designers and developers alongside established speakers. The reason I think this is particularly exciting is it allows those new to the industry to see it’s achievable to really have your say and share your thoughts and ideas within the design niche and that it’s not closed off.

Of course we all hugely respect and admire the fantastic people who have helped shape and form the web design industry and best practices, but it’s exciting to see a variety of other talented designers share the spotlight and inspire a whole new generation.

Grace: There is so much advice I could offer to young entrepreneurs and freelancers but I will focus on what I believe to be three key points:

(1) Define Your Services – It’s perfectly fine to be a ‘Jack of all trades’ but while you may offer a variety of services, you really want want to be known as “The (insert speciality) Expert”. In order to do this you need to clearly define what you rock at and then communicate it in everything you do.

(2) Get Networking – Real, proactive networking isn’t about boring sales pitches or sharing what you had for lunch on twitter, it’s about building genuine connections. Sharing information and experiences across your social networks (and blog if you have one) will help strengthen your business and as importantly, will prove your knowledge and value to others. You need to actively engage with others and participate. It will take time but you will notice your visibility will improve and others will start taking note of you and your business. Of course one of the most important elements in being successful in networking is to inject your personality!

(3) Build Your Brand – It’s been talked about so often, it’s nearly become a cliche, but building your brand is important. Your aim is to expand your network and provide value to build awareness, trust and reputation in your brand. For any entrepreneur this means developing ongoing, genuine and valuable interactions between your target market and your brand.

By genuinely and sincerely engaging others and proving to be a valuable person in peoples’ networks and a thoughtful contributor to the community, you will be rewarded over the long and short term.

Alen: Hi and thanks for having me! I am a freelance web designer/developer located on the coast of North Adriatic. I started with web at the turn of the century but I have been freelancing for the past 5 years. Nowadays I design, develop, blog, teach… On a personal note, I am married, father of a beautiful 7 year old boy and I enjoy long distance triathlon (known as Ironman triathlon).

Alen: To be quite honest, I am really not sure. I would like to hear that from my readers. I have a certain criteria when publishing the news so I hope that is what is being recognized. On the other hand, I started publishing community news in 2005, well before many of the sites you see now, so it might be that people got used to CSSG

Alen: Css Globe is actually the only site that I update daily. Other two get updated on occasions. I have a lot of client work so I don’t have the time to focus on personal projects as much as I would like to. My dream is to have 100% of my income from my own projects but I simply can’t make that extra step. Bills need to be payed regularly and I can’t afford taking couple of months off to bring my projects to the next level. Hope I will make it though…

Alen: There are lot of great “offline” design solutions that you can take inspiration from. Since web design relates mostly to graphic design you can easily find inspiration looking at magazines, posters etc. What I find inspirational is not design related. I am most inspired when working on cool locations. I work on a laptop, so whenever I have a creative block I simply step out of the office, find a great spot and work. It helped me on more than one occasion.

Alen: Although most of the people visiting CSS Globe could be described as job seekers instead of job providers, I had my share of leads generated from the site. CSS Globe helped me to get my name out there, so rarely I need to introduce myself to potential clients which is a very good thing.

Alen: I can’t say that I would change anything other than perhaps the name. When I started I wrote mostly about CSS but now it’s all about web development. Perhaps I will change the name, but I can’t think of a way of doing that painlessly.

Alen: Be patient. Aim for quality and it will be recognized. I have witnessed many successful sites grow (even Smashing Magazine posted their updates on CSS Globe regularly when they started). It takes some time but if you have a goal and stay persistent, you’ll get there.

Franz: Hi! First of all I want to say thanks for having me. It’s a pleasure to be a part of the March Interview Madness. So here’s a bit about myself. I’m 24 years old and live in London. Originally I am from Luxembourg and only moved to the UK 4 years ago to study. Last year I graduated with a Masters in Physics from University College London. Having fallen in love with the city I decided to stay and dive into full-time design freelancing. Unlike many designers I had a very late start. There’s no stories about me drawing on everything as a child or similar. I’ve really only became interested in design at the age of 19. The first contact was through my band I played in at the time. Rather than hiring a designer I decided to get into Photoshop and Dreamweaver to design CD artwork, flyers and the band’s myspace. By reading many design blogs I got more and more interested in design and the community. Eventually I gave in to the urge and started my first blog. Fudgegraphics was born almost 2 years ago while still at uni. Most of what I know today (about design) I have learnt through running the blog and keeping up with the community.

Franz: As mentioned before the main inspiration to start Fudgegraphics were all the great design blogs out there. I was amazed at the how nice and helpful the community was and just wanted to be a part of it. It amazes me still. Other designers and bloggers push me to become better. I want to keep up with them. Whatever I did in life I never did it halfheartedly and it’s the same with design. I think if you’re truly passionate about something it doesn’t take any specific piece of advice to inspire you to grow. At the same time getting positive feedback on a completed project is a great boost also. I just love design, love talking about it, love sharing my knowledge and love doing it. So i would say that the main motivation comes from within me rather than having an external source.

Franz: It’s really hard to only pick one. It always varies and often depends on the projects I’m working on. Each job has its particular difficulties and I always try to push the boundaries. I would say however that the hardest part of each project is to get the overall layout right. It doesn’t matter how fancy or minimal a design is if it’s not balanced it won’t work. Once that initial set-up is done (although it is likely to change along the way) the other elements usually fall into place. One way of improving my skills is by doing self-initiated designs. This is the main reason I started the wallpaper calendar series on Fudgegraphics. It forces me to come up with a new design each month and I always try out new techniques. Inspiration often comes from what’s going on around me or what designers I recently discovered.

Franz: Fudgegraphics wouldn’t be where it is if it weren’t for social media (especially Twitter). It’s a great way to keep up with the community and readers. It’s not always easy to keep on top of all the social media sites, but each service has its perks. I use Facebook to keep up with friends as well as to promote the Fudgegraphics Fan Page. Twitter is probably the most important tool in the arsenal as it allows me to connect with fans and fellow bloggers at the same time. There’s always someone to help you promote a post or just have a quick chat. As for Digg, well I think we all agree that it isn’t what it used to be when it comes to design news. Other sites such as DesignBump have take over which is why I kind of abandoned Digg. Using social profiles also helps you to establish yourself a brand while at the same time reminding people of the person behind it all.

Franz: First you have to make sure that you’re in it because you love it. If you’re only in it to make quick money, well, tough luck mate. That’s not gonna happen. You have to be persistent and patient. It takes time to gain a certain reputation. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. For instance it’s good practice to send out an e-mail to established bloggers to introduce yourself. Most importantly: just do it. Don’t let people get to you who don’t believe in you.

Mark: I am a half South African, half British digital designer, currently living in London, but soon returning to the beautiful, warm Cape Town. I’ve been freelancing in web design since 2003, but always involved in my own online pet projects. In the last 2 years though I’ve been able to quit the freelance-based contract work and concentrate on my pet projects that now generate me enough passive income to live comfortably, namely WooThemes.com.

Mark: Straight out of school I enrolled in a one year course in digital design that touched on desktop publishing, graphic design, and motion design. I then went on to the University of Cape Town where I completed a 3 year commerce degree, majoring in Information Systems. Throughout the degree I struggled with the analytical approach to systems development, and always preferred working on interface designs, usability studies and playing in Photoshop with color and shapes. The combination of the commerce degree and the digital design course gelled well together in third year when we learnt the basics of table-based web design. I knew it was for me. 7 years later the web has changed pretty significantly, but I’ve loved the journey.

I’ve followed Jeffrey Zeldman, Jon Hicks, John Oxton, and 456 Berea Street from the very early days and always drawn oodles of inspiration from their sites.

Mark: WooThemes has changed my life. Being able to take a holiday, or be sick and not worry about how I’m going to pay the next bill is rather satisfying. Taking what used to be my billable hourly contract work and turn it into something commodity based that we can sell exponentially is much more sustainable for me and my family’s future. Only with WooThemes would I have been able to do cool things like – http://slopes.woothemes.com/

Heading up the design collaborations at WooThemes means I’ve networked, met and worked with some of the industry leading web designers around the world. Working with these individuals has really inspired and pushed me to excel in my design expertise.

Mark: A theme usually takes about a month to develop, from conceptualisation right through to release. We usually gain inspiration for a theme with feedback from our Woo users on our blog, or on Basecamp where we have a group of beta testers suggesting theme ideas. This is followed by either Cobus, Magnus or myself pushing pixels around in Photoshop getting the wireframe, layouts and styling 100%. We then convert the design into html/css templates after which we jack in the basic wordpress functionality and create some alternate styles. Jeff and Fox then add the WooThemes bells and whistles being our easy to use WooFramework wizardry.

Luckily we quite a big team now, together with our designer collaborations, so each theme is usually really unique with a lot of creative juice poured into the design from a lot of different angles.

Mark: I believe the fast-growing number of commercial theme providers need to really up their game in order to be sustainable, producing innovative themes that haven’t been seen before, for niche users that have previously not been catered for. I believe in 2010 we’ll see lots of themes pushing the boundaries of Wordpress, themes that are more than just aesthetically pleasing, themes that when installed offer plugin-based functionality right out of the box. At WooThemes we plan more Google Maps integration, advanced search functionality, e-commerce facilities, and custom post types.

Mark: I’d say it’s a combination of the two. Design wise I still trust my instincts in Photoshop, whilst with the functionality I’m building into the design I turn to the end-user’s opinion for really innovative ideas. Working with a vast array of designer’s definitely helps inspire you to produce something better each time though.

Mark: Harness the social media tools available to you, follow the cream of the crop in your area of online expertise and learn from them. Network with them. Grow, groom and market your portfolio, and when you have even a few minutes of spare time don’t waste them – work on pet projects!

Michael: Sure thing. I started Pro Blog Design around 2 and a half years ago and it’s grown to have just over 10,000 subscribers now. We write a lot about WordPress and web design, so naturally that helps find us a few design clients! And that’s where our core business lies; with web design services (And putting everything into WordPress of course! )

Michael: I think it’s safe to say that the blog is the entire reason that my design business exists the way it does today! The only marketing we do to find clients is to promote that blog. Clients then find the blog and click the “Services” link.

Building a blog is a huge amount of work, but when it gets to this point, it’s an incredible advantage. We don’t have to waste time cold calling or anything like that, and we don’t have the hassle of weeding through job boards.

No doubt if we did do all of those things then maybe we’d find a few more clients, but working for yourself is about more than just money. You have to enjoy what you do. And I love blogging!

Michael: Haha, this is still an area I need to work on! I’m ashamed to say that my task list used to just be my inbox. I slowly worked through tasks from the emails until the day was done. That is the *worst* way to work. None of the important things get done.

I have a new system now which works quite well, mostly because it’s simple I think!

- Each night I write down (literally, with a pen! Wow!) 2-3 of the most important tasks that I want to get done the next day.

- The first task on the list is the one that I least want to do, and it’s the one I *have* to do first. It feels great to have that done by lunchtime the next day!
- I use a webapp called Todoist.com. It’s just a to-do list, but it’s by far the best one I’ve found. It’s incredibly minimal, but it packs in so much functionality (All based on what you type, so you really wouldn’t know the functions were there unless you read their help pages!).

With Todoist, I schedule the less important tasks (That still ought to be done) for when it suits (Doesn’t matter if I miss those deadlines though), e.g. If during a project, a client says that they want to use “x” plugin for something, then I’ll note it down in there and can easily refer back to it when I’m coding the site later.

- Last of all, I use Google Calendar to get a picture of everything (Like what posts I have scheduled for the site etc.), and Gmail (Though I try to check it only once or twice a day now)

Michael: That it’s hard work! The first year or so of the blog was easy. Writing regularly was relatively new to me and the ideas were just overflowing. There’s still loads to write about, but when you’ve had the same scheduled task for 2-3 years in a row, every single week, it starts to feel slightly less important (Well, depending on what else you have to do as well).

That’s just something you have to battle with though. I hire a lot of writers for Pro Blog Design now, mostly to help with the workload, but also because I get fresh minds in and people who specialize in other areas from me. Giving yourself a little break from time to time can be just what you need to get back into writing at full speed!

Michael: I love clean designs, but with a little flair to them. It’s great to keep a site as minimal as it can be, but keeping that whilst adding a little color and some design magic is what makes a site truly special to me!

At Pro Blog Design, I work with 2 other designers on client projects. The 3 of us all have a slightly different style, so we all complement each other and I can make sure that a client gets the designer that will work best with them.

Michael: Busy! There are a huge number of freelancing designers out there, and the advice you hear everywhere now is to get a blog (Which I fully agree with!). The effect of that is particularly high on the design blogging niche because of the freelancers I mentioned.

Freelancers looking to promote their business will try any marketing, and setting up a blog isn’t a hard first step. And what topic to write about? Their design business of course!

In terms of how that will evolve over the next year, I see people starting to specialize more. In a crowded niche, you need to have an angle. The best example I’ve seen of that is WpRecipes.com. It’s not a new blog anymore, but it’s angle was to post very short, but very useful, code snippets. It was perfect!

More and people should start looking for an angle that will make them stand out.

Michael: “Just do it.”

I always steal the Nike slogan when I’m asked for advice, but it’s for good reason. I’ve made a lot of mistakes so far, but the ones I regret most are without doubt, the ones I didn’t make. The timing will never be right (To be honest, it will never even be “good”!), but starting today is always better than starting tomorrow.

And don’t worry about your age. It’s only an inhibitor if you let it be one (e.g. No-one on the web knows my age, save the people I work with), and quite a few people have turned their age into a marketing factor!

Marco: Hi Brian! Thanks for conducting this interview, I’m honored! I’m Marco Kuiper and I work as a software developer. I live in a town called Arnhem in The Netherlands which is a pretty nice place. I’m the owner of my own weblog called Marcofolio.net . The name of my blog established from the combination of “Marco” and “Portfolio”. Since I stopped working as a (freelance) webdeveloper, I removed the portfolio, but the name still remains.

I started the blog in 2007, just as a place to dump some fun stuff that I found online and place tutorials/resources for developers/designers. Starting in 2009, I started creating serious high quality articles about HTML, CSS(3) and jQuery.

Marco: Most of the things I currently know about (web)design are self-thought. Although I have to admit that I’m not the perfect “Photoshop Guru” (still learning that by reading loads of tutorials on the web), I do know my way around CSS(3), HTML and jQuery. I hardly read any books, but the “trial and error” technique has worked out pretty good so far. Learning from code examples from others is a great way to learn!

I studied “Computer Engineering” for a couple of years, which can explain the knowledge about the server-side techniques (PHP, ASP.NET etc.). How did I roll into the field? I always had the love and passion to program stuff, as well as looking and creating beautiful things!

Marco: Thank you for your compliment. I think one of the main reasons the success of Marcofolio is keeping up, is the uniqueness of the posts. For every article, I try to create something truly unique which is always in the best interest of the reader. I work out code examples, add comments etc. just for the visitor to actually know what’s going on in that piece of code. I think that’s what people really appreciate since they’re the ones that learn the technique and can use the article as a useful resource.

Blogging doesn’t have much impact on my life – it just has impact on my overall time. Since I work as a software developer by day, loads of spare time goes to blogging. But since it’s just a hobby, I don’t really care. I really enjoy writing on Marcofolio!

Marco: Good question actually. When I want to know something about programming, I’ll simply kick up Google and search whatever I need. I draw inspiration from everywhere; On the web, magazines, nature etc. Inspiration can be found everywhere! Sometimes, when looking at something, I wonder if I can create it myself using HTML/CSS/jQuery. A couple of articles on Marcofolio are actually placed after those thoughts!

Marco: Never stop learning and exploring! Keep on developing, create proof of concepts and improve yourself. Just keep on loving what you do and be passionate about it.

Syed: I started working on the web at age 12 when I first moved to United States. I started by making wallpapers and moved into the industry of domaining and paid forum posting. At one point, I owned over 400 domain names. While reselling domains was easy, the profit margin was not very high. Therefore, I moved onto developing some of those domains into websites. My first niche was proxies, and I ran a network of over 50 proxies. I sold the network and then moved to the web directory industry. At this time, I also started Uzzz Productions. I created over thirty directories both free and paid. This is the time when I started blogging and running affiliate marketing campaigns. I sold my directory business in late 2007. I founded Balkhis.com (My Personal blog) in 2008 and kept running my affiliate campaigns. This is the time Uzzz became more than just me and I got co-workers who help me. This brings me to the present where I am running WPBeginner, Balkhis, Uzzz (and more to come later this year). To read more about me visit: balkhis.com/about

Syed: First, I feel that you should not mix your personal life and business for the sake of branding. Second, it would not be fair to the WPBeginner’s Editors if I just put my name or face on the site. There are other people that are behind WPBeginner. If you go to my personal blog: Balkhis, you will see my face on it. You will also see my personal twitter profile (@syedbalkhi). Same logic goes behind the twitter and other social media profiles as well. There are other people who manage the @wpbeginner twitter account.

While I might be the person speaking at WordCamps wearing WPBeginner’s shirt, there are other people behind the site as well. When you launch anything big, you have to take these things in consideration. If Matt put his face all over WordPress, it would not be fair to the other people who worked on the platform. I hope you see the logic behind my decision.

Syed: I do not feel comfortable sharing the revenue that the site makes from a specific source. All I can say is that the business is profitable and satisfying. We love helping new users with WordPress. Our goal is not focused on the short-term revenue, but it is to make long term clients for Uzzz Productions. This site has allowed me to meet a lot of new people from various business backgrounds. To answer your last question, I am not the person who is doing the installation because I am busy with other projects, social media, and consultation. As a matter of fact, I am probably the last person who does these setups.

Syed: WordPress is open-source, user friendly, easy to upgrade, tons of themes, a lot of useful plugins, pretty good in terms of security, support for cross blog communication and search engines, versatility, and flexibility. (I don’t think I can explain it better than the page we have on WPBeginner).

Syed: The ideas are usually suggested by our users either from one of the social media networks, or through our website’s Make a Suggestion form. Some of these ideas are taken from conferences that I or another editor attends.

Syed: Majority of my time is spent on running Uzzz Productions. I am the main consultant who talks about SEO, and WordPress. I am also the person who does social media marketing for clients. A lot of my time is spent networking. As I mentioned above, that our goal with WPBeginner was not to make short-term revenue, but it is to make long-term clients. WPBeginner has increased the number of clients and gave Uzzz Productions the exposure that it needed.

Syed: WPBeginner’s following is growing and we are loving the exposure it is getting in social media. Our goal is to continue providing quality content because everyone loves a good resourceful article. Users share quality resource with their friends on twitter, facebook, and other networks which in turn get us the exposure and traffic we want.

Syed: To make it short and simple, NO.

Syed: First of all, I have a problem with how the word Premium is used. We need to avoid associating Premium with commercial themes. Premium means “Quality”. There are tons of free themes that are Premium, and there are many commercial themes that are not Premium. To answer your question what do I think about commercial theme marketplace? I think the market is getting more and more saturated every day. If you are a new designer, you should forget about making any big profit for a good year or two. There are big names like Thesis, StudioPress, Headway, and others who are dominating the market. You can go to Envato’s theme marketplace to get more exposure, but be prepared to give up 70% of the sale. I think there are some great themes out there, and there are some that are not so good. I do not want to bash any specific company in this interview, but my advice to people is to not judge the book by it’s cover. While something might look good, it might not be as good in terms of functionality. Over the next year, I think themes that are compatible with the GPL license have a bright future unless you have a marketer like Chris Borgan promoting it (Hint: Thesis).

Syed: Adventurous. Every day I have to struggle through some issue or a problem. I try not to work more than eight hours in one day, but it never works out. Often, I see myself in front of the screen at 3 a.m in the morning. I play basketball, and break dance when I have extra time. Don’t forget that I am a full-time student at University of Florida (Go Gators).

Syed: Now I will be bashed, but PC all the way. I have been using PCs since age 7, and I am used to of it. Although I have multiple operating systems on different machines, I prefer Linux over other OS.

Syed: Specialize and make connections. You cannot do everything alone. Find partners, or specialize. Find a niche and try to capitalize it. Second but equally important, you should make connections. Attend every conference that you can because it is the connections that matter in every business industry. If you really have the talent, your connections will take you very far.

Jacob: First off thank you for the opportunity to be published on Elite By Design, much appreciated Brian.

As for me, I am a graphic designer, web designer & brand identity designer who recently (Jan 6th 2010) moved from Sydney to New York City to work for an awesome new media design agency called Carrot Creative, made possible through a job offer on Twitter. When I am not working for Carrot Creative or freelancing, I focus my efforts across three other websites, Just Creative Design, Logo Designer Blog and Logo Of The Day.

Below is a bit of information about each of these sites:

Just Creative Design

Just Creative Design was launched in November 2007 as my design business and also as a graphic design blog. The blog focuses on all areas of design and creativity, ranging from but not limited to; graphic design, logo design, web design, advertising, branding, typography, designers, blogging, resources, my work, marketing, social media, user experience and more. Quite varied, however the underlying focus is design!

Logo Of The Day

Logo Of The Day is a high-profile logo design award scheme that rewards the best professional logos and trademarks designed throughout the world. All suggested logos are screened by myself & Jeff Fisher to ensure this. Logo Of The Day is also a place to come for logo design inspiration… daily! It is also a place to discuss, share & rate logo design.

Logo Designer Blog

Logo Designer Blog is a blog focused purely on branding, logo & identity design. It is a place for logo design discussion, inspiration, tips and resources (and then some) provided by myself and the many contributors to the site.

Jacob: Working at Carrot Creative is simply awesome, made possible by a variety of aspects, the most notable listed below:

The team:

The young, tight-knight team (and occasional dog) that makes up Carrot Creative make it a very pleasurable place to work… many jokes, dances, pranks & entertainment to keep things fun at work. From Ambervision Monday to Colin’s Bow Tie Tuesday to Van Damme Friday, there is always something to keep things lighthearted. Far from corporate.

The clients:

Another thing that makes Carrot an awesome place to work is the opportunity to work with some of the world’s most vaunted brands. Carrot’s clients have included such names as Weber Shandwick, Saatchi and Saatchi, Major League Baseball, JCPenney, The Onion, Pepsi, Unilever, Crayola and MTV, among many others so as you can see, there is a lot to live up to. Many more in the mix that I’m personally working with, though unfortunately can not disclose them… let’s just say they are one of the top ten brands of the world.

The work:

The variety of work never ceases to amaze me… websites, identities, facebook apps, fan pages, iphone apps, packaging, email campaigns, etc… there is always something new to work on. The variety of work at Carrot ensures we never get bored with the work… variety is the slice of life after all.

The workplace:

The office of Carrot has a great vibe, lots of open windows (great view of the Manhattan bridge), open space and random paraphernalia everywhere. We have Idea Paint painted walls, great for brainstorming and many a Mac to work from. Even the walk to work offers quite a view. There are many more photos on the Carrot Creative website if interested in seeing more of the workspace. It is a very non corporate environment so jeans and a tee is def the way to go… though the girls do get the ‘corpo’ tag every now and then.

The socializing:

After work drinks, house parties, movie outings, snow ball fights, lunch breaks etc…. all things that make up the team. With such a young crew, it’s hard not to have the same interests which make socialising a large part of Carrot Creative. Be sure to check out Badowski’s social media mullet.

The future:

The future is very, very promising… I can’t wait to announce the HUGE surprise near the end of this year. Things are slowly becoming a reality, so stay tuned for that.

As for your other questions, working in a studio environment has definitely been a positive experience, it’s allowed me to add many new skills to my arsenal, though there is still a lot more to learn. I think every designer should experience both freelancing and studio life at least once in their life, most probably at the start of their career.

As for preference over freelancing or studio work, I think I prefer studio work but I guess this is because I am working at Carrot who are rather flexible… I am allowed to do my own side freelancing and run my own blogs while working for them and because the studio works mainly in the fields of social media, I can actually be on Twitter & Facebook and be doing ‘work’. Not many studios allow this, so I’m pretty fortunate in this regard. Though in saying this I also thoroughly enjoy the freedom of freelancing, being able to choose who, what and when to work.

If you’re interested in working for Carrot Creative, you should check out the careers page… you have to pass a series of ‘Carrotreative’ tests to apply. We get about 10 submissions a day so do whatever you can to grab our attention!

Jacob: The only thing that has changed is where I actually work. My business is still registered in Australia which allows me to have two separate incomes (one American and one Australian) which is always handy when it comes to tax. The vast majority of my clients are not located in New York so it makes it difficult to have face to face meetings, though I occasionally have meetings over Skype. Only when a client is in close proximity do I meet with them and even this is not entirely necessary, though sometimes it’s nice to get a bit more personable with clients.

Jacob: The very nature of the internet has brought many professions into the global market place which has obviously brought with it many benefits and drawbacks… we now have more opportunity yet a lot more competition.

I don’t believe having face to face interaction is a necessity, though it does help build a closer relationship between the vendor and client. As long as the right message is received, does it matter how it was delivered?

As for becoming a ‘reputable designer’, the vast majority of this comes from having good work and getting it out there.

Jacob: My about page originally started out with a bit of information about me and my blog, though I realised I was loosing track of the places I was featured so I decided to add them to my about page for me to track my personal progress. From here, I soon realised that it wasn’t just a personal progress, but a great marketing tool… it gave more respect (not sure if that’s the right word) to me & my work. From here the list gradually grew, though I don’t believe the tipping point has come just yet… I have a lot more left to learn. Thank you for the flattery though.

Jacob: Improvement is something everyone should strive for in their career, you never want to stand still, you’ll simply be left behind, especially in an industry as fast moving as ours. From every project you will gain more and more experience and you should use this new knowledge to evolve & refine your process as you progress through your career. New designers should set out their goals and then create a business plan and brand identity to reflect these goals. ie. If you are looking for a job in an agency, your brand & marketing should reflect this.

Jacob: The biggest piece of advice that I would give an upcoming designer (or entrepreneur) comes in a ‘package’ based from the little things that I have learned over my short career as a designer. Don’t undervalue your work. Seek criticism, not praise. Always keep learning & don’t be a static learner: do this by reading books, magazines, blogs and by practising. Collect & share things. Teach others. Never give up. Keep practising. Again, keep practising. For further advice, check out this post that features advice for design students from seasoned design professionals.

Thank you once again Brian for the opportunity to be interviewed for Elite By Design, much appreciated.

Magnus: Worked as programmer in IT business for 7 years before going freelance in 2008 to do web design.

Magnus: I use Twitter on daily basis to keep updated with co-workers and fellow web designers and WordPress fanatics, and I hardly ever blog, so I thought it was best to just display my twitter activity on my website so it just doesn’t become a static website.

Magnus: From the start I was always inspired by sites that used bevels, pixel lines and subtle shadows in the design, like many of the Envato websites. I always appreciated this design style and that has been my main source of inspiration for what my style is now.

Magnus: I think the lack of face-to-face has impacted me in a good way, as I work best alone without being disturbed. We started WooThemes and built the business the first year without ever meeting or talking on the phone with each other. That just proves that in many cases face-to-face contact is overrated. We use Skype, P2 (WordPress) and Basecamp to communicate on a day to day basis.

Magnus: Same advice I found online from sources like freelanceswitch.com: Start your business on the side and build up a 6 month economic buffer so you have cash if you hit hard times before making the switch.

Magnus: I just released Canvas theme, which has been extremely popular, and was also quite a secret until I released it. Plan on improving that theme now, so no secret projects I’m afraid.