BlogmyQuery – BMQ

As we have talked about in the past, photographers capture moments of life and present them to us in much more visually enhanced ways. Allowing a new tint to be laid atop the world as we traditionally know and experience it. Especially when those photographers turn to HDR. By increasing the range between the lights and darks of a set of images these artists create some truly breathtaking effects when those images are combined or enhanced.

So below we have a collection of HDR photography that is packed full with some truly inspiring imagery. From the more subtle examples of this technique, to the more dramatic the showcase features quite a dynamic range of its own. We hope that there is a little inspiration waiting for each of our readers in the mix of works below.

The Collection

Northern Venice by Azagh

HDR by marian9502

Tread Carefully by ShadowDragon22

HDR Sunset by Grislogia

Bridge 206… by TheBaldingOne

Tallest Buildings in Miami Beach by Johnny23xx

The Gotic Church by PhotoSir

Moderno by alexContreras

Atomium by liverpool67

Red Walls and Tissues by Azagh

Edinburgh II by Metallimark

Glogow 01 by Shavitrah

Norway – The Geiranger fjord HDR by jonny-island

The Mouth of O’Connell St. by KeithHogan

The Last Match I by Dakann

The Night of Light by Pipera

Street by hotfiresantu

Oxford by BinarySystem

State Library – Melbourne by dzign-art

Out of Thoughts… by Kazzaz

Juggernaut by SB420

..sedation.. by strobefx

Inside the Sphere III HDR+ by Metallimark

Window of reflections by Letoffee

…St. Vitus Cathedral 2…Prague by erhansasmaz

Longcity Hdr by snowblader

Storm by LDRPhotography

Sundown by Draken413o

The Dark Knight by SB420

Edinburgh by Metallimark

Getting Gloomy by DistortedVizion

Where There Once Was by TheSpenner

Waterwheel Ruins V.2 by dana223

Small Boat Marina, Scalloway, Shetland. HDR by azoomwithaview

b e k l e r s e by MistyTableau

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As winter’s grip tightens on numerous areas around the world, the shortened days can be filled with so much beauty and emotion with the generous application of snow. This pure and frigid precipitation can take even the most plain of landscapes and cover it in a layer of personality that it would otherwise lack. Snowy days can be grey and dreary or bright and energizing, but either way they come to us, they can produce a winter wonderland of photography captures.

Photographers, both seasoned and new, can find so many wonderful images to capture during these winter months, and this post is just a fraction of an example of the ample beauty waiting to be discovered under the blankets of snow. Below we have a showcase of some truly talented and well timed photographers and shutterbugs who have captured a bit of this spectrum of spirit that snowy days can offer. We hope you enjoy these fantastic snowy photographs.

Winter Wonderland of Photography

Snow by Herry Lawford

Snow Texture at sunrise by Jim Staley

snow sweeper by Jenene Chesbrough

Snow in Farley Hill, Luton by Daren Naylor

Snow Boarding in Fernie, Canada by Chris Barton

Snow Storm by Klearchos Kapoutsis

Snow by Shawn Carpenter

Snow 2005 by Brenda Hervold

snow storm by themadcanudist

Snow 2030 by penwin

Snow on the Bluebonnets by Dean Franklin

Snow Apple by Tom Godber

snow by eXXeQt

first snow by Ivan-Suta

Snow by FadingObscurity

My love for snow by xmoonyskx

Sun catching by Nyaa-n

hail snow by livesinanotherworld

winter comes by LittleMissAnderson

My Personal Winter Wonderland by VioletLiliez

Winter by ElementalPanic2

An Embrace by DragonBlessed

Winter in November 2 by edhel-hv

Country Road… by Northern Bent Photography

Winter walk in Wicker park by Pickardsnc

Reign of the Forgotten by Evalynn-Rose

le snow me go take pictures by maddiluvsphotography

Sweet Snow by vcheese

Cold Flakes by brentonbiggs

Autumn Snow by jgagn05

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As we turn our designer spotlight on once again, this time we have it fixed on Illustrative Designer Von Glitschka of Glitschka Studios. With years of design experience under his belt, and an artistic background to boot, Von has made a lasting impression on the field where he has made his home. And we are lucky to have gotten a moment of his time recently to get him to answer some questions for us and our readers.

Before we begin, we thought we would lay the groundwork a little bit more for those readers who might be unfamiliar with Von’s work. Passion is certainly one of the words that comes quickly to mind when describing Von, because his passion can be felt in all of his creative expressions. Whether he is designing for a client, preparing a talk for people in and out of the design field, or putting together a useful resource for the community; his excitement for the work that he does comes across almost effortlessly.

We will not go on and keep you waiting any longer. From this point forward we have a wonderful interview to share along with some select designs to showcase from the designer himself. Enjoy.

The Interview

Thanks again for agreeing and taking the time to answer these questions. So Von, if you don’t mind, tell our readers a bit about yourself. What are some of your personal highlights from your many years in the design game?

I kind of view my career as a path adventure. Even though I actively market myself in specific ways, I still get approached to work on a very diverse range of projects that many times I never see coming until they contact me requesting a quote.

I do have a few favorites I’ve worked on that come to mind, but the one project that was really close to my heart was a project I did for Wayne Enterprises. They manage and license the image of John Wayne, and I was asked to create officially licensed graphics they would give to those who license his image. You can view that project here.

Who are some of your biggest illustration / design influences?

The earliest and biggest design influence would have to be Neville Brody. And without a doubt the biggest influence on me illustration wise was the wonderful work of Jim Flora. (Way ahead of his time IMO)

You’ve been operating under the title of ‘Illustrative Designer’, a title you coined as your skills in both of these fields began to merge. What do you consider to be the finer points of being an Illustrative Designer?

I think the fundamental qualifying factor of an Illustrative Designer is leveraging illustrative skill sets specifically in context of a design project. This is different than a designer hiring an illustrator, I’m talking about being hired to execute graphic design centric solutions and pulling them off with an illustrative flair or approach.

This is why I hammer so hard on the fact that designers should also be avid drawers. Not to be confused with illustration though. Meaning I don’t expect every designer to be an illustrator, I just think every designer could benefit and improve their design by drawing. Analog methods are still as valid now in a digital age as they were prior to the dawn of computers. I cover this pretty extensively in my book Vector Basic Training.

This summer I’ll be doing a talk at the HOW Design Conference called “Drawing Conclusions” which will go into the importance of design within the context of a creative process as a designer.

You’ve worked with medium and large design firms, ad agencies, small businesses, and more to help with their creative needs through the creative firm you started Glitschka Studios, is there a particular type of job you prefer to the others? Or as long as it’s creative are you happy to play along?

My creative preferences seem to migrate from one thing to another through out the course of a given year. Right now I’m really enjoying working on custom hand lettered logotypes such as this one.

One thing creatively speaking (pardon the pun) I enjoy doing is speaking. It gives me the opportunity to share knowledge and the creative work of those within a narrative that is very enjoyable and fun. I’ve recently pulled together a mobile studio and I’ve started doing one day creative workshops geared for designers. We go over drawing, and how to move from your drawn design to final form. I recently did a workshop on this in London.

The only type of creative work I tend to avoid is brochures. Just don’t like doing them and usually just farm them out to a friend and art direct it.

On the website for your Studio, you layout the creative process that your clients can expect when working with your firm (a very inspired idea, by the way), could you give our readers an idea of how you crafted such a comprehensive and methodical process? Do you find clients receptive to this structured and set of a process?

Because I’ve worked for a lot of larger agencies I’ve read a lot of creative briefs and over time I just gleaned what I thought worked best from a variety of sources and weaved it into my own creative process.

When I’m hired by large agencies and design firms they have their own creative protocol that I adhere and adapt too. So what I posted on my own site is more geared towards the small independent business owner. It’s my best attempt to systematize an often unsure process so they’ll know in general what to expect regarding their need for a logo identity or marketing. It’s not so rigid that I never waiver from it though and at times can be far less complex. It’s always best to hedge expectations and communicate as clearly as possible before a project begins.

That said, regardless how well I attempt to prepare things don’t always go smoothly.

You have given numerous talks at conferences, schools, and events all over, and have talks on many topics prepared. Do you have a preference for the type of audience you are speaking to?

I’ve spoken to designers, illustrators, advertising groups, marketing groups, small business groups, in-house art departments, new media developers, ministry workers, college departments, art schools, local creative events, and even a tech conference. One of the best comments I ever got after speaking to a group of designers regarding “Living a Creatively Curious Life” was the IT guy who was recording it and handling all the technical stuff came up to me afterwards and said “I’m not a designer, I don’t even draw. But that was a fun talk and now I’m inspired.” I thought that was pretty cool, and I told him he should start drawing.

When I make certain points in my talks I try to use examples that breach outside our industry. I think they helps make the message more universal for all creative types and enables them to see how it can apply to their specific skill set within the industry.

What are some of the most exciting changes that you have experienced in the field while working under the title of Illustrative Designer? Anything you would like to see more of?

When I graduated analog was still king and remained so for about five years until the Macintosh fundamentally changed the creative process. I’ve always been a Mac geek since Apple II days and use to program in basic in high school so moving from analog to digital for me was a no-brainer and really did facilitate a greater reach for me creatively speaking. This is one reason why I loved Neville Brody, he embraced early tech and leveraged it to the fullest through his work.

Our industry is replete with an overwhelming amount of great design being produced. I’d love to see more focus on all the great ideas created in the pursuit of pleasing the clients that never get used. I think that would make a great book BTW. I’ve done a few posts over the years on this and they’ve always been the ones that got the most traffic?

Via VonsterBooks.com you have several inspired design resource tomes available, what was the initial inspiration behind throwing your hat into this ring?

In 2005 I was hanging out on design forum online, this was the precursor to social media like Twitter, Facebook, or Google+. One of the editors from HOW Books posted a thread asking what type of books you’d like to see published? At the time I had a text file on my computer called “Book Ideas.” Every time I had an idea I’d write it in the file.

So I just copy and pasted my ideas into that forum thread and a couple days later the editor contacted me and asked me to pitch two of them. I did and they signed me up to do “Crumble.Crackle.Burn” which is a book on textures. I consider these design resource books in that other designers can utilize the content to produce their own work. That is why each has real examples of the art being used by some very talented designers.

What advice would you offer to others just getting started at, or looking to become more adept illustrators or designers? Or even Illustrative Designers?

Be smart designers: Never stop learning, never stop adapting, understand how businesses run, familiarize yourself with marketing, be curious, try new things, be your worst critic, accept the fact you’ll have to say “no” to a client at times regardless how frustrating or uncomfortable it may make you feel, and never stop drawing regardless if you ever want to be an illustrator.

You are a very busy guy, with multiple irons in the proverbial fire, how do you keep your schedule balanced and moving forward? Any favorite productivity tips or apps that you use?

Lists are great whether virtual or old school writing on a piece of paper. Make a list every day. I use a web app called backpackit to make lists easier. Be completely honest with clients, don’t say you can get something done by a certain date unless you absolutely can. Tell them when you can and most often they’ll be OK with that. Also be honest with them if they are making a bad decision that’ll effect design, you may butt heads but it’s all part of building trust.

As an illustrative designer, what are some of your favorite tools that you keep in your arsenal? Your go-to tools of the trade? Any new developments along this front that you are looking forward too?

My preferred tools are probably underwhelming and predictable? I draw a lot, so I use your standard issue 2B pencil, mechanical pencil, Adobe Illustrator, and Photoshop. I’ve been using my iPad a lot in regards to research but it would be nice if I could leverage it more for creative work. I did manage to create this design on my iPad. I used an app called “InkPad” which worked pretty good, but Adobes own apps for iPad are at best equipped for noodling rather than precise creative work.

After watching the design field evolve over the years, what do you expect to see in the industry’s next evolutions?

I’m hoping the development of apps and mobile media moves out of the realm of needing to be a coder and more into the realm of a design program. I’m still surprised web development is still not there yet either? I remember in art school writing two pages of code to get green screen graphics on the Lisa Apple Computer I was using. We now have Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to do that now and the code is all behind the hood.

I’d love to see that same level of progression in web development and mobile apps. Where it’s about design and aesthetic and code is handled behind the hood. But entire industries have been created on the fact that someone needs to know the code so I feel the progression will move at a glacial pace much like automotive moving to full-on electric cars.

Apparently Adobe Muse is suppose to fill this gap but that’s what they said about other apps in the past and it didn’t really work out that way. So hopefully it will, but I won’t hold my breath.

Speaking of the future, are there any projects that you have on the horizon that you can share with us? Anything coming that has you excited?

Working on a new book with a friend of mine who is a photographer. It’s more of a creative coffee table book that anyone would enjoy. It’ll take a few years to get everything done but so far it’s been a lot of fun to work on.

(rb)

In the design world, volumes have been written advising the newbs, and those with some established street cred, on the ins and outs of being a top shelf designer, and many of these posts will either be focused on or at least include a brief mention of finding your own voice. Your individual style that will give your work that unique and distinctive edge most crave. However, in stark contrast, there is actually very little offered or written on how to achieve this. Only mentions of its importance. Enter this post.

Hopefully this discussion will help you dissect your design approach to find your own voice that lays in wait beneath it. The voice that will aid your work in standing out from the others in the field who have flare and flash, but not individuality. Too often we fall victim to the trends in the community and begin following them without even attempting to make them our own. To inject our own flavor. Because, in all honesty, we have never really given it a try. Schools, businesses, anyone that offers to teach you design tend to only build you a framework, but so many of us forget that we are supposed to fill in the rest.

Here are some tips that we hope will help.

Step 1: Learn the History

Oddly enough, learning the history of the design field is actually taking a step in the right direction. If you want to get a rough and tumble introduction into the ins and outs, ups and downs of the design world, then look into its history. The beginnings of it all, the evolutions of the field and its practices is a fantastic place to gain that insight. Watch as the dominating themes grow and change over the years, shaping the field and pushing its progress.

Taking this sort of grand overview of the entire field and its history is also a great way to see where the field has failed to progress. What areas it needs to have people pushing the envelopes, as it were.

Resources

Design is History is a wonderful site to explore the field of design.

Interactive Design History Timeline is a unique and fun way to get an overview of the design up through the 1950’s.

Step 2: Learn the Basics

The learning doesn’t end there (it actually never does). The basics also need a little attention during this phase of your development. Learn the various design principles and the essential elements that all work together to breathe life into your work. There are fundamental rules that are used to guide the field and that designers are expected to know. And that we are expected to follow, to some extent. Some designers feel like they can skip over the basics, but that is a huge underestimation of all that they can teach you about design.

One of the main lessons that we need to take away from the basics is the communicative properties that these fundamentals possess. When we learn about these building blocks of design, it gives us the ability to use those blocks to their fullest potential regardless of our adherence to all of the underlying rules as we understand them. It effectively empowers us to be able to break the rules that guide our work.

Resources

Principles of Design is an in depth look at the fundamental and guiding principles that govern the field.

The Lost Principles of Design is a useful post from Fuel Your Creativity that examines these design basics.

Step 3: Forget Everything You’ve Learned

Once we have gotten all of the history and basics down, have learned all of the ways that our designs communicate with the viewers, and have an understanding of the rules, comes a fairly key step in developing a unique style and voice of our own. We have to forget everything that we have learned. Throw out the rulebook that we have been depending on, before it becomes something of a crutch that keeps us from daring into more innovative waters. Don’t mistake what we are saying, it is important to have this foundation, or framework in place. But too often we allow these basics to confine our creativity. To limit our potential as it boxes us in.

If we are going to find our own voice in the design world then we have to break out of the box and think for ourselves. The box is comfortable, sure. Full of all of the familiar, but that is not necessarily the way forward. That is more often than not, the way to stagnation as we play it safe. So on this journey we have to first build the framework before we effectively tear it down and rebuild it as we see fit. But without knowing how it all fit together in the first place, we might find it difficult to make it come together for us as we craft our own style.

Resources

CSS Drive Gallery – Unconventional Designs category has a slew of sites that you can check out to see the ways that some have broken out of the box.

Awwwards | The CSS Website Awards is a site dedicated to finding and featuring inspired, original designs.

CSSelite – Unique CSS Gallery is another CSS gallery site with a section that is dedicated to unique styles.

Step 4: Question Everything

Inspiration is a wonderful thing, and is something of a staple of the design process, but we have to remember that when we look at other designs, we need to be dissecting them. Digesting the piece and questioning every aspect and element of it. Design is, for all intents and purposes, strategic and artistic problem solving. Though there are those who might argue with that (especially the artistic part of the equation).

Through a thorough dissection of a design, we can gain a useful understanding of the reasons behind every design choice that was made in a piece. Armed with this knowledge we will be able to craft designs to fit any solution we may need. This will strengthen our design voice, so we should never stop asking questions.

Resources

Dissecting Web Design: The “App� Site is a great example of how we should begin to pick designs apart to find out ways we can learn from them.

Dissecting Web 2.0 Design is another fine example of getting into this questioning frame of mind.

Step 5: Be Weary of Trends

Trends are a powerful force in the design community, and as we set out to find our own voice we need to be able to spot those that we may be drawn to. Though it is not just about being aware of them, as much as it is that we need to beware of them. Trends are fine, and can always be beneficial to play around with and incorporate hints of from time to time. They can open up both our designs and our eyes to techniques and the like that we would have otherwise missed out on. Or worse, dismissed without mining it for potential. So we are not saying that they do not have a place, and one that can be construed as valuable in the web design world.

We just have to be careful is all. If we cannot distinguish the trends from variations on our own style, then we risk never truly being as original as we believe that we are. When we think we are breaking new ground, we are simply treading over areas that have already been covered. It takes some work to make a trend your own, as it were, and to seamlessly blend them into your style, but it can work. There are reasons trends take off, and it is usually because of the somewhat unique solutions they provide. Dissect those trends and connect with the reasons behind them and you are more likely to be able to distill bits of them into your own voice.

Just Google ‘Web Design Trends’ and you will be busy for quite a while

Step 6: Try

It may seem a bit trite, but when it comes to breaking out of the comfort zones and finding our own individual design voice, we cannot be afraid to just try. So often, we allow our fears to hold us back and prevent us from taking risks with our work. But if we never try, then we are certainly never going to find our own unique style. When we design, we should never be afraid to try something different, to explore a previously unheard of route to find the solutions we need. If we think of something to try, no matter how outlandish it may seem, give it a go. We might just find our way to something magical that we would have missed out on otherwise.

It is often hard to find a tale of someone in history who made a name for themselves in their chosen field by sitting on the proverbial benches never daring forward. We cannot be afraid of stepping into new areas and trying new things with our designs, or else we relegate ourselves to a place of near irrelevance. Design is about exploring ideas and finding those solutions that engage and mesmerize. If we cannot find new ways to keep the audiences attention held, then our work is not exactly a success. And often times the best chances we have at drawing them in, is by coming at them in a fresh new way. This tends to mean trying something different.

Resources

Tuts+ Network is a fantastic resource hub for tutorials that can help you gain more confidence in your skills so that you will go for it!

Web Designer Wall is a site where web designers can find some amazing tutorials and some trend info to be on lookout for. Great place to find new techniques and things to try.

Designers Toolbox is a valuable resource hub for designers of all flavors. When you get ready to try out your skills, this site can hook you up with some of the goods you’ll need.

Step 7: Fail

The biggest reason most of us are afraid to heed the advice just mentioned, is because of that fear we spoke of. That fear is often of failure. Which when you think about it, is really quite silly. For we tend to learn extremely well from our mistakes and our failures. If nothing else, we take away that we have what it takes to keep going and try again. But there is usually more that we end up learning from this failure. We find the incompatibility of certain elements and techniques with particular messages for instance. So failing is not something to be feared, but embraced if we are going to find our own design voice.

One way to think about it is like this. Almost every great feat of innovation that has come about, not just in design, but overall, did not work on the first try. There are often numerous failures that lead up to that one victorious moment of breakthrough. Each failure teaching a valuable lesson along the way. Pushing the innovators forward with each mistake, not setting them back as most would deem it. We also cannot discount the amount of accidental innovation that comes from failure. Wherein we stumble upon entirely new or unrelated ideas to pursue, perhaps for our current project or for a future one. So failing can take our work and style to new heights if we are not afraid of it.

Resource

How Failure Breeds Success is an amazing and inspirational article on the Businessweek Blog with examples of businesses that embraced and learned from their failures.

Step 8: The Criticism Schism

As we explore these new avenues to find a voice that feels right for us, we are going to need to get feedback from the community on our work to make the most of this growth. When the critiques start to come in, we need to recognize when criticism is genuinely constructive, and when it stems from those in the field who disagree with our breaking of the rules and daring off on a path of our own. Understand this will make some people uncomfortable, even feel challenged. Unfortunately, their criticism will generally not be that helpful to us in these cases. So it is vital that we be able to separate the two for your own sake and sanity.

It’s human nature, and the design field is subject to its whims just like every field is. When members of the design community, especially those who will always play it safe and by the rules, come across works that step outside the boundaries of what is generally thought of to be acceptable, they have a hard time seeing anything beyond those rules that have been discarded. So any innovation you hoped would engage your audience in a new way, is going to go right over their heads. Their critiques will all, possibly somewhat harshly, be connected to the principles or rules that you ignored. This can help you determine if their critiques are beneficial, or a bit biased.

Resources

21 Resources for Getting Design Feedback is a collection of wonderful places to turn for getting some honest and useful critiques of your work.

Web Design Criticism: A How-To is one from the old archives here on Smashing that will discusses how to give and in return take criticism of your designs.

The Art of the Design Critique is another great post that can help with the criticism schism aspect.

In Conclusion

So there are numerous steps that we must take to find our own unique design voice, and each of them are as important to the process as the one that precedes it. If we overlook or underestimate any of them, we undercut our journey to find our style.

Are there any steps that you feel should have been mentioned here that we left out? What was the hardest part of finding your own voice, or if you have not yet, which step do you foresee having the most difficulty with?

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One of the things that we hear a lot in the design/development field tends towards keeping that passion alive which first drove us to this arena. For when we keep that flame burning, our work will always remain vibrant and successful. This idea is exemplified in our interviewee here, Veerle Pieters (one of the fascinating minds behind Duoh!), whose love for design in all its various forms shines through.

We’ll allow Veerle to introduce herself, informally in her own words, but we would like to take a moment and describe her in our words before we get to that. If you are not familiar with Veerle, her blog, or her work, then you are in for a real treat. Her work is as whimsical as it is precise, and packing as much personality as the lady herself. Her award winning work is a vibrant expression of her glowing inner child with the crisp, clean professional edge she has honed through years of imaginative exploration of graphic and web design.

Beginning as an illustrator in print design, Veerle grew her talents along with the world wide web giving her a much fuller perspective on the field of design overall. Her boundless talents are an inspiration to so many, and today we are lucky to be able to feature her and share some of her insights with our readers. Without any further ado, on with the interview…

The Interview & Showcase

Thanks again for agreeing and taking the time to answer these questions. So tell us a bit about yourself. Who exactly is Veerle Pieters? How would you describe yourself?

I always find talking about yourself extremely hard but here we go… I’m a graphic/web designer hailing from a small but beautiful European country called Belgium. I am a color lover that likes to listen to deep soulful music while designing. When I’m not at work I like to ride my bicycle to clear my head and snap pictures along the way to share on Instagram just to show how much beauty there is around us if you just open your eyes to see it.

Who are some of your biggest influences in web design?

Right now not really someone particular but many years ago when I started with web standards I was influenced by Jeffery Zeldman and Douglas Bowman and Dave Shea’s Zen Garden. I try to do my own thing and not be influenced by trends that overdo a certain design element. Personally I will use something that everybody claims you shouldn’t because I like to believe it’s all in the way how you apply it. I am of course also influenced by waves of techniques that popup in our industry like ‘responsive web design’ for example.

You’ve worked in both print and web design, which do you prefer and which offers the most freedom?

Print is still my first love because a web site can never replace that tactile feeling of having something in your hand you’ve created. Web design offers the most freedom, can be controlled easier and has a higher tolerance for error. Mistakes are deadly in print, especially when you are creating something that has a super high print volume.

What are some of your favorite projects you’ve worked on?

One of my favorite projects and most challenging ongoing project is without a doubt Fab.com. Another one is jolena.be where I really got the chance to explore creative boundaries. I wrote a little about the process of that project on my blog.

What advice would you give to other web designers?

I think the most important thing is to stay passionate about what you do and don’t loose that drive to constantly learn new things because we are part of a constantly changing environment. Learning and experimenting is a very important aspect of what de do. If you think you learned enough already I’m afraid that web design isn’t the right path for you. Also, believe in yourself and stay true to yourself and don’t be afraid to fail. Sounds cliché but that is what makes us what we are.

Can you give us a summary of your process?

Depending on how I feel and the amount of ideas that present I usually start by using my own Inspiration Stream as a starting place to look for that spark. Long time ago I browsed around CSS galleries but I’ve learned that they block my inspiration instead of helping. The most successful way is to look at things that aren’t related to web design at all such as my stream. When I got that inspiring spark I mostly start the process by doing some sketches in one of my little notebooks. Not always though, as I sometimes begin directly in Photoshop too. The more complicated projects have a wireframe stage that we go through first. Once those are approved by the client, the design work in Photoshop starts. I’m not part of the ‘design in a browser movement’ as I feel that approach blocks my creativity. About 90% of the projects, start with the inner pages first because these are usually the most difficult ones to work on. If the client approves the design we start the technical part by writing the CSS/HTML.

What are some of your thoughts on the importance of web standards?

Web standards are important but they are just guidelines, they aren’t a relegion if you understand what I mean. It’s a set of guidelines and best practices to help you but not a rule of law. It’s ok to deviate or improvise if you need to, and if there is no other way of doing it semantically. If you start mailing other people by pointing out validation errors you aren’t getting it. Projects can be complex and zero validation errors is sometimes impossible. The important part is that you try and that you think about structure, accessibility etc…

How do you convey the importance of web standards to your clients?

I don’t convey it all. I just do it. Clients shouldn’t have to worry about this or decide on, it’s up to us to use what is best for the client’s interest and web standards does just that.

What made you choose expression engine for your blog over other options?

I opted for ExpressionEngine because at that time it was the only system that would let me create a web site my way instead of the other way around that the system dictates how you should use it. I wanted something that I could use my templates, just the way I coded them, plus I wanted a system that didn’t inject extra code in my templates. Another important reason was that it was powerful enough to create a site that covered all my needs without having to resort to learning PHP because I needed to extend it. I had no interest in learning another program language as a designer.

What drew you away from print design to web design?

Because I was intrigued by this new thing called web design. I saw an opportunity that it could become something very important and that it would provide a source of income.

Web design changes so quickly, how do you keep up?

By reading books and following tutorials.

What are some of the biggest challenges that you see facing the web design industry today?

The biggest challenge imho is keeping up with our fast changing industry. Not an easy task to accomplish with a full workload all the time and a blog that needs attention too. One does need a lot of time filtering out what comes online to finally get to what will become a standard way of doing things.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?

There is some exciting stuff in the pipeline for Fab.com and I’m also working on a few projects that involve a lot of illustration work.

(rb)