Interview w/ Web Designer Depot

Interviewee: Walter Apai of Web Designer Depot

1. What motivated you to start WDD?

I started WDD because I'm passionate about design in general. I didn't realize I will have so much fun with WDD though and I'm learning a great deal at the same time and working with great talented people as well.

2. How did you get into Web Design?

My first experience with web design started by making CD covers for my CD compilations. I got very good at it and it came naturally. I'm a fast learner and I observed a lot of details and things looking at designs of all different types that pushed me in that direction. I'm passionate about detail and how things coexist in a design, whether it's color or scale or anything else. From there, I started learning more and more and reading every book and magazine that I could find. I did learn through different courses about how to use Photoshop and Flash for example, however, design in its essence has always been a part of me, and I'm just discovering that I know a whole lot more than I could learn from books and magazines.

3. Out of all the article submissions you receive, how do you decide which ones to print?

It's all about content. I remember the excitement about opening a gift when I was a kid. It's about capturing that moment and that essence of discovery for something new and that will elevate you in some way or another. Before I publish anything, I always pause and think to myself if people are really going to be excited and interested when clicking on one of the articles. If the answer is no, I usually discard the article or work on it further until it's perfect. It's amazing how much you can improve an article if you can see its raw potential. Simply reformatting something, changing the order, add better examples and changing the title can create a whole new article that can really engage people on multiple levels.

4. What's your favorite Content Management System and why?

That's an easy one! It's definitely Wordpress. It's all about its ease of use and its tremendous extendibility. I don't think anything comes closer and I love the community. Always great plugins and new versions that really keep pushing the limit of an already great software.

5. What's the key ingredient to creating a successful blog?

Content would be first, but I'd put design second and marketing third. I see most blogs failing on at least one of these areas. It's not just about doing it all, but about creating a perfect blend of all these. I see it as a recipe in the kitchen, not only you need to put all elements into place, but they need to be in the right quantities as well or else, something will certainly taste 'off'. The same applies to web design and virtually everything else in life.

6. Are the worlds of Web Designer and Web Developer starting to intertwine or moving farther apart?

Many people seem to believe that they're coming closer. In fact, more and more designers are learning to code and just knowing about programming in general can make their design better. There's the other school of thought that you're either a left or right brain person, and it's hard to find someone that can do both in a good way. I'm sure there are some talented people that can do both, but not the majority for sure. And it's not just about 'getting by' in my view, but to aim really high at whatever it is that you do. It's my belief that it's best to leave it to designers to design and developers to code, however, if you're able to do both really well and blend them harmoniously, that'd be certainly a great asset to have and a winning formula. I'm certainly no coder myself and don't have much interest in it, but I know enough about it to be able to work with developers and point to different possible directions.

7. One thing all aspiring Web Designers should know?

It's important to get into this profession for the right reasons, and that shouldn't be economic reasons as the main focus. You need to be passionate about what you do whether it's design or anything else. If you're unsure, it's probably not for you. When it's meant to be, you'll know for sure with every cell of your body.

Also, this is a profession for those that like to multi task and always be eager to learn something new. It's a fast changing world and that applies to design as well. You need to learn and push yourself all the time, and be a fair critic of your own strengths and weaknesses so that you can improve those areas that could be better. I recently posted an article on how some more experienced designers can fall back into old habits and stop their progress which is something to be aware of, once you get to a point that you get 'comfortable' or I should say too 'comfortable' with your design.

Finally, learn and know when to follow the pack and when to veer off in your own direction by following your gut feelings.

8. One common misconception people have about web designers?

That it's easy to design something great. Sometimes I'm in situations that I need to design something for a particular project, yet, the time restraints and pressure can be really difficult to deal with. It's not like programming that can be very factual - it's very hard to be forced to be creative. There's a sixth sense that definitely comes into play when you need to design something and not a mathematical formula one can follow.