Desktop 240: Taking A Speccy

The article I wrote for the current issue of Desktop magazine was more controversial than most. It broaches the topic of design contests — a topic that is very polarizing.

One element that designers who abhor design contests as a concept neglect to factor into their criticism is how many designers use design contests as a lead generation activity.

Basically I use 99designs.com as a stepping-stone to get contacts. And for that it has honestly been just amazing. My income, literally just from winning contests, basically pays all my bills. Add to that all the follow-up work that comes in, and you’re rockin’. It’s as simple as that.

You can read the full transcript of the interview that I did with Richard Scott (complete with arguments in the comments for and against the topic, as expected) which formed the basis of my article in Desktop.

posted: 26.06. 2008, 13:29 Comment (0)

Desktop 238: The Evolution Of A Web Designer

My column for Desktop magazine this month spelled out the path that a web designer follows in their quest for web design nirvana — from novice, to traveller, and then to master, before finally becoming a web standardista.

This article details the stages through which most web designers travel. Hopefully, you’ll be able to identify where along the path you lay. Once you’ve orientated yourself, you’ll know what your next steps should be in order to truly hone your craft.

Suggesting that the goal of every web designer is to become a “standardista” was a little tongue-in-cheek, but the point I tried to make is that keeping our skills up to date is crucial in order to deliver quality solutions to our clients.

As always, the article is available in its entirety online.

posted: 02.05. 2008, 00:23 Comment (0)

Desktop 237: Meet My New Pal – Drupal

When a bunch of web geeks is prepared to give up their entire Sunday to attend a conference about a content management system (CMS), there are only two possible explanations:

1. that the conference attendees are completely anti-social nerds who have no life, and therefore have no better place to be when the sun is shining;
2. that the CMS in question really is something worth talking about.

In the case of Drupal MiniCon, a one-day mini-conference held in February at the Alley Bar in Melbourne, it was definitely a case of the latter.

With my media pass around my neck, I decided to see what the fuss was all about, and penned some thoughts on the day for Desktop magazine. You can read the full article online.

posted: 17.03. 2008, 21:00 Comment (1)