Get a free VECTOR Image of the week from Shutterstock.

Get hundreds of free PHOTOS from Pixmac.

Today WebM.ag is speaking with Jeff Croft, Jeff needs little introduction as he is a well known web designer and developer, an author of some top notch web design literature and he also speaks at conferences about web design/development.

WebM.ag: So Jeff, Tell our readers a little about yourself and what you do?
JC: Sure. I’m a hybrid designer and developer, and I’ve been working professionally on the web since 1994. Right now, I live in Seattle, WA, and I’m doing regular work with the awesome team at nGen Works (http://ngenworks.com) out of Jacksonville, FL, as well as various freelance jobs. I also write occasionally and do some speaking at conferences and such. My passions lie in design, communication and connecting people.

WebM.ag: What would you say where the best and worse experiences of your career?

JC: I’ve been lucky to have a career full of mostly “best” experiences. I had a couple of good jobs in the early days (pre-2000), and then was working at a University in Kansas when the web standards movement started. My “worst” experience was trying to push standards at that University, and ultimately getting myself fired because they weren’t comfortable with my pushing for change and innovation. Since then, though, I’ve had great experiences working for Kansas State University, The World Company in Lawrence, KS, Blue Flavor, in Seattle, and now nGen Works. Certainly the releases of the two books I worked on were career highlights, for me. The overall “best” experience I’ve had, I’d say, has been the past several months, working from my home, doing things the way I want to do them.

Overall, I’ve been very blessed.

WebM.ag: What feeds are sitting at the top of your feed reader?

JC: To be honest, Twitter pretty much killed my feed reader. I used to consume a massive number of web-related feeds, but I haven’t opened NetNewsWire in probably six months. I figure if something is really interesting and worth checking out, it’ll get mentioned amongst the people I follow on Twitter.

WebM.ag: Do you remember the very first site or project in which you were involved?

JC: The first site I was ever involved with was a personal site for me, which eventually became jeffcroft.com. I started it in 1993. The first job I had working on web sites for clients was at an origination called the Kansas Press Association, and we had some pretty big clients — at least locally — including presidential hopeful Sam Brownback and founding member of the band “Kansas”, Kerry Livgren. Those two were among the first sites I remember working on and getting paid for.

WebM.ag: Being a more well known designer you must receive some praise for your work, but do you get the nasty side that sometimes goes with it?

JC: Occasionally. There are people that are jealous and competitive in all walks of live. Nothing you can really do about that.

WebM.ag: What do you enjoy most about your work?

JC: The thing I enjoy most about this industry is the people. I’ve made so many life-long friends in this industry — it’s incredible. I can’t think of a more uplifting, supportive, friendly community an industry could have built around itself.

WebM.ag: You have become pretty well know in the web industry, how did you market yourself?

JC: I can honestly say I’ve never consciously “marketed myself.” All I’ve done is to be myself. Myself happens to be someone who is outspoken, likes to be the center of attention, likes to “give back” to this community, and doesn’t mind stirring the pot a bit. These attributes have probably helped me, but I wouldn’t recommend them for everyone. If someone wishes to “market themselves,” my suggestion is to simply be yourself, and do so in public (i.e. on a blog, on Twitter, etc.). Sincerity wins in this industry. Don’t be fake.

WebM.ag: Whats the most common mistakes a designer can make whilst designing a site?

JC: I would say the most common mistake is to start designing before you really have a deep understanding of the task at hand. Who are the users? Who are the stakeholders? What are the business goals, technical goals, and especially the user goals for this project? What is the company or organization you’re working for trying to do? Is what you’re building really going to help them achieve that goal, or are you simply doing what they asked you to do? And so on.

Too many designers dive right into Photoshop (or whatever tool) without really understanding what they’re designing.

WebM.ag: What tools do you use whilst designing, and do you dedicate anytime to use and gain knowledge about new tools?

JC: My main design tools are Photoshop and Illustrator. For development, I employ Django and jQuery. For coding, I use TextMate, and I use Subversion to version control all my files. For project management and time-tracking/invoicing, I use Basecamp and Harvest.

I rarely dedicate time to learning new tools. Unlike a lot of geeks, I’m not one who easily changes tools. I have a workflow that works well for me, and introducing a new tool inhibits that workflow, at least for a while. This is the reason I’m still using Subversion and not a DVCS.

WebM.ag: What advice would you give to a newbie starting out in design?

JC: Learn *design*. That is, spend your time on color theory, typography, layout, etc. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Flash are just tools. They’re fine tools, but they’re just tools. Anyone can learn to use a tool, but not everyone can build something amazing with it. If you’re going to be a designer, then get as many design books as you can get your hands on. If your library is full of web books and has no traditional design books, you may be doing it wrong.

WebM.ag: Tell us something about you that you haven’t mentioned in an interview before?

JC: Hmm. How about this: I’ve recently (in the past year) become a Yogi (one who practices Yoga). I generally practice two or three times a week at Shakti Vinyasa Yoga in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood, and I’ve found it to be an amazing way for me to disconnect, relax, get in shape, and generally feel good. I’ve really enjoyed it, and I’ve seen pretty dramatic changes (for the better) in my body. Give it a shot!

WebM.ag: So what can we expect from you going into 2010 and beyond?

JC: Hard to say, really. I tend to be the sort of person who lives very much in the moment and doesn’t plan much for the future (for better or for worse). Right now, I’m very comfortable with what I’m doing (working with nGen Works, and occasionally taking on a freelance job or two), so I don’t see myself changing that anytime soon. I’ve taken a bit of a break recently from the speaking circuit — I imagine I’ll get back out there next year. I’ve got a personal project I’m working with a friend on — a mobile, location-aware social network centered around a recreational activity I’m passionate about. Hopefully you’ll see that launched soon and getting a bit of use. We’ll see. Who knows!

Quick Fire!

Music Of Choice? Jazz, Soul, R&B, Funk, Reggae, Hip-hop, etc.
What are you reading? Nothing, at the moment. I just bought Malcolm Gladwell’s latest, “Outliers,” so I’ll probably get into that soon.
IE6, love or hate? Is this a trick question?
PC or MAC? Mac
Facebook or Twitter? I use both, but if I had to pick one, it’d be Twitter.

A Big Thank You To Jeff!

We would like to thank Jeff for taking time out to speak to us. If you want to view more of Jeff’s work you can at jeffcroft.com and you can speak to Jeff or the team at ngenworks here: ngenworks.com, or you can contact Jeff through Twitter: @jcroft

Related Posts

Like this post? Share it!