Interview about web design – 13 January 2011

Interviewed by Ariel Constantinof
Source: http://motivonti.ro

1. In the beginning tell me some things about you…

My name is Simona, I’m 29 and I have lived in Bucharest all my life. I have 15 years of studies in  arts and 7 years of work as a graphic designer. When I take a break from the computer I’m captivated by a good book, a few sketches in ink on paper or some snapshots.

2. How did you get to “draw” sites? Where did this passion come from, if I may call it so?

It is a long story.

I have been attracted by the artistic side of things ever since I was a little girl, and this directed me to the Art School and Art University. I started working on the computer in 2000, when my father gave me one as a present. I was fascinated by the “undo” function, which I love even today.

Curiosity pushed me in many directions. I learnt print, 3D, animation, special effects and I worked in television  as an Art Director and Creative Director.

Web design is a more recent discovery and I started creating sites out of necessity, trying to put together my portfolio when I decided to become a freelancer. Then I realised that web design was what I was looking for.

3. For a while you didn’t work as a freelancer, you were employed and you worked with important brands. How did you get to be a freelancer graphic designer ?

I worked for 3 years and a half in television, I learnt extraordinary things and I met special people. But eventually I didn’t have anything else to find and I got into routine. This is why I became a freelancer, so I could always work on interesting projects that help me stay creative, find solutions and break daily routine.

Of course I’m always happy to have a graphic project for TV, be it  show credits, TV identity or TV news graphic package. TV animation and visual effects still are my first love.

4. Please tell me 3 reasons why it is better to be a freelancer.

Fortunately, I have a job that can be done in this way and I have only advantages. Freelancers can plan their day as they please, can choose clients, don’t have a fixed salary and if the domain allows, they can work with people everywhere in the world.

5. You don’t hear often about women who do programming… I myself was instantly proud of you, even before I met you. How do you feel being a woman in an industry “dominated” by men?

To be honest I haven’t met too many professionals in web design and programming in Romania. This is why I started to create websites a few years ago. Most of those who do websites and programming in Romania don’t have experience or they work full time, which doesn’t allow them to improve.

I can’t say I do simply programming, I know well HTML/dHTML/CSS and I can manage Actionscript (flash), JavaScript, PHP. This helps me to do projects in  WordPress (used as CMS), Joomla, Prestashop and Magento.

6. I often interview people who lead a double life: they have a job that covers expenses, and a passion that they monetize in time… How did you manage to monetize your passion so well that you can do only what you like? In other words : How easy was it to find a place in this industry?

I am one of the few people who have a nice job they love. Being a graphic designer brings me only joy and this helps me go on. I haven’t met difficulties . I was lucky because art and computer graphics have many things in common. But everything is about will and organization.

I think that no matter how good you are, you can be even better if you don’t stop. The secret is training, improvement and reliability. Every month I train myself with a series of tutorials where I feel I could do better.

7. What are your plans for the future? Will you continue on your own? Will you get assistants? Will you start a company?

I don’t know what the future has in store for me and I learnt to stop saying NO. But I’m not keen on having a company at this moment. My projects are based on originality, and everything you can find in my portfolio at artvisiona.ro is entirely created by myself. For this reason I believe that things would take a completely different direction if I had a company and assistants and I don’t wish that.

As a sure future plan, I am working on several interesting personal projects. The first project is already half a  year into work: jurnal.artvisiona.ro where I discuss everything about TV graphics, websites, identity manuals, search engine optimization and other professional terms for everybody to understand.

Another project, great in all respects, has to do with art and I hope I can say more soon.

8. I’m doing this interview because I admire you. This is the reason why I did the other interviews ,too. I want to find out  as much as possible about the people I admire, I want to hear their story and I want to be inspired by their attitude, to be able to act as they do. Who are the people you admire?

There are very many people worthy of admiration. I like people in different domains, who managed to become known because they are good and because they bring something useful in the world. Some may be Richard Rosenman, Joe McNally, Nick O’Neill, Paula Begoun şi Gary Vaynerchuk.

9. Your favourite quote or one you lead your life by?

I believe the best principle in life is: “Think big and outside the box”.