Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what you do?

I’m a graphic designer specializing in user interface design, site development and animation (flash and after effects). I graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelors degree in graphic design in 1999. I’ve worked mainly in web development, but have recently started doing video graphics and commercials. My personal portfolio website is: www.noedesign.com

Do you do freelance work in addition to your full-time employment?

Occasionally I do freelance when time permits. But my first priority is my full-time employment and my family. If I have time after that, I’ll pick up some work to pay bills and to have some money on the side to do special things for my family

I see you have a degree in Graphic Design. How do you feel about designers and the need for a formal education?

I’ve run across some designers that are ok from a visual design standpoint. They can create things that are good from an asthetics standpoint, but you can really tell the difference when it comes to typography. Proffessionals that have a degree in graphic design typically have taken multiple courses in type and heirarchy. Without the full package of visual and type training your stock is a bit lower. You run the risk of being pigeon-holed into a certain role that you might not be as fulfilled with such as doing photo touch up or illustration.

Of the different types of design work that you do, is there anything that you enjoy the most?

I don’t really have a favorite in terms of type of work. I believe you should be versed in all aspects of design, print, web development, animation, and if possible database/dynamic programming. The more you know, the more self-sufficent and versitle you can be. Its very beneficial to yourself and the company you work for if you can be tasked with as many types of projects as possible.

Your portfolio includes some work from local clients. Have you specifically targeted local clients, and if so, what do you do to market yourself locally?

I belong to a non-profit group in my town called “HERO” that is a community betterment program. I started out just doing marketing materials and a website to promote events we were running and to make the community aware of our presence. Through that I’ve opened many doors locally. I don’t do anything to market myself, I let my work speak for itself and word gets around and eventually people request work from me.

What is your advice for designers who are trying to decide if they should work for an agency or do full-time freelance work?

I’ve never worked full-time freelance. I’ve always wanted to. I think it’s something you should do before you start a family and have a lot of financial responsibility. I myself have 4 kids and a wife to care for and with that comes a lot of financial responsibility. I personally have never been able to give up the guaranteed paycheck/salary of a full-time job. If you can establish a good client base early on in your professional career before marriage, buying a house or having kids it would definitely be a career path I would have chosen.

Are there any new skills that you would like to develop or areas that you have targeted for improvement in 2010?

Technology is changing so fast that you always have to be learning the next best thing. Especially in the web where new browsers and standards change so quickly. I would like to pick up more ajax knowledge. I used to do a lot of flash websites, but full flashed based websites lack good SEO and usability. I think ajax is a great way to maintain SEO and usability but keep some of the fun interactivity that flash utilizes.

What do you feel are the most important characteristics or skills that designers need to have in order to be successful?

As I said earlier, it’s advantageous to be well versed in as many disciplines as possible. It makes you more marketable to say that you can design for print, the web UI Design/development, animation and if possible database development. From a characteristic standpoint a designer should be driven, a self-teacher and never satisfied.

Dan Noe can be found through his portfolio site or on Twitter.

1. Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what you do?

I have been drawing and doodling my whole life. When I was a kid, I loved drawing comic books, cartoons, and re-creating magazine advertisements. I continued drawing and explored fine art in high school and graduated college with a BFA in Fine Arts with a Concentration in Graphic Design from Colorado State University.

During my time in college I worked for the student newspaper laying out pages and designing ads. After college, I worked for a print shop as a designer for a short time, then worked for a smaller design agency designing and illustrating. While working at the small agency, I contributed stock illustrations to iStockphoto, did some freelance work, and started Vectips. Eventually all the extra work generated enough income to go into business for myself. Currently, I do client work under Rype Arts, still contribute to iStock, and write tutorials for Vectips, other blogs, and books.

2. As someone who does client work, blogging and tutorial writing, what does your average day or week look like?

In a typical day, I wake up in the morning and devote about an hour or two reading through emails, reading RSS feeds, and play around on social networks. Then I get down to client works or whatever is on my to-do list. Around lunch time, I go through emails again, work-out (try to at least), and then eat lunch. In the afternoon I jump back on client work and at the end of the day I do one more round of email checks.

Throughout the week it has worked best for me to schedule certain tasks on certain days. For instance, Fridays I spend time on bookkeeping, invoices, and estimates. On Mondays I like start fresh so I go through my to-do list for the week, cleanup my workspace and computer. I also usually have a day strictly for writing tutorials and articles. This day fluctuates depending on how much client work I have.

3. How has your exposure through sites like Vectortuts helped your business and your career?

It has helped a great deal! The guys over at Vectortuts and Envato are awesome and I really look up to them. Writing for them has landed me clients and created relationship with industry experts I would have not received if I didn’t write for them. Through the work on Vectortuts and Vectips, I have contributed lessons and art for the Adobe Illustrator CS4 WOW! Book and built relationships with others involved with Adobe Illustrator.

4. What type of graphics tablet do you use?

I use a Wacom Intuos4 Medium and I love it! I don’t think I could back to using a mouse. I was thinking of upgrading to the Cintq, but it is expensive and I haven’t figured out how to integrate it into my work space. For me, using a good tablet like my Wacom, expands capabilities with design programs opposed to just using a mouse. With a pen tablet in Illustrator and Photoshop you have access to creating lines and strokes that are pressure sensitive. This makes it a more natural way of creating illustration and designs for me.

5. Can you tell us a little bit about your process for taking an illustration from concept to completion?

For client work, I start by gathering all the relevant info. This can be samples, illustration requirements, and other research. I do numerous sketches and if the concept of the project is somewhat open, I send off a touched-up sketch to the client for approval. Once that is approved, I start putting together the illustration, which most of the time is in Illustrator. Depending on the illustration, I send another proof to make sure the illustration is still on track. Then I finish up the illustration with final tweaks and changes and send a final proof. Once approved, I send an invoice and the required files. For personal illustrations, the process is a little more organic. I usually take a sketch or idea and play around in Illustrator until I get something I like.

6. What resources do you recommend for designers who want to improve their abilities in Illustrator?

If you have access to Lynda.com’s Illustrator learning series, that is a good place to start. They take the beginner Illustrator through all the relevant steps of learning Illustrator. They have videos for many versions of Illustrator which is great if you have an older version. Some of the videos are done by Mordy Golding, who used to be the project manger of Illustrator, so it is learning from the best. I would also suggest the Real World Illustrator book series (Mordy has also written in this series). I wrote a couple basic lessons for the Adobe Illustrator CS4 WOW! Book, which is also a great place to learn tips, tricks, and best practices. All these suggestion cost money and I know that is not always an option for the designer / illustrator just starting out.

One good web resources for beginners is AiVault.com’s “Lets Get Started : A Guide to Learning illustrator“. This post lists many articles about getting started with Illustrator. Another great beginner resources is Vectordiary.com’s Learn Illustrator CS3 in 30 Days“  (which like the previous resources, go through many of the basics of working with Illustrator).

For the beginner to expert level Illustrator users, Vectips and Vectortuts are great. There are tutorials, tips, interviews, and inspiration for all Illustrator user levels.

7. What aspects of running a design business are most challenging for you?

Probably the most challenging is all the administration work. You have to stay on top of estimates, invoices, your books, marketing, and all the other little nuances of owning a business. Sometimes it eats up a good deal of design and illustrating time. Recently, my wife has taken on a larger roll in the administration responsibilities which helps out a great deal!

Another area that is a challenge, but fun, is staying on top of current trends and technology. Almost every week there is a new web technology or technique, social network, trend, or gadget. You have to be aware what is out there and how it can contribute to you and your clients needs.

8. What aspects of design or business would you like to improve in?

I really am working to create a consistent design process for clients. I want to streamline the estimate, contract, proofing, and invoicing process. Currently some of the stages seem too cumbersome which really drags down a project from the client’s perspective as well as mine. I really just need to find to right tools for the job and cutting out the time it takes to do certain things on the administration side.

9. What are some of the most important lessons that you have learned about running a business?

When running a business, it is not all about just doing what you do best. In my case, I don’t just design and illustrate all day. I have to be a marketer, bookkeeper, project manager, and more. When Rype Arts gets bigger, some of these responsibilities will be passed on , but you always have to keep an eye on the business and make sure it is performing to you and your business’ standards.

I have also learned the glory and heartache of contracts. Having a contract signed before starting any project is one of the most important things. If you don’t have a contract, you run the risk of not getting paid, feature creep, and loss of control of the project. Conversely, I have signed contracts and NDAs that I wish I wouldn’t have. None of these have really been detrimental to my career, but just annoying.

10. Do you have any projects planned for 2010 that you are especially excited about?

I do have a long list of things that I want to accomplish in the near future like: exploring video podcasting, writing an Illustrator book, illustrating and writing a children’s book, practicing more fine art, and so on. Still, I haven’t really planned for any of these in 2010, but I guess I should get on it! I guess I am really trying to concentrate on building up Rype Arts with more clients and seamless design process. The nice thing about running my own business is I can make time to explore anything I want!

I recently reached out to several people who sell and/or design WordPress themes either through their own companies or through ThemeForest. I asked the same questions to each participant and their responses have been collected in this group interview. For anyone who has considered selling themes or templates, I think you will find a wealth of information from this experienced panel. If you’ve ever bought a WordPress theme or have wondered what it’s like to run a business selling themes, I think you’ll find some helpful info here as well.

The Participants:

Brian Gardner of StudioPress

Jason Schuller of Press75

Marc and David Perel of Obox Design

Dmitri of NattyWP

Carlos Aguaron of Gorilla Themes

Mike of Viva Themes

Aaron Lynch of Stoodeo who sells onThemeForest

Christian “Kriesi” Budschedl who sells on ThemeForest

1. Do you focus exclusively on theme sales or do you also offer custom design services for clients?

Aaron Lynch – Stoodeo: The majority of our revenue stream does in fact come through contract design projects from clients. However it was during some client projects while working with Collis at Envato that I came into the WordPress theme marketplace – ThemeForest.

Brian Gardner – StudioPress: Right now we focus exclusively on theme sales – we have a number of members in our community who we refer design/customization work out. These folks are active in our support forum, and have proven to be advocates of StudioPress. It’s only fair that we return the favor by marketing for them and allowing them to advertise their design services at no cost.

Christian “Kriesi” Budschedl: Theme design has become my main source of income lately. I sometimes do jobs for my former company as a freelancer, since I feel I owe them very much for supporting and helping me to become the web developer I am now, but I didn’t take any custom design jobs appart from these during the last months.

Marc and David Perel – Obox: When we started theming we considered phasing out client work, but in the end we realized that a) theming actually increased the amount of custom design queries, and b) we still have time to do custom work, so why not?

Dmitri – NattyWP: We have a number of clients for whom we designed and are still designing custom templates. We have a very creative teem and are always open for all customer’s requirements. Now we are planing to create a showcase with all of our custom designs.

Mike – Viva Themes: We do offer also custom theme services, theme customizations, full websites and consulting services.

Jason Schuller – Press75: Exclusively theme sales.

Carlos Aguaron - Gorilla Themes: I do both. The majority of the sales are for customers that have their own design companies, web designers or individuals that would seek help in the forum for their own customizations but I do provide custom design services as well.

2. What challenges do you face in designing themes to be used by many different customers as opposed to designing a custom theme for a specific client?

Marc and David Perel – Obox: The biggest challenge is the different hosting environments, they all throw up different kinds of errors to each other. Also we have to make the custom theme functions a lot more simple for our themes, as they have to work more generically.

Jason Schuller – Press75: I find that designing for the masses is actually much easier than designing for one specific client. Clients are very particular about what they want, but I can pretty much do whatever I want when designing a theme for resale.

Carlos Aguaron - Gorilla Themes: The main challenge is simplicity, how to make the theme very powerful but extremely simple for people to setup and operate. From my first theme almost two years ago to the latest one released last week with my new framework I always focused on simplicity even if this means to get rid of functions that would help with the sales.

Dmitri – NattyWP: When we design a theme to be used by many different customers we are trying to make it more flexible, to fit all user needs and this is the most difficult moment while designing. Designing for a specific client is always easiest. But we work with qualified designers who really know what they are doing.

Aaron Lynch – Stoodeo: There are so many variables and things to consider when designing a theme that will be used by the masses. Given the many browsers, versions of browsers, user experience levels, usability considerations, environment settings, etc. Testing is crucial. On the flip side, when designing and developing for a specific client’s needs, often times you may be the person responsible for setting up and installing the theme on the clients server, so that alone is where most users have support type questions.

Mike – Viva Themes: A client comes with a plan, you know what he needs and you do it. This is the difference when building a commercial theme. You have to do the plan yourself. You must think what the client will use the theme for, which parts of the design some of the customers might not need. I call it making functional themes.

Brian Gardner – StudioPress: I am not a graphic designer, so the one challenge that I’ve personally faced is coming up with a good design. While a majority of the current designs were done by me, we are beginning to hire out some design work so that I can focus on the business development/strategy side of the business. Most of the themes that we currently offer have been done in response to the community’s requests – meaning we’ve been asked to develop certain types of themes, so it’s been fairly easy to identify what types of themes we should do.

Christian “Kriesi” Budschedl: Everyone nowadays wants and needs a website that gets recognized and remembered by its visitors. Creating such a website for a single customer was much easier for me in the beginning, since I was able to use unique pictures and illustrations with high impact. That’s simply not possible for most of the themes I am creating for ThemeForest now, since they need to be more generic to appeal to a larger audience.

Another problem is the myriad of possible configuration options you have to take into account when releasing a theme for the masses: Does the customer use a Windows or Linux server? Which version of PHP, 4 or 5? And which version of MySQL? Which version of Wordpress, which browser, what’s the customers skill level etc etc etc. It’s pretty hard to take everything into account, but its very important to try, so you don’t have to spend your whole day on support requests.

3. In your opinion, what separates a premium theme from a free theme?

Christian “Kriesi” Budschedl: Quality of code, versatility, options and of course support. There are a few free themes out there that can rival premium themes in terms of quality and maybe even options but they are few, hard to find and you normally won’t get any assistance in customizing the theme.

Mike – Viva Themes: I think that the main difference a premium theme must have is its flexibility and ease of customization. While design is very important and that’s what the client likes first, a client becomes your client after he successfully uses and transforms that beautiful design into his own.

Marc and David Perel – Obox: Currently, our free theme includes all the same features that our Premium themes have, although generally I’d say that the backend structure and things such as Ajax and jQuery effects are used with better results on Premium themes. Basically attention to detail is improved.

Aaron Lynch – Stoodeo: I think a premium theme is a theme that stands out among others. It stands out both in design quality and in feature set. Most premium themes offer more functionality and robustness than do traditional free themes.

Jason Schuller – Press75: There is no such thing as a “premium” theme in my opinion. You will notice that I never use the word “premium” on my site. Commercial themes are simply themes catering to a wide variety of niches with design and options to match.

Carlos Aguaron - Gorilla Themes: It is very difficult to draw the line and I think it is better to call them “Free” and “Commercial” instead. If you look at the iPhone app store, there are tons of Free and paid applications and developers choose their own business model. Same with WordPress themes, you can get amazing themes for free and amazing paid themes too, it is your choice.

Brian Gardner – StudioPress: That’s a somewhat difficult question – most folks would say the obvious, which is cost. And while your question does insinuate paid vs. free – more than anything I have to say that the difference can be determined by superior design, excellent code/markup structure and theme option/functionality. I guess the best way to say it is that there are some free themes out there that I would consider more “premium” than some paid themes out there.

Dmitri – NattyWP: I think that premium themes give users more advanced functions. For example, all of our themes come with Integrated NattyWP theme framework to tweak the layout and color scheme. We are also including advanced widgets and page templates, banner management and so on.

4. How does the amount of time that you dedicate to designing and developing new themes compare to the amount of time that you spend on support and updating themes?

Dmitri – NattyWP: We have a 2 different teems – one for support and one for releasing new templates. So all our customers provided with 24/7 support and new themes always release in time.

Mike – Viva Themes: Support is a daily thing and it takes some time as we offer one-to-one e-mail support to our customers, a bit less than the time we spend developing.

Jason Schuller – Press75: This really depends on the day, week, month. Some days I can solely concentrate on designing and developing new themes. Other days, I find that I am on Gmail and in my support forums all day taking care of customers. I really hate those days.

Marc and David Perel – Obox: Hard to say, since support is ongoing, it never stops. Creating a theme from scratch is done over a time period of about a month, from concept to final product.

Christian “Kriesi” Budschedl: I receive about 20-50 support requests every day, so most of my days start with an hour or two of support. This also includes fixing bugs and adding new features. Building the first version of a WordPress theme is a one-time effort of about 50-80 hours. Looking at the lifespan of my themes i would say its a 2:1 ratio of support/building themes.

Brian Gardner – StudioPress: Personally, I’d say that about 60% of my time is innovative – whether it be developing new themes, reviewing competition or mingling with the WordPress world, and about 40% of my time is spent on supporting/updating themes. Craig Tuller, who is the COO of StudioPress, also manages the support forum with our team of 5 paid moderators. I’m not required to spend much time in the forum since they handle it well, though I really enjoy answering questions and giving as many folks as possible some personal attention.

Aaron Lynch – Stoodeo: I would say about 50/50. As much as I would like to roll out fresh new themes as quickly as possible, it always seems that WordPress is rolling out updates, and new features need to be added to the existing themes as well. In the end user-related support questions take up a fair amount of time.

Carlos Aguaron - Gorilla Themes: Time = 50/50. Every time that I release a new update in the framework I update all themes with the new backend and new features plus new updates for new WordPress versions while I design new themes for the store.

5. How do you market or advertise your themes?

Mike – Viva Themes: We use advertisements through BuySellAds and Google Adwords.

Aaron Lynch – Stoodeo: Up until a few months ago I was a bit skeptical as to the potential of residual monthly income. I was privileged to be contracted by Collis of Envato to create a handful of themes to add seed content to at that time the newly created marketplace we know as ThemeForest. So really as they began to promote and advertise the marketplace, I began to see sales increase as a result.

Jason Schuller – Press75: I run some display advertisements here and there, but I really do find that twitter and relying on the “viral” approach can be a very powerful marketing tool.

Carlos Aguaron - Gorilla Themes: Products are marketed in the different niche channels, website affiliates and numerous online campaigns.

Brian Gardner – StudioPress: To be honest, I don’t do much paid advertising – a few sites such as DesignM.ag, Weblog Tools Collection and WordPress Tavern. (And that is more out of respect/support for the people who run those sites.) Our affiliate program is where a majority if our marketing comes from – what better way than to have 100’s of people promoting your products? In 2010, we would like to spend more time with targeting/PPC advertising though – as I know it converts.

Dmitri – NattyWP: We are using Google Adwords, Banner advertising and Social Networks.

Christian “Kriesi” Budschedl: Since I have chosen to sell my themes on ThemeForest I wouldn’t really need to market anything, Envato does the job for me, and they do a great job that is worth the percentage they charge. A little marketing on my own blog at www.kriesi.at and at my twitter account does the rest. And of course, if I get the chance to do an interview like this one I also always take it.

Marc and David Perel – Obox: We use social media, Twitter/Facebook etc. our blogs From the Counch and Obox Design, and our affiliate program.

6. Do you sell individual theme licenses, club memberships, or both, and why have you chosen this business model?

Jason Schuller – Press75: I sell both… because customers love options.

Dmitri – NattyWP: We are selling both. We just prefer club business model, in this case we can always update our clients and they can stay tuned all the time.

Aaron Lynch – Stoodeo: We have a project we will be launching in the near future that will utilize both individual theme sales as well as a monthly club membership

type system, but as for now we really don’t have a need for a membership model because we sell individual themes on ThemeForest. We do however offer different licensing options depending on the needs of the buyer.

Brian Gardner – StudioPress: Currently we sell our themes packaged with support. We do not restrict the use of our products in anyway, as that is part of the license which we’ve released them under.

Marc and David Perel – Obox: Currently we sell only Individual licenses but will be offering club memberships this year.

Carlos Aguaron - Gorilla Themes: To date I sell individual theme licenses and I’m looking to expand into club memberships and theme bundles.

Mike – Viva Themes: Our themes are released under GPL, we sell the themes individually but we have also a very convenient package that the user can buy all the themes at once for a cheap price, and get a discount for future purchases. We chose this model so that we can release themes as often as we want to.

7. Do you have an affiliate program, and if so, what do you use to manage it?

Brian Gardner – StudioPress: As mentioned above, yes we do. It’s currently managed by E-Junkie.

Jason Schuller – Press75: The Press75.com affiliate program is managed by e-junkie.com.

Marc and David Perel – Obox: Yes, we use a custom written program to manage them.

Carlos Aguaron - Gorilla Themes: I do offer 25% on every purchase and it is managed on the E-junkie.com marketplace.

Dmitri – NattyWP: Yes, we have an affiliate program and we offering 30% of all sales generated by affiliates. We have a custom solution to manage it.

Mike – Viva Themes: We do have an affiliate program that gives 25% of the price to the referrer, managed through e-junkie , and I can say that we have many successful affiliates.

Aaron Lynch – Stoodeo: As of now we do not have ourselves an affiliate program, but have begun to research program options for a separate project and it seems that E-junkie and a few others are adequate solutions.

8. What have been the biggest surprises to you about the theme business?

Carlos Aguaron - Gorilla Themes: Negative = Scammers, Dishonest People and People trying to take advantage. Positive = The WordPress community and being able to connect with thousands of customers around the world and establish a great relationship.

Marc and David Perel – Obox: The amount of extra client work it gave us. We thought that we’d be moving away from custom client work, but since our themes showcase our Wordpress skills, custom requests has increased ten fold.

Aaron Lynch – Stoodeo: The potential for revenue and also the shear amount of user support questions. Some questions such as after a purchase; “What’s this WordPress program your telling me I need to install and how do I do that?”

Dmitri – NattyWP: First theme sale.

Brian Gardner – StudioPress: Truthfully, our sales. While there have been a number of theme development companies rise as competition, our sales have been steady/increased over the past two years. What that tells me is two things – one, that we are continuing to develop quality products that the community wants are are pleased with, but more obvious that the entire theme market is growing.

Mike – Viva Themes: Not any surprise really. We studied the market before entering it and it looks like it met our expectations. We’re just trying to do better every single day.

Christian “Kriesi” Budschedl: The biggest surprise for me was the high demand for premium themes. I wasn’t aware that there are that many people out there who are willing to pay for premium, yet generic themes. In retrospect I would say it’s pretty logical, but since I have never used themes and stock stuff before I was selling it on my own, that never came to my mind. I somehow was lucky since I’ve had some spare time when ThemeForest opened its doors, so I released a few themes, not believing I could ever get a lot of money out of it and not knowing that it would have such a heavy impact on my career.

Jason Schuller – Press75: Having fun and making a living at the same time. Got to love WordPress…

9. How do you determine your prices?

Mike – Viva Themes: We have tried to position ourselves in the middle of the market price wise while trying to offer high quality themes. Looks like we have been successful so far.

Aaron Lynch – Stoodeo: So far selling exclusively through ThemeForest, they give the honors of setting all prices. However we have done market research for an upcoming project and have found that people are willing to pay a bit more for something that will in the end provide them with the best solution.

Brian Gardner – StudioPress: When I launched Revolution back in the day – it was arbitrary based on feedback I received. As we grew into StudioPress and competition arose, we’ve decide to keep our prices lower than most of the major competitors. While this is not a reflection of our products being inferior, it’s a marketing strategy we think has allowed us to reach more users.

Carlos Aguaron - Gorilla Themes: I believe there is a standard on pricing on themes right now (+-$10) and I believe it is rightly priced for the amount of work needed to develop the themes.

Jason Schuller – Press75: Of course you have to look at the competition, but I have found that $75 for any quality theme is more than reasonable, and it seems that my customers agree.

Marc and David Perel – Obox: According to the general theme market coupled with what we think is a fair price for our services. We initially started on the high end of the pricing scale but soon dropped our prices to fit somewhere ‘in the middle’. In the next month or so we will again be making some adjustments to our packages.

Dmitri – NattyWP: We try to sell our themes on affordable prices providing different discounts in order every one will be able to buy them.

10. What are some of the most significant barriers for entering the premium theme market?

Christian “Kriesi” Budschedl: No matter what you do, if you start selling themes now you will be play tag with authors and companies who have already produced dozens of themes, built their own frameworks and got huge numbers of recurring customers. The best time to start a career as “theme creator” was probably 6-8 months ago, so if you are starting now you must be aware that you may lag a little bit behind. However as I said before, the demand for themes is huge and if you are willing to work hard you might be able to catch up and succeed anyways.

Aaron Lynch – Stoodeo: Obviously someone needs not only the desire and self discipline but also the knowledge and proficiency to master all stages of development. With more and more people developing themes there will no doubt need to be more of an emphasis placed on providing niche themes that meet the needs of a specific audience.

Marc and David Perel – Obox: For us, it was creating the marketplace on obox-design.com, since we had to re-program the site from a portfolio site to a theme shop. You also have to understand that despite the fact that it may be a ‘passive’ income you will be working harder and longer than you have ever before.

Jason Schuller – Press75: There is so much competition out there at the moment. You really need to have a solid name in the WordPress community as well as a solid product. If you are getting into the game to make a quick buck, I would suggest thinking again.

Brian Gardner – StudioPress: Right now, I’d say the WordPress theme market is extremely difficult to break into. I wouldn’t have said that a year ago, but with so many major players, it’s tough to get in. Those of us who are considered as the top developers have been in the WordPress community for years now, and we all know each other. While we are competitors, we still have respect for one another. There is a huge trust element when people purchase themes – folks simply purchase alone based on appearance, rather they take into consideration the reputation of the theme developer and the support they provide.

Carlos Aguaron - Gorilla Themes: The Fierce (and great) competition.

Mike – Viva Themes: The competition is really tough, and you have to bring new things to the market. This is not a new market so the client knows how to compare your product.

Dmitri – NattyWP: I think rigid competition is one of the most significant barrier nowadays.

11. What changes do you anticipate for the premium theme marketplace in the foreseeable future?

Brian Gardner – StudioPress: It’s pretty clear that theme frameworks are where things are going. In my opinion, a good theme (or number of individual themes) won’t be good enough for people as others continue to innovate. With the use of frameworks, it will ultimately make a user experience and their exceptions of experience so high, that a simple theme will leave a feeling of inferiority. After driving an SUV, most people don’t like getting back into a 2 door sedan.

Dmitri – NattyWP: Lowest prices, new theme features, more flexibility and unique premium theme frameworks.

Mike – Viva Themes: More themers are setting up shops everyday, innovation is inevitable. The market keeps growing for sure.

Jason Schuller – Press75: 2010 is going to be the year for theme frameworks and child themes. You are going to see theme options and customizability taken to an entirely new level.

Christian “Kriesi” Budschedl: I think that the Wordpress Theme market will grow steadily, but I also believe that other Content Management Systems will get more attention. Tumblr seems to be one of those, and I would also imagine that Expression Engine 2 will get its fair share. For those who missed to jump on the Wordpress bandwagon, creating themes for those platforms might be the perfect chance to beat the big players.

Marc and David Perel – Obox: Micro blogging will become bigger as Tumblr/Posterous add new features and code. Wordpress is improving all the time too, with new versions coming out frequently enough to keep Developers on their toes.

Carlos Aguaron - Gorilla Themes: A lot of fly by night stores that tried to make a quick buck taking advantage of the Paid themes boom will go away and fortunately only the people that are serious about developing this themes will stay in place creating more great themes and shape the future of WordPress themes.

Aaron Lynch – Stoodeo: As stated previously I think those people that are going to be coming in new to the market will need to have a valid point of difference between their products and what is already out there. Again, this is where I see the themes that are tailored around more niche purposes and needs fill the gap in the market and being successful.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background and what you do?

Currently, I’m an interactive designer & developer.  Most of my time is spent in front-end development, creating modern websites with a focus on user experience and web standards.  I’ve always been interested in the web since I was young, but never pursued it as a career until after college.  I’m self taught, most of my knowledge comes from experience and my passion to create beautiful websites.

You offer a variety of design and development services. Is there any type of work that you prefer over others?

I’ve always been a pretty visual person, so, ideally I’d prefer to spend much more time designing than developing.  With that said, I think a good balance helps keep things fresh and keep the creativity coming.  Lately I’ve been working with a lot of artists which has also been a great source of inspiration.

Your portfolio site mentions that you do a lot of work with WordPress and ExpressionEngine. If a client has no preference of CMS how do you go about deciding what would be the best fit for them?

Initially, I meet with the client to discuss their project.  After learning more about the project, I usually have a good sense of which system will be best for them (if any).  Wordpress is definitely one of my favorite platforms.  I love supporting open source projects and there is such a great community of developers for it.  That is not to say anything bad about ExpressionEngine, it definitely has some advantages over Wordpress.  I think understanding how both work is crucial to deciding which is best for your project.

How would you compare your experience freelancing as opposed to being an employee? Do you have a preference?

Freelancing is a great option if you are responsible enough to handle it.  You really have to maintain a high level of focus to stay on track and progress your business.  It allows you a lot more freedom with your work and schedule which can be very nice.  I find that I’m much more productive in the evenings as opposed to the mornings.  As long as you set expectations with your clients, you won’t need to worry about minor details like being to work on time.

Working for an employer has it’s advantages too.  I find that working for an employer lets you focus much more on your role.  If you are designer, then you are there to design… you won’t need to worry about collecting payments from clients, maintaining a pipeline, and managing a business as well.

Your portfolio site is rather unique with the large background image of the city and transparency. Did you have any specific inspiration for this design?

I spent a lot of time working on this design and tried to create something I thought was unique and forward thinking.  The city in the background is Tokyo, which I’ve always wanted to visit.  Everything about Japanese culture inspires me so I wanted to include this photo as a center piece to my site.  Since I went with mostly blacks and grays, I used the bright fluorescent colors to help make the sections pop.  Overall I consider this design one of my most successful… it’s received a lot of recognition and praise and I’m very thankful that it’s been well accepted.

What do you find to be the most challenging aspects of being a freelancer and how you do overcome those challenges?

The most challenging aspect of being a freelancer is being responsible for all aspects of your business.  You need to be comfortable managing your clients, tracking expenses, finding new work, creating proposals, providing customer service, etc.  You are responsible for everything and for some that can be overwhelming.  If you are aware of all the responsibilities you’ll have and can set a routine, you can lead a very successful, happy life as a freelancer.

What would you say are the most important factors for achieving success as a freelance designer?

I think one of the most important factors is keeping your clients satisfied.  A satisfied client can lead to lots of referrals and the opportunity to work on future projects with them.  Another important factor is choosing the right projects/clients.  You’ll be far more successful if you can spot which projects you’d be a good fit for and which one’s you won’t.  It’s best to let the client know upfront any concerns you may have so that you can reach a resolution that works best for both… or you can part ways before either has wasted too much time.  In a perfect world, there would be no ‘bad’ projects, but it’s up to you as the professional to make that determination before making a commitment to the client.

How do most of your clients find you?

Most of my clients come from referrals.  I’ve always tried to focus on my keeping my current clients happy, without them, I wouldn’t be where I am today.  Most of them of more than willing to recommend my services to a friend or family member, and typically I’ll give them a credit for doing so.  I’ve also been receiving quite a bit of requests through my site.

What are some resources/tools/apps that you use in your work on a daily basis?

Twitter has really been a great resource for me.  I find that the short postings allow you to easily scan the timeline and find really useful bits of information quickly.  I tend to follow people who inspire me, popular blogs, etc so I can keep updated with the latest from them.  Other than that I’m a pretty big mac fan, so these are some apps I use daily:

• Tweetie – The mac’s best twitter client
• Adium – Instant messaging that connects to almost everything (especially like Facebook chat)
• MAMP – Local website management
• Textmate – One of my favorite editors
• Dropbox – share your files between multiple computers
• Virtualbox – a great, free, virtualization app (to run Windows to text IE versions)

Can you tell us something interesting and unique about yourself that readers wouldn’t know?

I love collecting designer vinyl toys… a hobby I started as I was beginning my web design career.  Although I’ve thinned my collection over the years, each one is unique and brought some kind of inspiration to my life.  Ideally I’d like to turn Two24 Studios into a hip, retail store that features great artistic products like these and many others from artists that inspire me everyday.  Check out my flickr gallery of my Kidrobot toys!

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

I was born in 1979, in Bangor, Northern Ireland (a few miles outside the capital city, Belfast). I began studying graphic design in 1995, and finished my formal design education in 2003, with a number of qualifications behind me, and an internship in Pittsburgh, USA.

After extensive travel and a stint teaching English as a second language I landed a job in advertising sales for The Scotsman, Scotland’s national newspaper. Design jobs weren’t readily available, and I considered the ad sales a temporary role until I found design-related employment. Working at The Scotsman put me in contact with an old friend who told me about a print management opening at a nearby cancer charity. I applied, and got the job. My responsibilities were for the organization’s gamut of print design, print buying, and web management.

Around May 2006 I chose to become self-employed, taking on my former employer as my first client. I worked with them for a couple of years on a part-time basis (two or three days per week), sending monthly invoices for the work completed. The rest of my time was spent building a web presence and attracting new clients.

Why have you chosen to specialize in logo design rather than some other aspect of graphic design?

Identity design projects are relatively short in time frame (i.e. one or two months, sometimes longer). This means I’m working with a widely varied client base in order to stay busy, and as such, I learn an incredible amount about how different industries operate.

I don’t think I’d be anywhere near as motivated if I was always working with the same design limitations (i.e., as an in-house designer with strict brand guidelines).

How influential has your blog been to your own personal branding and the development of your career?

Without my blog, you’d not be reading these answers. I doubt you’d want to interview me, and I doubt you’d know about my work. The Internet can open so many doors, and it’s up to each one of us to tread our own path. Seth Godin published a relevant post, Seven years gone.

What would you say are some of the most important characteristics for a successful logo or identity?

An effective logo should be distinctive, memorable, original, and relevant to the industry within which the identified company operates. It’s the tip of the branding iceberg, and should be consistent with the entire visual identity system.

What are some of the most common mistakes that you see being made in logo design?

I see a lack of imagination. The most obvious solution can sometimes be the most effective, but obvious does not equate to dull.

For instance, look at Landor’s 2009 identity design for the City of Melbourne. The solution is based upon the first letter of the city’s name, the ‘M’, and is probably the most obvious idea possible. But Landor took it, pushed boundaries, and created a stunning visual system to match any I’ve seen elsewhere.

Can you explain to us the typical process that you would take with a client for a logo design?

The first step is choosing the client, and I’m sure many of your readers will agree that not all potential clients are a good fit.

Over the years I’ve been able to pre-determine a healthy working relationship by asking the right questions before a project begins, and I outline these questions in my new book, Logo Design Love: A Guide to Creating Iconic Brand Identities. In fact, the whole book is based upon the design process I carry out, and you can download a free chapter here.

You’ll find a less-detailed, online overview of my identity design process here.

How long was the process to write the Logo Design Love book and to get it published?

Almost one year to the day. I first chatted with my publisher, Peachpit, in December 2008, and it was December 2009 when I finally held a tangible copy of the book.

How did you go about finding a publisher for the book?

Peachpit found me through my design blogs, which is another reason why I place so much emphasis on the importance of a strong online presence. I wasn’t planning to write a book last year, but when asked, I thought, “Why not?”

Publishing a book on a specific topic certainly goes a long way towards demonstrating your expertise to potential clients. Was this a factor in deciding to write the book?

It was. Another factor was how I find myself being asked more and more questions about the process of design, so I think there’s a gap in the market for a book such as mine.

After your experience with the book, is it something that you would consider doing again in the future?

My publisher asked me to think of another project for 2010, but I’m not sure I want to tackle one just yet. I’ll consider it in future, though. We’ll see how it goes.

If you’re interested in logo design, I recommend that you check out David’s book Logo Design Love.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background?

I’m a husband of one and father of three. I was born and raised in a small town that had a great Art teacher- Mr. Ron Fabin who encouraged me to attend Design School. I’m a classically trained Graphic Designer and Illustrator. I’ve got a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University. It’s a really good type and ad school. There I learned the value of research, understanding the business problem, and solving it visually. I love VCU!

Is Modal a one-man operation or do you have other designers/developers?

Nope. There are five of us. We’re a tidy bunch with a boutique type of atmosphere.

Modal has been around since 2001. What has allowed you to be successful in an industry with so many competitors?

I can attribute any success to God first. Then I’d say it’s my focus on User Experience. Even though we brand companies, create tradeshow collateral, develop social media campaigns, and design web sites our focus is always on the bigger picture of how the user desires to interact with the product. I think it’s our niche.

You’ve worked on projects with some large companies like Marriot and Network Solutions. How were you able to land those projects and what type of impact have they had on your career?

In most cases we were referred by an existing vendor. Most of these organizations require you to come in directly from a preferred vendor so we end up riding in on someone else’s existing relationship. As far as the impact on my career- it’s great for the portfolio. Known brands add a certain legitimacy to your company. Plus it was a great opportunity to see the inner workings of these large companies. I worked with some really great people.

Can you give us an overview of your process for designing a website for a client?

We kick off the project with an introduction of our team and the client team. We review the project scope and goals making sure to emphasize that we will conduct our research and may find that we need to refine both the scope and goals in order to achieve success. Next we spend time getting to know the organization, their products/services, competitors, and brand values. We found that if we just go about creating a good looking site it falls short of goals and really has little to offer- it has no soul. But by understanding the organization we can apply their own philosophies to how we know things should work. After we get to know the company and competitive landscape we work with their existing customers through interviews, focus groups, and/or usability testing. Sometimes we baseline their existing offering so that when we create the new design we can prove our value by retesting and measuring against the baseline.

Then we go into our information architecture activities (based upon user content needs), wireframing (especially useful for low-fi testing), and then design. Each step is iterative for us. After we’ve created high fidelity screen mockups we either test them again or go through some sort of evaluation process. Next comes our coding and testing phases. We like to think that we stick to each activity religiously but the reality is that sometimes project constraints don’t allow it. But we do make sure that what we create is easy to use and good looking.

Since you offer a variety of services including social media management, SEO, and usability testing, do you find that most of your clients wind up using you for more than just design?

Yes. We may start by redesigning their site and next thing you know we’re working on their marketing collateral for a tradeshow. Or we’ll evaluate their existing web application and then provide formal usability testing. We feel like we can offer a bit of everything because we are the ones that understand the value of their business proposition. Because we research most of the work we do we are intimate with the needs of the business and their customers. I believe that’s why we are better positioned to offer these other complimentary services.

What advice do you have for other designers who would like to be self employed or start an agency but have no business experience?

You know that’s a tough question. I would say if you want to remain a designer hire a business partner. Because design is such an emotional exercise sometimes it is difficult to divorce yourself from it and pay attention to things like profit and loss statements, contracts, and balance sheets. So you really need to prepare yourself for that. Also, think about becoming a craftsman if you aren’t one already. Learn as much as you can about the history of the industry especially graphic design and advertising. It’s not about the tools that you use, it’s all about how you apply your knowledge of your craft to solve business problems. Remember, at the end of the day we need to satisfy our clients.

On the business side reach out to your local Small Business Administration (SBA) office. They offer accounting classes, contracts classes, and a slew of other resources. They were instrumental in Modal’s beginning.

Are there any current or upcoming projects that you are especially excited about?

You know we recently launched the redesign of Montgomery College with our partner NewCity. The client was really interested in the User Centered Design approach. They understood the value of the process and how it effected their brand and users. We spent a good amount of time with their faculty, staff, prospective, and current students. And I tell you what, I came out of the experience with a desire to enroll! See that’s what our process is all about. Getting to know the brand so well that we feel overwhelmingly compelled to contribute to its success.

Your portfolio site is powered by Joomla and I see that you have built some sites on WordPress. Do you have a preferred CMS?

We are CMS agnostic. For instance, most CMS’s are overkill for most clients’ needs. Joomla performs wonderfully for medium sized sites with short turnarounds. Plus Joomla is easy on our designers. WordPress is becoming a really nice small site solution. The use of Pages and Posts make it easy for our clients to update much of their content without the need for our intervention. We also like Drupal for larger sites. It’s a solid solution for deeper sites that have many content contributors and workflow.

I see from your site that you are open to working with interns. For any of our readers, what do you look for in potential interns and how should someone apply?

We are always looking for design interns that have a portfolio that shows that they understand the basic tenets of design and how to apply them to the Web. And of course we are looking for sharp people who understand social media- more importantly how social media can help our clients’ brands. If anyone is interested they can email me directly at (dcaulk@modalinc.com). I will review each portfolio and resume.

To connect with Daimon, visit ModalInc.com, or check him out on Twitter or Facebook.

Photo by Patrick Haney

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?

My name Michael Dick, I’m part of the team at nclud while also tackling a lot of personal and freelance projects.

My roots are from a traditional web standards background, but as of late I’ve been putting most of my effort towards expanding into general interface design. Whether that be for the web, iPhone and/or Mac platforms — I really don’t like to limit myself to just the web anymore.

As a designer/developer, how did you go about developing a well-rounded skillset?

Developing my skillset was a snow ball effect; if I needed something done I taught myself and did it myself. I have minimal education in web design and design so it’s safe to say that the work I do is mostly accomplished through eyeballing every detail. Taking a step back and asking “how it makes me feel” goes a long ways.

What type of work/projects do you enjoy the most?

I enjoy all different types of projects; what makes me decide one from the other is how much it inspires me and gets my creative juices pumping. I’m an inspiration fanatic; I’m always searching to be inspired.

Do you do freelance work in addition to your full-time job?

I do, but I’m very picky about which projects I take on. Like I said earlier, the project needs to inspire and excite me enough to keep my interest. Along with freelance, I also have a few personal projects I’m working on right now.

What do you like about working for an agency rather than working independently?

I enjoy both atmospheres, they both have their advantages. Agency life is more social, there’s a lot of collaboration going on when I’m in the studio with nclud. However, independent life is less social, but gives you the flexibility to choose what you want to work on and where you want to work from.

Working for an agency like nclud gives me the flexibility to work like I work for myself — especially since I live in Oklahoma and they’re in Washington DC. It’s a perfect fit.

What advice would you give to other designers who are deciding between working for an agency or going out on their own?

If you want to work for yourself, then do it. Don’t make excuses waiting for things to “be right” — take the risk. If it doesn’t work out you’ll always be able to jump right back into the agency life.

There are only three things I can tell you before you take the jump:

1) Make sure you have the financial means to stay afloat for a few months.

2) Make sure you know how to market yourself.

3) Know where to look for [quality] gigs if things get slow.

Your portfolio site has received a lot of love from design galleries and blogs. Has this had any effect on the number of inquiries you receive or on business?

For the most part, no. Most of the traffic I get via design galleries are usually inspiration junkies (like myself!) who send me a quick email to tell me they appreciate my work.

You developed your own content management system, PureEdit. What was your motivation to do so, and is it something that you continue to develop?

PureEdit is a unique twist on content management, it’s not meant to be an out-of-box solution, but it’s aimed at the hybrid designer/developer who wants full control over their website but needs a system that will allow their client to still manage the content. It gives the designer/developer full control of the front design and coding.

I use it on all my freelance clients so each project allows me to develop it further. However, I have paused public releases because I have bigger plans for it in the future.

One of your own projects is CSS iPhone. What would you say are the most important characteristics of effect web design for mobiles?

Translating and carrying the desktop experience over to the mobile device. The key is to pick and choose which elements can be reused or translated to fit the mobile screen and execute it.

Are there any designers or developers that have had a major influence on you and your work?

Cameron Moll and Jesse Bennett-Chamberlain have been inspiration ever since I stepped into the web standards movement. They both have great talents, are successful businessmen, and also live well balanced family lives.

If you’d like to connect with Michael he can be found at:

• Portfolio site
• Twitter
• Flickr
• Facebook

Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got started with design?

Sure! This is a pretty fun story, actually. Nate and I met in High School; and he was a great guitar player. I used to play guitar, but had gotten burned out on it. Needless to say, I picked it back up again and we started writing music. It was obvious even then that we worked well creatively together. So we wrote a bunch of songs, started a band and realized we needed posters, t-shirts, album art and a website to promote it. We both loved to draw and loved computers so we just sort of figured it out on our own. By the time we got to college, Graphic Design seemed a natural choice to get a degree in. After several years of print design we taught ourselves HTML, CSS and then ExpressionEngine took us to a whole other level.

What do you like about working with a partner as opposed to working on your own?

Having someone to bounce ideas and mockups off of. Even better, someone to brainstorm crazy new projects with. I think we help keep each in check as well. It’s easy to lean way too far in one direction without that sounding board.

What challenges are presented by working with a partner?

The last year it’s been hard because we’ve been about two hours apart and can’t ever seem to get video chats working. Other than that, it’s sometimes hard to find what motivates each other even though we’ve been friends for 10+ years. It’s easy to create things together, much harder to run a business together.

You started FortySeven Media part-time while you both had full-time jobs. What advice do you have for other designers/developers who want to break out on their own?

Well, some practical advice first. Don’t go into debt to start your business. Save up 4-6 months worth of what you need to live on before you go full time. You don’t need much; just a computer and some software; maybe a decent desk. We worked full time jobs and did 47m at night for almost 2 years before we made the jump. It’s very tempting to rush it, but more important to build a strong brand over time by consistently doing great work. When you find yourself too busy to finish things in your off-hours it’s probably time to look at going full time.

You guys do a lot of work with ExpressionEngine. What are some of the things that you really like about EE as compared to other content management systems?

We love that it’s only there when you need it. Unlike just about every other CMS out there we get to determine the design, layout and functionality from scratch and piece it together in EE however we want. The syntax is so easy to use that we can do it, and we’re definitely not programmers. In short, EE doesn’t screw with your design or HTML/CSS and lets you easily extend the parts you need to be dynamic.

How do your clients like managing sites that are powered by ExpressionEngine?

You can actually change the Control Panel based on your user group so we generally strip out everything the client doesn’t need. That way it’s very simple; they only have a few areas of content to manage and that’s it. Very straightforward. We usually do a quick screencast of us doing live updates on the site and showing how they’re reflected on the front end. I also have to say I’m looking forward to the deeper level of CP customization EE 2.0 will provide.

What would you recommend for designers and developers who want to get more familiar with ExpressionEngine? Are there any good learning resources that you recommend?

There are several great places to start. The video tutorials on ExpressionEngine.com would be first. You could also check out the talk I did at the FrontEndDesignConf. It goes through very basic examples of why EE is great for designers.  Once you’ve been through those check out Train-ee.com. Great in depth examples to walk you through building your site. Oh, and don’t forget eeinsider.com once you’re a bit more familiar with everything. Has a great tips section, too.

Your idea bouncer service is kind of unique. Can you tell us a little bit about it and how you came about offering this service?

Idea Bouncer came about collaborating with another designer friend. We were showing each other mockups of what we were currently working on and I just thought it would be cool to do more of it. Nate and I are both big picture guys so we felt like we could genuinely help with a stalled project.  Plus we thought it would be a great way to meet cool people in our industry.

What are some of your best sources for finding new clients?

We’ve honestly been very blessed in that clients seem to find us. We get a lot of leads through CSS galleries, but we’ve started noticing side projects like Design Hope are bringing in some really interesting opportunities. And we can’t go without mentioning the excellent tools that Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and our Blog have become in growing our brand and connecting with people.

Of the various services that you offer, what do you enjoy doing the most?

By far we enjoy creating the user experience the most. We love technology, but it should just be the means to an end. We use things like valid HTML/CSS, jQuery and ExpressionEngine because for us they’re the best tools to help us bring that design and experience to life. We also love having the flexibility to do new things and design for new clients and industries. It’s a blast!

If you’d like to connect with Jonathan he can be found at FortySeven Media, Twitter, and Flickr.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?

My name’s Rob Morris. I design stuff under the moniker Digitalmash. I do most graphic design stuff, but the biggest chunk of what I do goes to web-based work.

Your portfolio site has been included in a number of design galleries and blog posts. Has this exposure had an impact on  your business?

Well not really. It’s hard to say though. The type of people who use design galleries are usually people wanting to build their own site and are looking for inspiration rather than to employ a designer. But I’m sure whatever impact it has had, it’s mainly been positive.

As a designer who does print, identity, and web design, how do you meet the challenges of being proficient and effective in several different types of design?

This is a big misconception about design, I think. Being proficient is about knowing the methods for achieving a desired effect. But this isn’t really design. Similarly, drawing a line with a ruler isn’t architecture. Anyone can do that.

Solving problems is always the greatest challenge in design and it’s not something that changes between a logo, website or poster. That’s always the biggest challenge. Execution certainly plays a big part, but I’d argue what separates bad designers from good ones isn’t their proficiency. If I don’t know how to do something (which is a lot of the time), I find a book or website that can help me learn how.

What types of projects do you enjoy the most?

Projects where you have time, money and good people. If we’re talking specific tasks, I actually really get a buzz building static designs (when I’m happy with them) into actual web pages.

What were some of the main factors that led you to operate under the name Digitalmash as opposed to just using your name?

Factor 1: Rob Morris is a pretty boring name.

Do you have any advice for other designers who are facing the same decision?

My only advice is not to stress about the name too much. If you do good work it’s not going to matter. A name is just a name. If you met the man/woman of your dreams you wouldn’t care what their name was.

That said, it’s there’s no reason to handicap yourself. So if you’re considering calling your company ‘Binary Sphincter Inc’ or something, maybe reconsider.

What are some of your main sources for getting new clients?

If you do a good job and you’re not a jerk, past jobs nearly always lead to future jobs. Sometimes it will be through networking and having a designer bud who needs a hand.

It’s so weird because nearly every job I get has some strange serendipitous way of coming about. Don’t underestimate word of mouth.

You have a Master’s in Internet Communication. What is your view on designers and formal education vs. being self taught?

Well everyone’s different, so it’d be silly to argue one way or the other. Some of my favourite designers (and this is especially true for web designers) never studied design formally. The common theme, however, is that they are all pretty switched on, culturally-literate people. So if you’re going to be a decent designer, it will pay to be able to string a sentence together and organise your thoughts clearly. Whether you get that from reading the newspaper every day or a degree in History is irrelevant.

For readers who don’t know, you are an  Australian living in Japan. What have you enjoyed most about being able to live and work in a different culture?

Well even though I was living in Japan, my work was almost never for Japanese clients or had any bearing on my location. That’s one of the awesome things about being in the web business — as long as you have an Internet connection, you have the potential to work anywhere.

The best thing about living in another culture is that it forces you into an ongoing state of openness. Of course, this wears off eventually and you start taking the amazing things you first discovered for granted. But that insight makes you realise we live in a very exciting world, even if we walk through it with our eyes closed most of the time.

ps – After two years in Japan I recently moved back to Australia.

What future goals or plans do you have for your career?

My goal is to find a situation where I can work with great people on interesting jobs and share the success that comes from it. Being a one man show is a lonely road sometimes!

If you’d like to get connected with Rob, you can find him at Digitalmash, Twitter, or Virb.

A while ago I contacted Shopify to see if someone would be interested in doing an interview to talk about their hosted e-commerce system. Fortunately, Daniel Weinand (VP of Design) was happy to participate and share some insight that should be helpful to any designers/developers who work on e-commerce sites for clients. Throughout the interview you will see some screenshots of sites that are powered by Shopify, click the images to visit the sites.

As a hosted e-commerce solution, Shopify comes with a price as opposed to some popular free open-source platforms. What should designers and potential clients know about Shopify when choosing from a wide variety of e-commerce options?

A common misconception when people opt for free open-source platforms is that they don’t consider that “free” can become quite expensive. Hosting, security, bandwidth and regular backups are obvious costs on top of your time that it takes to set up an open source system on your own server.

The great thing about a hosted e-commerce solution, and Shopify in particular is that we really take care of all of the above. You don’t need to install updates and patches and new features come to you automatically on a regular basis.

Can you tell our audience of designers a little bit about Vision?

Sure. Traditionally with designing themes for hosted applications, you would have to use that application’s proprietary editor (unless they offer ftp access). This works fine if you just need to change things here and there but we found it cumbersome to design a whole new theme this way from scratch.

That’s how we came up with Vision. It’s a Shopify-in-a-box that you install on your own machine. It starts up a server that simulates a real Shopify store. This way you can use your preferred editor for theme designing (I couldn’t live without Textmate anymore). You can also quickly switch between themes or directly navigate to critical pages (like “what does the cart page with products look like in your theme?”) via the Vision toolbar.

For designers/developers who want to learn more about creating Shopify themes, how would you recommend that they get started?

All you need to know when you want to create a Shopify theme is how Liquid works (I assume that you’re already familiar with HTML and
CSS). Liquid is a straight forward and simple script language that we have developed specifically for Shopify. Liquid is not very complex so you will learn the few essential instructions that you need in no time.

The fastest way to learn Liquid is to have a look at an existing theme and see if you can figure out what each instructions does. Then start to change things and see how those changes affect the store front. In most cases, the Liquid instructions are self-explanatory. And in case you do get stuck you can always refer to our wiki for variable references and code examples.

Unlike working with an open-source platform, designers who refer clients to Shopify can earn residual commissions. What response have you received from designers about this program, and how important has it been to Shopify’s growth?

Yes, we think it should be in the designer’s best interest to create the most beautiful design for his/her client. So when the client’s shop performs well it will reflect in higher future payouts for the designer. The payments (20% of what we make goes back to you, the designer) come directly from Shopify, so this is a way of encouraging high quality stores and saying thank you to the designer who have chosen Shopify.

This program has been really well perceived. Whenever we meet a Designer who is designing Shopify themes, they tell us how much they like it – so far no one has complained about it. I would not disclose concrete numbers but let me say that some of our designers in the partner program receive considerable cheques each month.

Are there any new features or additions planned for the future of Shopify that you are particularly excited about?

You bet. There are many upcoming features in the pipe but i am particularly excited about a new rich text editor for product descriptions, blog posts, etc. I was never too keen on older WYSIWYG editors but we’re confident that now is a good time to nail this for the Shopify admin. It’s going to be a huge time saver because you don’t have to teach your client how to use Textile, Markdown or write HTML for their content.

Shopify users can choose from a number of free themes if they don’t want to have a custom theme designed. Do you have any idea what percentage of your users are having custom designs as opposed to the free themes?

It is hard to put a definite number on this. Many stores start out with either one of the free themes or purchase one from the various
Shopify Theme selling sites like Theme Forest and then keep on modifying it to custom tailor it to their personal needs. There is a
high demand for designers that do those “touch ups”. On the other side we have many stores that have a unique custom design. Sometimes, a store already had some form of web presence and they would just take what they had and use their existing layout for the Shopify shop (one of the things that is super easy to do with Shopify).

Shopify has been pretty active as an advertiser on various design blogs. How has the growth of Shopify been impacted by this involvement in the design community?

We always got good feedback from designers in the early stages of Shopify. Maybe because they have seen the bad and the ugly of other e-commerce solutions they showed more appreciation for Shopify. We’re always keen to build upon this relationship with designers so we thought “that’s a really good group of people to reach out for”. Yeah, we want more of you guys.

Thanks to Daniel for taking the time to do this interview. If you’d like to get more information, please visit Shopify.

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