Deckchair

Web designer & illustrator Simon Mosse talks | Deckchair Interview

We’re going to be interviewing inspirational people from the web world over the coming months. Our aim is get some more interesting stuff on our blog and give some exposure to some of the people we’re fortunate enough to work with.

Kicking off we interviewed Bristol’s very own Simon Mosse, a web designer we happen to share our office with. Simon is not only a front-end designer and builder but also an illustrator and photographer. Slightly annoyingly, he’s great at all of them! Simon works on his own projects and also freelances for many of Bristol’s digital agencies.

Enjoy!

Tell us about you in 100 words or less

I’m currently loving freelancing as a graphic web-designer and squeeze in photography and illustration whenever I get the chance.  I’ve been working in the web industry for the last 7 or so years and in that time have just about figured out what I like to do, what I should do and what I need to be doing more of.  I’m still working on what to do next, but for now I’m developing my skills and looking forward to being a dad.

When did you start getting involved with web design and illustration, and what principles and skills helped you get to where you are now?

I’ve always been interested in drawing (as every kid is) and when I finished a very conceptual Art Degree, I decided that a more literal approach to art was my thing, so I’ve been doodling and taking photos ever since.

You are involved in the design and front-end development side of the web; which side interests you most?

With a gun against my head, I would probably say the design side of web development interests me most, but they overlap so heavily that I think if you aim for one it’s at the expense of the other. There are so many decisions involved in web design – quite often digging right down into the bowels of what is in effect a web application – that simply making a nice look and styling the calls-to-action and navigation isn’t quite enough.

When designing a website or web application what are the principles you follow? How much are you thinking about the user experience?

My process is usually quite fluid, so how I work will often depend on the client and how much trust they have in me before I even get to the design itself.  If I have complete trust and the ideal budget, then I would start from a user experience point of view (i.e. what the point of the site is and how the user is likely to interpret my design) and work backwards from there, with the personality of the client and their brand dictating how I think about the layout and structure of the site.  I believe in grids, complimentary colours, high impact calls-to-actions, carefully chosen typography etc etc. But often I will deliberately break a rule to keep designs interesting.

You have completed projects in WordPress and Shopify, how do these products impact your work and what do you think of them as content management systems?

I try to use CMSs in general as a tool, but I find they quite often dictate how I work as both WordPress and Shopify (although obviously completely different entities) have a few ‘ways of doing things’, that if you fight you end up making more work for yourself.  Honestly, I haven’t met a CMS that I wanted to spend any time with (somebody please pay me to build one), but Shopify’s Liquid theming/templating language makes the relationship a lot easier and strips out a lot of the ‘what if and why’ questions that come along with something like WordPress.

Vague enough answer? Well developed theming/templating languages or processes are the way forward for front-end designers/developers in my opinion as they force you to conform to their limitations, which is quite often where I feel most creative, as good design is often about solving problems. Being able to do anything is over-rated.

Do you have time to actively engage with the wider web community? Are there particular blogs/twitter accounts you follow?

I’m a big fan of Bristol’s very own underscore.  Yes there are a lot of opinions and individuals to contend with, but I find it quite often reveals something I didn’t even think about in the subtext of the geekyness, and always leaves me pondering.  I also keep an eye on the BUG (Bristol Usability Group) talks which I’ve been to a few of and of course the Christmas Freelancers meal which is well worth the money.

Without giving too much away, what are your plans for the next 12 months?

Becoming a Dad is probably my biggest challenge for the next 12 months, but hopefully I’ll get my fingers in a few more pies, contribute some themes to Shopify and photos to iStockphoto and see if I can’t get some more illustration under my belt. We shall see.

What are your favourite projects you’ve worked on?

I love all my clients equally and they’re all my favourites…but if I had to pick out a few I’ve recently worked on – being asked to draw a weapon-laden mouse, working on the latest MyDrinkaware interface and helping with the Cow Who Made Strawberry Milkshakes iPhone app were highlights.

Who inspires you the most in life and how does this effect your work?

I find this question really hard to answer as I try and see the merits in everyone in some way, meaning that I don’t allow people to stand out too much in my estimations at the expense of the others. Having said that, I would say probably one of my old bosses who quit his highly paid accounting job to head up a charity and moved to Romania with his family to do it would be one inspiring person in my life. And also a couple I know who live on very little, yet have a quality of life that I would love to emulate. In both cases I think these people inspire me to enjoy and make the most of the projects I do and to really appreciate where I am professionally right now.

What conferences are you attending over the next 12 months?

Next year’s WDC for certain and potentially some local meetups as and when they pop up

 

Thank you to Simon for doing the interview! Check out Simon’s work at http://www.themosse.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @themosse.