CSS Gallery for Web 2.0 Designs

Chad Jaggers has been into web design since 1998 and has consulted on many other designs.  His acute sense of audience need and web usability have been key to many successful web site experiences.  We recently caught up with him to ask him a few questions.

How did you get into web design?
In 1998 I wanted to run for a student government position at the university I attended, and no one had ever made a webpage for their campaign.  I made a website, but it was completely made from .BMP files, in tables and ran on my computer in my dorm room.  My roommate would call and tell me when ever it had crashed.  That was a lot of fun.

How do you prepare yourself mentally for a new design?
I study who my audience is and what information is being pushed to them.  Knowing your audience could be the difference between pleasing the client one the first design, or going back to the drawing board for a second design which means I wasted my time and the clients time.

I’m a firm believer in trying to create the best user experience possible.  I want it to be a website that my grandparents could go to and figure out how to sign up or purchase something without having to read instructions anywhere.

Does your mood affect the design you put out?
I try to not let my mood affect any part of my design.  I would say that listening to music can play a role in the creativity of a site.  Whether I’m listening to Radiohead, White Stripes or some Falcon Five-O I have different creativity moods that I get into.  I would say that is a good thing though.

What is one of the most important pieces of information you get from a client? Colors?  Logo tie in? Audience?
The audience is what I pay special attention too.  I think you can derive your color scheme and sometimes a logo based upon the audience.  Don’t tell anyone this, but sometimes I take one look at the logo and then put it aside and do the design and slap the logo on after that.  I really like redesigning the logo at the same time, but that is not always a possibility.

Do you have any advice for designers just getting into web design?
Keep designing.  You are not always going to be able to do the design you want for a client because they have their requirements and ideas for what it should look like.  Submit your designs to sites such as this one, http://www.cssburst.com, and learn from the other designs you see here and on other galleries.  The more designing you do the better you will be.