I'm a designer for Sputnik where we spend our days crafting beautiful, functional and awesome websites. Although we have been known to dabble in other media, too :o!
I'm originally from Lytham St. Annes near Blackpool but moved to Manchester to persue my career. This is when I landed my first full-time web job as a Dealer Site Designer for Autorader, which lasted about eight months before I got in touch with Sputnik, and the rest, as they say, is history.
I really enjoy all aspects of my job, but I must admit, my favourite part is hand crafting awesome xHTML and CSS and making designs really come to life.
Design.
Firstly, I would like to stress that where web sites are concerned, I feel it is important that all of my work should comply to web standards, usability and accessibility. At first glance this may not seem all that important, especially for someone who does not have a history using the web, but consider this: A site which is designed with standards in mind is more future-proof, will be viewed more efficiently and by more people - but with less hassle.
Throughout a site's development, I regularly use the W3C's XHTML and CSS validation checking tools, to make sure that my claims of web standards compliancy are adhered to. Furthermore, I view the page through many different browsers to confirm that all users, no matter what platform, enjoy the same experience from the web site they are browsing.
In hindsight, I also believe creativity can be a large factor in a web site, and for some more advanced web interfaces it is often necessary to drop lesser usability points in exchange for a richer graphic experience.
I think a design should be appealing as well as being usable. A page should be laid out in a logical manner, and intelligently lead the eye to content when ever possible. Design, however, should also be aesthetically pleasing and unique. The design of a web page is by far its most notable feature to the average user, and can be the difference between a user buying a product from you, or buying a product from your competitors. This is why I always make my designs nice to look at. I know how I react when I see an amateur looking, second-rate site, and how easily people are put off by it.
This is where another import part in website design comes in. Research. Without proper research, the site can not, and will not reach out to it's target audience. If your web site isn't appealing to the objective masses, what is the use of it?
Of course, there are more things to research than simply a target audience. A companies image, for example can make or break a deal, and effectively researching into their branding, logo and image can help make a web site to further enhance those key features. Viewing similar sites can also be highly beneficial to success. It gives the advantage of being able to see current trends in design, what features are often implemented in comparable web pages, and where others have made mistakes.
Development.
I have a fair few years of experience designing and developing standards compliant web sites, using Adobe Photoshop, XHTML and CSS. To accompany this, I also have experience in "back-end" server side technologies (such as php and asp), which allow a site to be made "dynamic".
There are many advantages to this, such as: A dynamic site can be built for a user with little or no experience on the web - yet they will be able to keep all content up to date themselves through a series of simple forms and user interfaces, saving them having to contract someone with knowledge of programming for the web, and in turn saving them money.
Each website I make that requires the user to be able to update their website 'on the fly' uses a custom built Content Management System (CMS). I work closely with the client to make sure that as many of the features they request are put in to place as possible.
SEO.
SEO, the icing on the cake, so to speak. What's the use of a great-looking, standards-compliant, well researched site if no one can find it?
Search engine optimisation is basically making sure your web site is found by search engines. It is done by carefully managing page content, using correct formatting for headers, images, links etc.. Along with many, many other advanced techniques. Although it can take time, and is by all means not instant, I have managed to get many of the sites I've created ranked extremely high in search engines.
For example, the website www.montyfootball.com was featured on many popular websites, including the BBC, youTube, Google video and a host of e-magazines.
Despite this, if you were to search google for "Monty football", or even "Nike football spoof". Then the site I created for them would appear first in the list of results. Even Above the likes of the BBC.