Question and Answer session with Roger Walker. These are some of the more interesting questions that Roger has had to answer in interview sessions. Roger felt that these questions really get to the heart of his thoughts and approach to web design and web application programming.
Are you a graphic designer or a web designer?
To me the web is just another medium for designers to use in connecting all the pieces of the marketting puzzle together. I enjoy working with the web as much as I enjoy working with packaging design or graphic design. There is no seperation between graphic design and web design, in my mind they are two sides of the same coin.
The neat thing about the web is that if you know a little bit about how it works, you can bend and shape it to do a great number of different things. When you do a packaging design once you are done it is what it is, but with the web you can use programming to make it dynamic and interactive.
What is the most exciting project you've done to date?
Every project is exciting in its own way, but I think the most exciting project I've done to date would have to be new product launch promotion packaging.
The project was a product box that included a mini brochure of the companies entire line of products, a 150cc SETCO bottle of product with a polypropylene label, and a blister package sample package containing another product as a valued added item.
This project was extremely exciting as it required a complementary design amongst all the pieces and unique challenges in terms of getting everything to fit in the box while keep the amount of labor required to put each package together somewhat low.
What are your thoughts on flash, and how it fits into professional web design?
Flash is dead! Long live Flash!
Personally, I think that most users of the internet are so tired of poorly designed flash pages that a subconscious aversion to all flash web sites has developed. Surfers don’t want to wait for the site to load (again a product of poor design); they want to get right to the content.
Now the flip side of this is that surfers want more interaction with their web surfing experience. So what are designers to do to draw in surfers without throwing up subconscious red flags? A trend that seems to be gaining steam is a combination of xml, database integration, and flash components being combined together to create a overall experience that is both inviting, engaging, and for the most part painless on the surfers part. Instead of completely flash driven sites, many designers are starting to have flash headers or flash elements into their pages.
An interesting side note is that most of the cutting edge web sites appear to be computer games, SciFi television shows, and music web sites.
Which artistic styles do you find are you favorites?
Currently, my favorite styles are Industial and Art Deco, plus I’ve also recently taken an interest in Steampunk. However these styles aren't right for most projects, so most of my current work has been Contemporary.
In your opinion, which comes first in web design; form or function?
I believe that while form follows function, we should not abandon form all together. Perhaps a better term would be form goes hand in hand with function. One can not succeed without the other. The best looking web site in the world is useless if it doesn't meet the client's end need. Also, a functional web site will never succeed if it makes the users want to claw their eyes out. I reached this conclusion early into my education, so I set out to mold the ability within myself to understand both sides of web design and how the two fit together.
Where do you get the inspiration for your designs from?
The inspiration for my designs come from everything around me. All a person needs to do to find something, or someone, inspiring is just open their eyes. I was once asked why I wanted to be a graphic designer. My answer was a simple quote from one of my favorite movies. With a smirk I responded, "To see things no one else can see, do things no one else can do" (Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China, 1986). A designer translates thoughts, feelings, and ideas into visual communication; now tell me that is not exciting. |
