Jeff Croft Interview
May 9, 09:02 PM by Marko
Interivew with Jeff Croft at jeffcroft.com
Marko: Hello Jeff !
Jeff:Hey, Marko! Hope your day is going well so far…
Marko: For our reader’s could you tell something about yourself? (year old and other stuff)
Jeff:Sure. I’ll be 30 years old in a month. Which is scary. I grew up mostly in the Kansas City area, and I now live and work in Lawrence, KS, USA—about 30 minutes from KC. Which is way better than it sounds. Lawrence is a college town with a kick ass downtown area full of great bars, a good music scene, and lots of great shops. It’s got a wierd/alt/hippie kind of vibe that is a lot of fun. Quite different than most of Kansas. Anyway, I work for as a Senior Web Designer for World Online, which is the web division of a regional media company. We work on several newspaper, TV station, sports, and community websites, and are the place that the Django web application framework was born.
Marko: How are you doing these days?
Jeff:Quite well, thanks. 2006 has proven to be an exciting year for me, so far. I started at World Online in January, got to meet a ton of great people at South By Southwest this year, and am working on a couple of books as side projects (which I’m not really at liberty to discuss the details of yet). I couldn’t be happier!
Marko: When did you first encounter a keyboard or computer?
Jeff:When I was just a little dude. I guess I was about seven or eight years old when my Dad bought a Commodore 64 for the house. I used it mostly to play games, but I also toyed with writing some simple BASIC programs. I was pretty fascinated by technology even as a kid.
Marko: What is your favorite art work /website!?
Jeff:I’m not really a connoisseur of traditional art, but I love the work of Mark Rothko, Joan Miró, Paul Klee, and Wassily Kandinsky. I tend to get more excited about photography than paintings and drawings. I can browse great photographs for hours on end (just ask the Flickr access logs).
As for websites—there are just so many that I love for so many different reasons. It would be impossible to pick just one. I usually link several sites per day, often for their great design work. Feel free to check my links section (http://www2.jeffcroft.com/links/). :)
Marko: When you launched jeffcroft.com are you happy with the result of the site?
Jeff:I’ve very pleased with the latest incarnation (launched for May 1 Reboot). I’ve been doing jeffcroft.com since 1999, and I think this is the first version of it I’ve truly been happy with. A lot of that has to do with the underlying architecture (which I built using Django, http://www.djangoproject.com). By pulling in the things I do every day on the web—Flickr photos, mag.nolia links, etc.—I am able to keep the website fresh without really having to try. I like that a lot.
Marko: What do you do in your spare time (We realize that spare time, in this context)
Jeff:Lately I don’t have a lot of spare time, as I’m spending most of it writing. When I do have free time, though, I enjoy TV, a good party or club, playing poker, snowboarding, and spending time with the people that are important to me—especially my girlfriend Michelle, my daughter Haley, and the rest of my family and friends.
Marko: Do you have a favorite drink? How much of it do you drink?
Jeff:I get teased a lot for being a “girly drink drunk.” I don’t drink beer. My favorite drink is called Caribou Lou. If you’re in the Kansas City area you can ask for it by name, as it was popularized around here by local rapper Tech N9NE (who is great—if you like hip-hop, check him out). If you’re elsewhere, you’ll probably have to tell the bartender the recipe. Luckily, Tech repeats it many times in his lyrics, so it’s easy to remember: “One-fifty-one, Malibu rum, and pineapple juice: for those who don’t know, that’s Caribou Lou, origin in Mizzou!”
Marko: Would you care to give us a brief overview of what a typical day is like for you ?
Jeff:Sure. I try to get to work by 9:00a.m., but my co-workers will tell you it doesn’t happen as often as it should. Our work environment is very fast-paced. It’s not unusual for us to build a web application or two per day, usually to support stories in our various media properties. I’m usually working on a handful of “big” projects at a time—site redesigns, new sites, etc. I’d say my time is split close to 50/50 between these big project and things that have to be done right now—pages/applications to support stories, bug fixes, small additions to sites, etc.
While at work, I keep up on my feeds as best I can and make fun of my co-workers in our IRC room whenever possible. When I’m stressed, I pet my miniature alpaca.
Marko: I am always wondering how people such as yourself go about getting work? How do you do it?
Jeff:Well, as I work a “regular job” full time instead of trying to make it freelancing, it’s something I don’t have to worry about that often. The blog and personal site, though, has been the single most important resource I have in getting work. It was a big factor, I believe, in my getting this job at World Online, and I also get at least a few inquiries about freelance work via my site per month. I guess my blog is my way of networking, and networking is the key to success. It’s all about people, man. Relationships are everything—in all aspects of life.
Marko: Who are some of your biggest influences?
Jeff:In web design: Jon Hicks. Shaun Inman. Khoi Vinh. Mike Davidson. Zeldman. Andys Budd and Clarke. Cameron Moll. Ryan Sims. Wilson Miner. Mark Boulton. Jason Santa Maria. There are more, of course…
In life: My dad. My mom. My daughter. Michelle. Steve Jobs.
Marko: Is your background in design? What was the progression into web development and design like?
Jeff:I don’t have a formal background in design, no. Shortly before I graduated high school in 1994, a friend showed me how to build a web page using HTML and Netscape 1.1N to view it. After graduation, I went to school as a music major, but kept building web pages as a hobby. Having a daughter and a wife (at the time), I needed a decent job while I was in school, so I started working part time for the Kansas Press Association as “webmaster.” Eventually it become apparent that the “Internet thing” is what I really wanted to do with my life, so I stopped pursuing the degree and started working full time online.
Back in the mid-ninties, the web was simple enough that one person could pretty much do it all. I was a sort-of designer, sort-of programmer, and sort-of Unix systems administrator. As time progressed, specialization become more common and I became more and more interested in the design end of things—communicating, solving problems, making beautiful things, connecting people. Those are my real passions online, all much more so than technology.
Marko: If you where not a designer/programmer what would you be?
Jeff:I suspect I would be a music teacher. That’s where I was heading with my education, anyway. And that would have been just fine. I’m still very much a teacher at heart—I love explaining things. And of course, I still love music.
Marko: How do you like our site mcville.net?
Jeff:I really enjoy it! I love the interviews, especially the personal parts. It’s always interesting to hear more about someone who you really only know on a more professional level.
Marko: If you could change something on mcville what would it be?
Jeff:Design wise, I might try to make the style a bit more cohesive. There’s a bit of a mish-mash going on, with grungy elements, shiny clean parts (like your reflections), and also industrial-looking bits (like the rollover state of the left-hand navigation menu links). All are nice on their own, but I think the site would have more impact if a cohesive aesthetic was chosen. :)
Marko: What kind of music do you fancy?
Jeff:I guess you could say I like “black” music. I was a jazz major in college, so I love almost anything jazz-influenced. I also love blues, soul, R&B, funk, and hip-hop. To me, music is all about the groove. Timing is everything – in music and in life.
Marko: What’s your favorite food?
Jeff:I’m not really a “food guy.” Most of the time, I see eating a meal as an annoyance, taking my attention away from more important things I have to do. That having been said, I do love me some Mexican and Italian food.
Marko: Where do you get out on Saturday’s?
Jeff:Usually either downtown Lawrence or Kansas City. I love both a relaxing night at the bar and a crazy time at a loud, exciting dance club. Going to a movie, a comedy show, or a concert is my kind of fun, as well. I’m the type that is pretty much game for whatever. Give me people, drinks, and music, and I’ll be content.
some relaxing question to follow
Marko: Chinese or Thai (food)?
Jeff:I’m not a huge fan of either, but I’ll go with Thai.
Marko: Coke or Pepsi?
Jeff:Coke. I drink Diet Coke. And a LOT of it. Usually 8-10 cans per day. Diet Pepsi will do in a pinch, but I much prefer Coke.
Marko: HTML or CSS?
Jeff:Usually both. :) But, CSS is more fun, for me.
Marko: What OS do you use?
Jeff:Almost exclusively Mac OS X. I do have an older Windows box, but it almost never gets touched. I guess I use a decent bit of Linux on remote servers, as well.
Marko: Do you watch television? If so, do you have a favorite show?
Jeff:Yes, I watch WAY too much TV. I’m obsessed with ABC’s LOST. It’s by far my favorite TV show right now, and possibly my favorite TV show of all time. I also watch The Office, Pardon The Interruption, and NUMB3RS, as well as a handful of so-called reality shows, including The Amazing Race, Survivor, American Idol, and The Real World (everyone has their guilty pleasures, right?).
Marko: What would we find in your favorites bookmarks-bar?
Jeff:Not much, really. I have links to all of our World Online sites in a folder. I’ve got a folder with links to the various administration sites I need to get at (My personal blog administration, the Dreamhost control panel, etc.). And, I’ve got a few bookmarklets for adding links to ma.gnolia and watching pages in mint. That’s about it. All my other “bookmarks” go in my ma.gnolia account.
Marko: What inspires you? This doesn’t have to be design related.
Jeff:People inspire me. Especially my daughter. People who think critically about things. And people who don’t—and just charge ahead without regard to the consequences. The guys I work with inspire me every day. People that respond to the question “Wouldn’t it be cool if…” by actually doing it.
Marko: Thank Jeff for having this interview ,Cheers mate!
Jeff:Thank you, Marko. Hopefully I wasn’t too long-winded. Keep up the great work!
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Very talented.
I’ve enjoyed the interview. Yeah! Really talented, indeed. :)