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Patrick McNeil Interview

May 12, 09:47 PM by Marko

Patrick McNeil Interview


Interivew with Patrick McNeil at designmeltdown.com

Marko: Hello Patrick!

Patrick: Hello!

Marko: For our reader’s could you tell something about yourself? (year old and other stuff)

Patrick: I am 31 years old and have been working in the web industry for about 7 years. I started out in more of the server/networking world, but the merging of technology and creativity on the web drew me in. I currently work for Washington University in St. Louis as a web application developer.

Marko: How are you doing these days?

Patrick: I am doing fantastic. Life is pretty stable and nothing to dramatic is going on.

Marko: When did you first encounter a keyboard or computer?

Patrick: The first “computer” we had was an early atari. I recall my dad getting some sort
of computer magazines that had programs typed out in it. You had to type in the whole program to see what it did, or play the game. I would type for hours but they never ran becuase I always had typos. I also recall loading angle worm off of a cassett tape drive, a process which took at least 30 minutes.

Marko: What is your favorite art work /website!?

Patrick: Favorite website? That seems impossible to answer. I surf way to many to even begin.Currently I have been heavily inspired by Superieur Graphique(http://www.superieur-graphique.com/), I love the super clean feel with the photo background it is a beautiful site.

Marko: When you launched designmeltdown.com are you happy with the result of the site?

Patrick: I am shocked with the results of the site to be honest. It has had much more of a postive response then I ever expected. If it wasn’t for DMD you wouldn’t know who I was or care to interview me! I have big ideas in terms of how it could look in the future, but taking time away from generating content is hard. It is very satisifying to get emails from people who have been inspired by the site, it makes it all worth it.

Marko: What do you do in your spare time (We realize that spare time, in this context)?

Patrick: My wife and I love to swing dance and have started going a lot more lately, we actually got together through swing dancing and have never stopped doing it.

Marko: Do you have a favorite drink? How much of it do you drink?
Patrick: Coffee,by the gallon.

Marko: Would you care to give us a brief overview of what a typical day is like for Patrick McNeil?

Patrick: Write code to hook into a database. Check the RSS reader for new sites/news. Write more code. Eat. Write more code. My job really revolves around coding. If I am not coding I am not producing, so I pretty much sit around and code all day. Working for a university I avoid many of the complications associated with working for clients. My projects are large and long term and I have lots of freedom. So it all boils down to the results I produce. I also tend to spend a fair amount of time exploring new technologies and ways of doing things on the web. I am sort of an addict when it comes to learning.

Marko: I am always wondering how people such as yourself go about getting work? How do you do it?
Patrick:
I landed my job through a head hunter that found me on monster.com. The last way I ever expected to land a job. Any freelance work I get comes word of mouth.

Marko: Who are some of your biggest influences?

Patrick: There are of course many artist who have inspired me, but in the end it is really my friends and family who have had the bigger impact: My wife who has never stopped encouraging me to follow my dreams, she more then any one has sacrifised for me pursing design. My brothers who have helped me in so many ways to get where I am from a technical stand point. And my good friend Casey who has never tired of guiding me in my quest to become an artist/designer.

Marko: Is your background in design? What was the progression into web development and design like?

Patrick: Nope, my background isn’t in design, but my interest in art has been lifelong. Like I mentioned earlier I started out as a networking engineer installing servers, routers, and all that boring stuff. About seven years ago I helped build a small ISP, modem pools, firewalls, the whole sha-bang. A natural part of this turned out to be the web. The company slowly began offering web realated services and this was my initiation. From that point on I was on a slow path moving away from the servers and what not and towards being a web developer. Now of course this is all I do. Also, about 3 years ago I went back to school for design and I will be graduating shortly. It seems I have gotten to this point in a very strange way, but it has served me well.

Marko: If you where not a designer/programmer what would you be?
Patrick: I always wanted to be an architect, though that is really a designer of sorts.

Marko: How do you like our site mcville.net?
Patrick: The site is pretty cool. I find it fascinating to read about designers who I have seen around the web. I particuallarly find it interesting how many people have more of a technical background.

Marko: If you could change something on mcville what would it be?
Patrick: I wish the cool nav element at the bottom was at the top. perhaps in lue of the side bar. the horizontal one is just so much more unique and interesting yet usable.

Marko: What kind of music do you fancy?
Patrick: My taste range widely, recently I am back into lots of old jump blues stuff from the 1940s. Louis Jordan for example.

Marko: What’s your favorite food?

Patrick: Chinese for sure.

Marko: Where do you get out on Saturday’s?

Patrick: Either the movies, a friends house, or a swing dance event.

some relaxing question to follow

Marko: Chinese or Thai (food)?

Patrick: Chinese

Marko: Coke or Pepsi?

Patrick: Coffee

Marko: HTML or CSS?
Patrick: That is a weird question, in fact I don’t know that it is a question. CSS is some pretty awesome stuff though.

Marko: Do you watch television? If so, do you have a favorite show?
Patrick: I do, and we don’t have cable so my show selection is limited. I never get tired of Sienfeld reruns.

Marko: What would we find in your favorites bookmarks-bar?
Patrick: About a thousand unorganized links. Statcounter.com, and all my work sites are in my link bar though.

Marko: What inspires you? This doesn’t have to be design related.
Patrick: Music really gets me going. Automation and slick programing does as well.

Marko: Thank you for having this interview Patrick ,Cya!
Patrick: No problem! Thanks for having me!

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