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Jonathan Snook Interview

Nov 21, 12:08 PM by Marko

Jonathan Snook Interview


Interivew with Jonathan Snook at snook.ca

Marko: Heya Jonathan! !

Jonathan: Hi Marko!

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

Jonathan: I’m a 31 year old developer from Ottawa, Canada. I’ve been a professional web developer since ‘99 but it’s been a hobby since ‘95. It’s a pleasure to be able to do my hobby full time (and then some) and get to meet other people who enjoy it just as much as I do.

Marko: How are you doing these days?

Jonathan: I’m doing very well. Keeping busy, as always.

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

Jonathan: I think I was in grade 2 or 3. First, where my mother worked they had some Wang computers with a few games on it and 8 inch floppies. Plus, the printer they had was this crazy plotter. I loved it! Then in grade 3, our school got it’s first two Apple ][e’s. There was even a contest to name them. I won but I can’t remember the name I chose. Herman, maybe? Something ridiculous. Nothing cool like HAL or Steve.

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

Jonathan: I don’t have a specific favourite but there’s so much inspiration out there. I really feel like there has been a boom of well designed sites within the past year made by people committed to great design.

Marko: when you launched snook.ca are you happy with the result of the site?

Jonathan: Well, the overall goal of the site hasn’t changed and I’ve been very happy about that. It has and always will be a personal resource. I really try to use it to document stuff that I work on. It’s become surprisingly common for me to do a search on my site to recall a solution to some problem. From a design perspective, no, I was never really satisfied with it. Only in its current incarnation have I really been pleased and been willing to leave well enough alone (well, except for minor tweaks here and there).

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

Jonathan: I spend time with my wife and son. Otherwise, I spend the time learning and trying new things. I come up with ideas and try to expand on them and I like to talk to others who are trying to do the same thing. There’s a great sense of community out there.

Marko: Do you have a favorite drink? How much of it do you drink?

Jonathan: Coke. And I drink way too much. About two litres a day, currently. I really have to cut back.

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

Jonathan: Wake up around 6:30am, get my son ready for the day, drop off my son at daycare, drive to work, put in a decent 8 hour day doing web development at my current employer, pick up son, drive home, have dinner, play, and then hop back on the computer until late (sometimes 2am) working on various projects.

Marko: I am always wondering how people such as yourself go about getting work? How do you do it?

Jonathan: Since I work for someone else, they have salespeople to get the work. I’m amazed at the type of projects they bring in. Any work I’ve gotten on the side has been through emails via my site. Having a blog is really a very effective selling tool. You put yourself out there as an expert and you prove it through what you write about.

Marko: Who are some of your biggest influences?

Jonathan: I don’t have any specific influences. People come and people go. I just try to absorb it all, use what I can and discard what I can’t. I just try and be a sponge and soak it all in.

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

Jonathan: I like problem solving and I like the immediacy of the web. I’ve always thought I’d do something with computers and when the web came around, I enjoyed putting stuff together. My design and development skills are merely the products of my curiosity.

Marko: If you where not a designer/programmer what would you be?

Jonathan: Bored.

Marko: How do you like our site mcville.net?

Jonathan: From a content perspective, you’ve done a fantastic job. Devoting a large portion of the site just for interviews is really a great idea. One of the best things I learned recently was that by inviting others to be your content, they become your advertising. For example, I imagine most of the people you’ve interviewed have linked to their page from their site. Sites like Unmatched Style, Stylegala and CSS Vault thrive off this kind of thing.

Marko: If you could change something on the site what would it be?

TJonathan: he site logo doesn’t have an opportunity to stand out. The shop button is really close and the Storm to the cape button is just as big. I’d leave the logo where it is, align the shop button to the right and move the Storm button to the right nav (making it smaller at the same time). I’d also not use strikethrough to indicate visited links. It just looks like you made a mistake and tried to delete it.

Marko: What kind of music do you fancy?

Jonathan: All kinds. I don’t lock myself into any particular genre.

Marko: What’s your favorite food?

Jonathan: No specific favourite. Just depends on what I’m in the mood for that day.

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

Jonathan: Usually spent with the family running errands.


some relaxing question to follow

Marko: Chinese or Thai (food)?

Jonathan: Chinese.

Marko: Coke or Pepsi?

Jonathan: Coke. Coke. And more Coke.

Marko: html or css?

Jonathan: Both!

Marko: Do you watch television? If so, do you have a favorite show?

Jonathan: Simpsons is my all time favourite but every season brings some great new shows. At the moment, I enjoy Lost, Prison Break, Family Guy, Medium, and Veronica Mars.

Marko: What would we find in your favorites bookmarks-bar?

Jonathan: Mostly tech links. Solutions to problems. Bloglines has all my interesting stuff; all the sites that I like to read.

Marko: What inspires you? This doesn’t have to be design related.

Jonathan: Success, creativity and quality in all walks of life inspire me.

Marko: Thank again for having this interview Jonathan ,Cheers!

Jonathan: Thank you!

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