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Stuart Charlton Interview

Nov 23, 11:22 PM by Marko

Stuart Charlton Interview


Interivew with Stuart Charlton at pieman.net

Marko: Heya Stuart!

Stuart: Good morning to you.

Marko: For our readers could you tell something about yourself? (year old and other stuff)
Stuart: I’m a 31 year-old white single male. With a beard. Not a radical demographic for a web designer ;)

Marko: How are you doing these days?

Stuart: Just dandy.

Marko: When did you first encounter a keyboard or computer?
Stuart: I used to play Manic Miner on my mate Daz Addison’s 48k spectrum. Then I had a life for a few years, now I’m back in front of the screen. Permanently.

Marko: What is your favorite art work /website!?
Stuart: When nearly every designer is reading the same blogs its very easy for inspiration to turn into patterns which become design cliches. Its important not to get stuck in that groove. Recently I’ve found that http://screenspire.com/ has been a good source of inspiration because it seems to operate on a purely aesthetic level and doesn’t care about the code of the sites it showcases… I try to be as fickle as possible with my tastes. So today’s favourite is probably http://www.republish.org.

Marko: when you launched pieman.net are you happy with the result of the site?
Stuart: It does a job. I’ve been concentrating on really getting to grips with XHTML and CSS recently and as time is precious, my graphic design aspirations have had to take a back seat. I’m looking forward to injecting a bit more style and imagination when I get a chance.

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

Stuart: After sitting at a desk all day I try to get some blood circulating by playing football for the mighty Easton Monday (http://www.eastonmonday.com) and going for walks with my lady.

Marko: Do you have a favorite drink? How much of it do you drink?
Stuart: Coffee is grate.

Marko: Would you care to give us a brief overview of what a typical day is like for Stuart Charlton?
Stuart: Get up, make coffee and cornflakes, shuffle 3 metres to office, sit down, enter tunnel, look up, have a mental thinking error, exclaim surprise at time, eat nutritious mung-bean salad, have a bath, go to bed.

Marko: I am always wondering how people such as yourself go about getting work? How do you do it?
Stuart: I am always wondering the same! I’m not the greatest salesman, so being a lone ranger isn’t perfect, but as I’m involved in music I have plenty of contacts within that scene and thats an area I think I understand quite well. Gradually I am finding more and more potential clients come to me on the strength of my work.

Marko: Who are some of your biggest influences?
Stuart: The first designers I saw that switched me on to the possibilities of web design were Takashi Okamoto (http://www.mudcorporation.com) and Todd Dominey (http://www.whatdoiknow.org). They both have a talent for injecting personality into their designs using just typography.

Marko: Is your background in design? What was the progression into web development and design like?
Stuart: I went a fairly long way round to get here. I was an art student, but took a left turn into arts management, which didn’t really suit me. Then I spent five or six tears immersed in music – working in a record shop and promoting/DJing. From the promotion side of it I began designing flyers and meanwhile went back to college to learn Multimedia.

Marko: If you where not a designer/programmer what would you be?
Stuart: I’d probably still be behind the counter of a record shop. Or in a nappy factory.

Marko: How do you like our site mcville.net?
Stuart: I like your shop graphic the most. A spot of well placed handwriting goes a long way in my book.

Marko: If you could change something on the site what would it be?
Stuart: The logos in the right bar are a bit haphazard. And the javascript rollovers in your navigation are a bit buggy in my browser. Sorry, thats two!

Marko: What kind of music do you fancy?
Stuart: I fancy plenty of stuff. For home listening, have a butchers at my LastFM page (http://www.last.fm/user/instantpieman). I’m also part of a crew of people who promote club nights in Bristol, UK. I launched my first site on the back of it (http://www.futureboogie.com), and we use it to promote the music we like.

DISCLAIMER Have a look, but please don’t look under the hood! I was young and needed fame. I’m currently scheming full-time on the redesign, of course ;)

Marko: What’s your favorite food?
Stuart: Yorkshire puddings.

Marko: Where do you get out on Saturday’s?
Stuart: Into the countryside.

some relaxing question to follow

Stuart: aaaahh!

Marko: Chinese or Thai (food)?
Stuart: Thai. With plenty of nuts.

Marko: Coke or Pepsi?
Stuart: Diet Coke

Marko: html or css?
Stuart: .... can I say both?

Marko: Do you watch television? If so, do you have a favorite show?
Stuart: I’m not that bothered about TV. I probably watch sport more than anything.

Marko: What would we find in your favorites bookmarks-bar?
Stuart: Lots of geekness: http://del.icio.us/pieman

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

Marko: Thank again for having this interview Stuart ,Cheers!
Stuart: Magic. Cheers.

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