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Mike Stickel Interview

Dec 14, 08:14 PM by Marko

Mike Stickel Interview


Interivew with Mike Stickel at screenflicker.com

Marko: Hello Mike !
Mike:Hey Marko, how’s it hanging.

Marko: For our reader’s could you tell something about yourself? (year old and other stuff)
Mike: Absolutely, I’m 28 years old living and working in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I grew up in a fairly small town and migrated to the big city to get away and make a name for myself. I’m still working on that last part though ;^)

I’m a freelance web designer and developer working under the banner Screenflicker Developments. I have a pet Albino Corn snake named Phillip Jay and a rather expansive DVD collection – which works as a great distraction when the idea fuel tank is running low.

Marko: How are you doing these days?
Mike: Very well thank you. Business is going well, I’m writing on the Ubergeeks.net, and with all the sticks I have in the fire I’m doing my best to not burn out ;^)

Marko: When did you first encounter a keyboard or computer?
Mike: My first encounter with a computer was during my formative years – also known as the ages of 6-12. My very first computer was only a keyboard, printer and hard drive that connected to a TV. Pretty much the only thing I could do with it was type and print what I typed. The next computer Commodore 64 followed by an Amiga and a low end Windows box fully loaded with Windows 3.1. My migration to Macintosh didn’t happen until I bought my first PowerMac 6400 in my third year of college with my student loan money.

Marko: What is your favorite art work /website!?
Mike: Right now I’m really digging what Steve Smith is doing over at orderedlist.com and Michael Heilemann is doing some great things with Invader. There are just too many new and fantastic looking websites out there and I find myself being easily swayed.

As far as favorite artists go that’s a lot tougher. I’ve been too far removed from that sphere doing development work and I can’t really think of a favorite artist. I admire the technique of the renaissance artists for their attention to detail and realism. Salvador Dali’s work is also great and definitely in my top 5.

Marko: when you launched screenflicker.com are you happy with the result of the site?
Mike: To be completely honest with you, not entirely. Then again, it’s hard to find a designer that is completely satisfied with a website they’ve worked on for any length of time. Tastes and interests change and it’s hard to maintain a steady course when working on your own projects. I like the colour palette because it was different – there was no black or pink or bright reds anywhere.

I’d like to come up with a new design this year. The colours will probably be the same or at least in the same range.

Marko: What do you do in your spare time (We realize that spare time, in this context)
Mike: Movies are my thing. I try to get out to the theatres at least 2 or 3 times a month and I’m always watching DVD’s. Recently there has been a shift to purchasing DVD’s of TV shows that I enjoyed in the past. I’ve also got a couple of good books on the go – Wicked, Velocity – and the occasional game of poker with friends.

Marko: Do you have a favorite drink? How much of it do you drink?
Mike: During the working hours it is water. I have cases of bottled water in the office and that gets me through the day. I’m also a huge fan of strawberry flavoured milk and Ocean Spray white cranberry & strawberry juice.

When it’s time to really drink I usually go for a nice Vodka and Coke (Pepsi if they have it) or a martini.

Marko: Would you care to give us a brief overview of what a typical day is like for Mike Stickel?
Mike: Usually starts when I wake up around 7:30am. Then I check email, check RSS, check bookmarked sites, and check project status. Generally work follows that but I will often get interrupted with urgent requests from various clients. Often I’m video conferencing with some colleagues throughout the day. Sometimes I’ll take lunch and other times it will get put off until supper. The afternoon is pretty much like the morning. A quick break for supper then back at it. I’ll usually finish up work around 9 or 10pm to sit down and relax with a little TV or a movie. Then it’s off to bed at around midnight.

Marko: I am always wondering how people such as yourself go about getting work? How do you do it?
Mike: Well, since you asked. The majority of my work comes from the contacts I’ve gotten to know in the industry. Just putting in some face time with various people and doing whatever I can to get my name out there – whether it’s commenting on industry leaders blogs, sending emails to complete strangers or mass solicitation through Craigslist.

I’ve been rather fortunate recently to get to know a lot of the people involved with the 9rules network (9rules.com) and Businesslogs (Businesslogs.com). I’ve found it’s all about who you know and who knows you. Don’t be afraid to email someone and ask them if they would like some help. You may have to put in some unpaid time but it could pay off big time.

Marko: Who are some of your biggest influences?
Mike: In what area? I’d definitely have to say Colin Devroe has been a huge influence on my development skills. Design influences come from all over. I could also rattle off the big names that started the push towards web standards because they are the ones that started me on this journey.

Marko: Is your background in design? What was the progression into web development and design like?
Mike: My background is in design. Graduated in 1998 from a visual communications program and took any design work I could from that point on. The progression from design to development was more out of necessity than anything. At one particular job I was told that I would need to learn the Lasso programming language. After six months of working with it and teaching myself it finally started to click. Since then it’s been a steady stream of learning new languages – XHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL – and web standards.

Marko: If you where not a designer/programmer what would you be?
Mike: Oy. Tough question. Since I’m into the movie and entertainment industry so much I would like to think that I would be involved in that in some capacity – mostly behind the camera but one can never truly tell what could have been.

Marko: How do you like our site mcville.net?
Mike: Until you emailed me I don’t think I’d heard of it. That being said I’m glad you did email me. I thoroughly enjoy reading interviews of online personalities.

In a design sense I’m not a big fan of the small navigation text. I would think it could do with a little more styling but it does serve its purpose. There are a few missing images and I’m not sure about the text-decoration on the images but that’s just me being nit-picky.

I love the fact that it’s clean, easy to use and very straightforward. Whatever you’re looking for is very easy to find.

Marko: If you could change something on mcville what would it be?
Mike: The first thing I would do is remove the strikethrough on visited links – at least in the headlines. Other than that I would just tweak the typography.

Marko: What kind of music do you fancy?
Mike: A bit of most things. I typically listen to hard rock, punk, and some heavy metal but the iTunes party shuffle with throw in some R&B, a small amount of rap and a smidgen of old school. My favorite band right now is definitely a tie between Breaking Benjamin and the Foo Fighters.

Marko: What’s your favorite food?
Mike: ooo, dangerous. My favorite food is probably pasta but my favorite single food item is definitely Grandma’s home made sausage rolls. Thank goodness Christmas is coming up because I’m craving those big time.

Marko: Where do you get out on Saturday’s?
Mike: On occasion I’ll hit up a local pub called Morgan’s on 17th Ave. I have a few friends in bands as well and I like to support the whenever I can so I’ll catch as many gigs as possible.


some relaxing question to follow

Marko: Chinese or Thai (food)?
Mike: Chinese

Marko: Coke or Pepsi?
Mike: Pepsi all the way.

Marko: html or css?
Mike: CSS definitely.

Marko: Do you watch television? If so, do you have a favorite show?
Mike: I have too many fav shows. A few of them are LOST, CSI, Scrubs, 24, Justice League Unlimited, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Law and Order (usually all of them) and The OC.

Marko: What would we find in your favorites bookmarks-bar?
Mike: Links to areas of the Apple website, works in progress, hotmail, stats, widgets, del.icio.us, Basecamp, and some design firms/design influences.

Marko: What inspires you? This doesn’t have to be design related.
Mike: People with a strong drive and motivation. I love hearing inspirational tales of people doing well and it inspires me to push myself.

Marko: Thank again for having this interview Mike ,Cheers!
Mike: You’re very welcome. Thank you immensely for contacting me and it’s definitely been my pleasure.

  1. — Colin D. Devroe    Dec 14, 08:32 PM    # If I have had any influence on you, I suppose I will have to apologize for that.

    Great interview.



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