Richard has been a website developer for nearly a decade working for everyone from governments and multinational companies to small businesses, schools and charities. Some of his most recent work has been with Nestle, Which? Magazines, the BBC, the Government of the British Virgin Islands, Fidelity Investments and Pot Noodle.
He has also been one of the experts quoted in .NET Magazine's recent cover article on Web Accessibility.
Here is a small snippet from their site about the book.
There are literally millions of websites on the Internet, but most are ugly and ineffective. So how do you create a site that looks good and makes money?
Web Design in easy steps guides you through the process of creating a website from planning to search engine promotion, explaining everything you need to know in plain English. Written by the designer of http://www.ineasysteps.com, this book will give you the knowledge to design an attractive and effective website.
Can you give us a brief bio of yourself?
Well, My name's Richard Quick and I'm a web designer with nearly a decade of experience and the author of the book "Web Design in easy steps". I'm from Cornwall in the south west of England, which is one of the most creative places in the world. I've been lucky enough to have worked for a wide range of clients over the years, from small businesses to multinationals like Fidelity Investments, Nestle and Which Magazines. I also managed to blag a job in the Caribbean for a few months, which was awesome. Oh, and I used to live on a houseboat. If you want to know more then have a look at my portfolio site, http://www.richardquickdesign.com
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What is your educational background?
I did quite well on my GCSEs and really badly on my A Levels (I was away lots). I originally wanted to be an Aeronautical Engineer and work for NASA, but decided to go traveling instead. Then I decided I wanted to be a teacher so studied Maths and Education at Uni. I left after 2 years to become a web designer (well . I left and then became a web designer by chance as much as anything). I also managed to fit in 2 years of a Journalism and Contemporary History degree somewhere along the way.
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What are your favorite books? Movies? TV shows? Music? Games? Foods? Beverages?
Books:
Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird, Franz Kafka: The Trial, Primo
Levi: If This is a Man, Richard Dawkins: The Blind Watchmaker, Dick
Bruna: Miffy
Films:
Contact, American Beauty, The Shipping Forecast, Secrets and Lies,
anything by Ken Loach
Music:
Sugababes, Jay Z, S Club 7, Nirvana, Radiohead, Beethoven, Aaliyah,
Lady Sovereign . anything really. Except U2.
Games:
Mario Kart on Gamecube . it's all I ever play.
Beverages:
Dr. Pepper, Lager, Red Wine, Earl Grey, Coca-Cola from a glass bottle
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When did you build your first website? Who was it for?
1996/7. It was for my mum's school. It was a wonderful affair with a spinning chrome @ symbol and a dancing Hello Kitty. Still, somebody thought it was good enough to offer me £300 to design a site for their business.
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What is the most enjoyable and unenjoyable part of your job?
The look of pure pleasure on people's faces when they see one of my websites for the first time!
Only joking. ;o)
I love talking to clients and designing. I've always enjoyed
learning about other people's businesses and helping them to make money through the web. And I like creating pretty things.
I'm not so keen on the whole coding malarkey though, even though I'm quite good at it. I like learning new techniques, but once I know how to do it then it gets a bit tedious.
The bit I really hate is stupidly tight deadlines, ungrateful ex-bosses and dealing with people that are horrible.
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What softwares do you use when developing websites and why?
Photoshop, Dreamweaver (in code view), Illustrator. I use them because they're the best tools for the job and I know they'll be around in 5-10 years time.
What tips and advice would you give to people entering web design and development?
Decide whether you're a designer or a developer. Then get really good at it.
There are no great web design courses, so you're going to have to educate yourself. Read as many books as you can. Surf the Web whenever you get the chance. Become a sponge for knowledge.
If you want to do design learn all you can about graphic design, architecture, art and product design . as well as web design.
If you want to code then make sure your knowledge is deep as well as broad. Understand each language inside out - don't just find out how to do the tasks you need to do
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What inspired you to write your book?
Inspiration's not quite the right word.
I wanted to write the book because . well I think I've got something to say that's worth hearing about web design.
But writing a book is a long, hard process, and by the time I'd finished I was relieved and shocked more than inspired. I must have read the book over 100 times, so I know it off by heart!
Also, as well as writing the book I redesigned the publisher's website and the entire "In Easy Steps" series of books, so it was quite a big task. It was a bit like running a marathon. Exciting at first, but painful towards the end.
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What do you think your book has over others on the market?
I know I'm biased, but I really do think "Web Design in easy steps" is actually quite different to any other web design book on the market right now.
Most other books on web design seem to me to fall into one of two categories. The majority teach you how to build a website, either using specific technology (HTML, CSS) or a specific program (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash). Books with titles like "Create a Website in 4 and a half seconds" and "Building sites with Dreamweaver for the mentally unstable" fall into this first category. Also books like "Designing with web standards" and "CSS Mastery".
There's also a smaller market for books on the visual design of websites aimed at professional designers. These books are usually published by companies that designers may already recognize like Taschen and Rockport.
What I've tried to do with "Web Design in easy steps" is something quite different to either type of book. My book doesn't teach you how to code HTML or use Photoshop. But neither is it aimed at experienced designers.
Instead the book tries to teach novice web designers the concepts and principles they'll need to create an attractive and successful website. I cover design concepts like grids, typography and colour as well more practical skills such as writing for the web, search engines and information architecture.
My hope is that if you read my book you'll be able to design a more attractive, more successful website than if you hadn't.
Basically, Web Design in easy steps is a book that teaches people how to create GOOD websites. I think that's what sets it apart.
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Are you planning on writing any more? If so what will they be about?
I hope so. My next one will probably be on, "Blogging and Podcasting," or on, "How to code websites with Web Standards."
I'd like to try to write a really classic book on web design that's along the lines of the really great books on graphic design and typography. Something that's really in depth, beautiful and expensive.
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What are your top 5 websites (excluding your own)?
The ones I go to most often:
http://www.google.com
http://news.bbc.co.uk
http://www.boagworld.com
http://www.sitepoint.com
http://en.wikipedia.org
Some of the ones I admire:
Brendan Dawes' Psycho Studio (not online any more, sadly) - this was a groundbreaking site
http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk - I really like the way they've made the site attractive and easy to use - it's a great example of navigation for a large site
http://www.shopify.com - This is the best small business ecommerce solution ever
http://www.waterstones.co.uk - it's a great example of clean, sensible design coupled with clean coding
http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/sections...sm=3&ss=11 - This is a really clever and usable interface
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Do you have any future plans for either your design company, a new book or other projects? if so can you tell us?
Well, with my design company I'd like to start making some money!
For the time being I'm concentrating on promoting the book though my blog, http://www.web-design-book.com, and I'll be starting a podcast very soon. It's aimed at novice web designers, so hopefully it should be quite useful if you're new to web design. I'm going to put lots of tutorials and tips up there over the next few months.
Also, in the medium term, I'm planning some intensive training courses aimed at people trying to get into web design. For example, an intensive 2 week kick-start course that will take you from having little or no knowledge to knowing enough to be able to get a junior web design job. I'm also planning an intensive course on coding with Web Standards. Again, it'll be a blitzkreig approach to learning it.
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We thank Rich for taking part and wish him all the best with promoting his book.