Mutual Benefit

This is an interview/profile piece that I wrote about three months ago. The idea was that it would be good practice for me, and good exposure for the interviewee. However, it never made it to its intended destination (a local magazine), so Revel in the Confusion has come to the rescue—like a timely rail replacement bus.

Glide on your Screens

Good web design largely governs the success of a business or information website, and most obviously it makes it easier for all of us to navigate our way around the Internet. Michael Aldridge dreams of a web with just a little more imagination put into it.

At 25 Michael has a few companies and institutions under his belt; the normal student mix of work and study: Quadrant Subscription Services, IBM, SocialGo (a social network maker), and qualifications from Northbrook College and the University of Brighton, where he won the Sapphire Technology Award in 2007 for having the best piece of practical work of his year. Throughout this time he has been steadily building up a formidable knowledge of web design, and talking to Michael soon reveals his clear understanding of the subject’s many facets: the esoteric programmes, software and code that determine a website’s look and operation, the hand-drawn layouts and motifs from which distinctive web pages are planned and created, and the right application of photography, video and other content to enhance a website. All of this goes into the websites that we use everyday, even if they may appear to us as composite ‘things’ that flash up on the screen.

‘People are surprised as to how much planning and assessment comes into the design process before building a website actually begins,’ he says. ‘It is quite a task to make large modifications once a site is already partly made; there is no such thing as a quick change to a website.’ Michael is sitting opposite me in the Star and Sailor pub in Brighton, drinking a half of Old Rose cider and checking his iPhone for updates to the internet-based part of his life. He manages to arrange a meeting for the next day, check on items he is selling on Ebay, read witty remarks on Twitter, and simultaneously maintain conversation with me. Much of the time I don’t notice him glancing at his phone; this is the well-accustomed multitasking that mobile technology has engendered in so many people.

He has a casual look: a black shirt with the collar unbuttoned, baggy jeans and colourful skater trainers. These clothes sit just as well here as they do in the London office where he works, or at home when he’s either relaxing with his fiancée or working on the latest website that he his designing for a client. For Michael web design is something he is interested in personally and professionally, setting a high standard for his own websites while—as a user—enjoying browsing the Internet all the more when he finds good and intelligent examples of design. ‘It’s not a question of if it looks good,’ he says, ‘but rather if it stands out.’

Michael takes care to offer something new when a client engages him: ‘I will first research the competition, and then start to think of a way of doing it differently, or in a way that hasn’t been done before.’ Everything is material, and Michael’s dedication to developing his skills and improving on the last job is effortless. He buys textbooks for ‘pleasure’ that will inevitably help him in making websites. When he creates an animation on his computer—apparently taking a break from work—that animation will often become a working model for another website he is building: ‘I will try to work any new technique that I am currently using into a website, in that way it is cutting edge.’

This restless need to improve and learn more is done in part out of necessity—as the Internet is obviously very fast moving—but also out of passion, pride, or however you may like to recognize the enjoyment of work. It is clear that this makes for a healthier and more conversational mode of business, with Michael wishing to exchange ideas with clients and meet their personal expectations as well as technical: ‘It’s important to talk about the website away from a computer screen, where the tendency is to say: “take all the best elements from these websites here…” It’s much nicer to be able to meet in person and get your client’s ideas straight from their head.’

I wish Michael well with his future endeavours, but not before asking him if he can offer me the most concise philosophy of web design he can think of—to really sell the subject to me. After thinking for a moment he says: ‘If something is technically well designed then more people will see it.’ I can’t say fairer than that.

Michael offers a design service, along with development of small sites. He can develop in Flash or HTML/CSS and will put video and audio content online. He can also complete basic audio and video editing.

Contact Michael at info@glidepro.net or check out his blog to see his latest projects and some examples of his work.