webexpedition18

Yesterday I had opportunity and honor to interview Chris Spooner. He is the man behind Blog.SpoonGraphics, a very popular blog about design. The blog have 15,000 visitors a day and more then 15,000 subscribers. 15,451 people follow Chris on twitter. Chris Spooner is one of the most popular blogger and web designer in the world.

I hope you will all enjoy this interview.

First of all thank you for doing this interview Chris! Could you please tell our readers a little about yourself? Where are you from? How did you get started? Did you study something in particular or are you self-taught?

Thanks! I’m Chris Spooner, I’m a designer from Sheffield, UK. I started out in the design industry after studying in the art subjects throughout school, college and university. I then landed my first job as a web designer, and worked at a local studio for a couple of years. In 2008 I decided to head off into the realm of self employment, and have since been enjoying working with a variety of people from around the world, and a couple of cool local design firms on a wide range of projects.
I’d say although I do have a qualification, most of my knowledge is self-taught. Particularly when keeping up to date with new trends and coding languages.

Where do you get your inspiration and ideas for your work?

Inspiration comes from all kinds of places, but being sat on the Internet all day, I’m often finding great work from design blogs and portfolios that inspire me to experiment and practice.

You have few websites and blogs, and you are freelancer. How you manage to work on all this projects?

Luckily I’ve managed to develop a source of revenue from my main blog, so this covers the time needed for creating blog posts. It also allows me to take on less design work, leaving space just for the projects I really enjoy.

Tell us more about your blogs: SpoonGraphics, Line25 and ChrisSpooner? Idea and motivation behind blogs? I must admit that all blogs looking amazing!

I really enjoy posting articles and tutorials that help people out. I learnt so much from following tutorials myself, I find it a great way of giving back and helping others. Blogging has also generated some great opportunities through the added exposure I’ve gained as a designer – From appearances on high profile sites, in magazines and books and landing some great design gigs. With this in mind I make sure I spend the time in my daily routine managing my sites and creating new content.

What does your typical day look like?

My days are sometimes full of project work, and sometimes full of blog post creation. However they both involve being sat at my computer for the duration of the day. I’ll also spend some time checking out links posted on Twitter, and catch up on my RSS subscriptions during lunchtime.

Since you are doing freelance work what is the best part about being a freelancer?

Not being managed by anyone is one of the best aspects. The whole freedom of doing what you want is what really makes me want to avoid going back to office work. Let’s say I fancy heading out for a walk, go and play a computer game or watch some YouTube vids. There’s no-one looking over your shoulder saying why aren’t you doing any work! (Apart from when my Fiancee comes home!). On the flip side it’s important to manage your time and catch up on time spent elsewhere.

What are your favorite websites?

I’m forever finding great content on a range of sites on the net, but a few sites I regularly visit to fire me off towards interesting content are DesignBump, CSS Globe and DesignM.ag

What social media tools you are using?

I’m a heavy user of Twitter, and I Stumble and Digg articles fairly often. I actually have a profile on most mainstream social sites, and tend to them once in a while!

In your opinion what will be the next design trends?

In web design I can see layouts taking more and more inspiration from the print industry. Bringing in elements of design that make magazine layouts look great, using photography and typography to really bring the design and content together as one.

Can you share some words of wisdom about blogging, designing and freelancing to someone starting in webdesign?

Investing your time into blogging can make great opportunities later down the line. It also helps keep on top of your design skills, by giving you an incentive to try new techniques and share your latest findings. So my best piece of advice would be to live the lifestyle, thoroughly submerge yourself in all things design and document it all on your blog.

What can we expect from Chris Spooner in the future?

I’m planning to continue pumping out content on all my sites, hopefully the upcoming articles will come in handy! I’m also looking at posting a little more personal stuff that strays away from design and more into my lifestyle by experimenting with the whole vlogging scene. This is something I enjoy from others, and looks like fun!

Thanks for the interview Chris. And at the end of this interview, what are you doing when you’re not working? How do you spend your free time?

Laura and I are regular cinema goers, and we also enjoy heading off to a nearby theme park every now and again. Being annual pass holders it’s a great way to spend a day out with a mix of fast paced rides and casual strolling around the beautiful grounds.