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Entrevista a Josué Cañas How did you get into web design? “I started studying human resources when I was 15 years old. In that moment in my city there was a little company named Tachiravende.com, the idea of this site was to offer an online yellow page of my city. I went there for a job on sales, but when I met the owner he started teaching me how to build sites and I start working in this project as a web designer.” Do you remember the very first site you designed? “Yes, it was tachiravende.com but it never brought results after I quit this job and tried in other areas for long time until almost 2 years ago. I found the chance to work in the design world and I created the website www.asiafactorydirect.com .” You are doing a lot of graphics design, is this a specialization for you? “It is not the career I studied at the university. The first thing I studied was Human Resources. After that I studied administration of sales, so I can't say this is a ‘career specialty' but it is what I do all the time and I always focus on ‘design' so I can say in my heart this is my specialty.” |
here do you get your art for these webpages? “When I meet a person as a customer I try to understand all the needs they have. I can have big ideas in my head that for me are wonderful, but in reality they won't meet the needs of my clients. I believe in meeting the customer often after that start to show the best ideas that I have for the customer, and have an "agreement" when the customer is happy about the idea and I am happy, because I am sure that the customer has made the right choice. Sometimes the customer has an idea that may not good for their business. It is my job to show him the best way to make the best presentation for their business and at the same time make them happy. I can't describe the art; I just sit at a table with a paper and pencil and the ideas come to my head. I start painting until I get a big and strong idea of a good design for a customer. Sometimes I just sit in front a computer and let the ideas come to my head; it is really a natural process. Other times if am not working and I have ideas I save them on paper or on a pc so maybe in the future they will help me in some design.”
What will be the next big development in webpage design? “Well for sure, the mobile websites, that is the way of bringing all the sites that you can see on a computer to your cell phone. Right now if you use your cell phone to go online almost all the sites are going to appear in the browser of your phone. When this ‘boom' of the .mobi start working, everyone will be going online using the cellphone and not a laptop or a PC or a Mac. The human being is always searching for new ways of communication, and if it is less complicated, the human being will be happy. And what is easier than have a small product that gives you the chance of call your friends, to hear your music, see your photos, and of course go online every anywhere you are.”
Have you ever worked with website templates? “No, I have never worked with templates, all my designs are my own creation.”
What do you think about Flash technology? “Flash is wonderful tool, but I believe it is more for entertainment. It is focused in a professional market of the design world, and focused in big companies that want to share information, want to get in touch with all their customers around the world, very fast, very clear, and in the best way. If I use flash with an international company, there may be a big customer in China or New Zealand trying to get in touch with the company but they have a very low speed internet. If the website is on Flash, they probably are not able to see the website or it will be very slow. The customer is going to get tired of waiting and will open a new window and find another company.”
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Flash? “Advantages are simple. It is wonderful that you can create whatever you want. You can make your mind fly more than using fireworks. Disadvantages like I just said, for a professional site that the first priority is to give the information to the customers around the world. It can be bad for the different speeds of internet around the world. So this could make some customers go away and not see your company as a good option for a business partnership or relationship.”
What are your sources of inspiration? “I like to buy books of art. I think that's my inspiration. But believe it or not, television sometimes is a good source of inspiration. People always say that TV is bad, that it doesn't make you think. In some level that is true, but when you see the right channels with the right information, you will have positive things. As I do I watch TV and always looking at the designs, the colors and all the little things that might help me in some way.”
What are your favorite website designs that you did and did NOT design yourself? “I love my site, but I change it almost every month. Right now the one I have online is what I like very, very much. In the past I changed my website about every five days but now I am very satisfied. Of course I like My Space. I try to change all that when I can. You can check it www.myspace.com/josuecanas . Websites that I like but I did not do - there are a lot that I like, but I don't like the Flash ones. I prefer the websites with a clean design but offer all the information the people need. I love the website of Unicef , and I love the website of a singer named ‘bjork.' I think these are very good websites.”
What was the toughest project or customer situation you've encountered? “All customers are different. They are always going to disagree with you in some level. Others are going to agree with you. For me, every customer is unique and every need for them is unique, so I can tell you that all customers are important, all have needs, they all need a solution and I am here to create those solutions.”
What are your interests and dislikes in webpage design? “I love designs. I believe it is the part of the webpage that I really, really enjoy. What I dislike is not about the market maybe it is more personal. I would like to work for a big company that not only gives me the chance to design but also gives me the chance to have communication with customers and to find out what their needs are and try to find a solution. I love to work with advertisement online and with magazines and newspapers. It is difficult to find large companies that are near my home, but I continue to look around the world. If a company needs me, I will go to any part of the world just to prove that I am the right man for their company.”
Thank you Josue for your designs and your interview.