Interview with Phil Matthews of the Web Design Blog

February 1st, 2010
Website: thewebdesignblog.co.uk
twitter:@philmatthews

Hey Phil, can you give us a short introduction of who you are, a bit about your background and your web design blog?

Sure! My name is Phil Matthews and I’m a freelance web design based on the south coast of England. I’ve been working fulltime as a freelancer for over five years now and absolutely love it.

I setup The Web Design Blog in the summer of 2009 with the intention of building up a collection of website resources, interviews, tutorials and free downloads. So far it has been a great experience and lots of fun discovering what kind of articles and resources work best. I’ve already learned so much in just a few months of running the site.

What is a typical day for Phil Matthews?

Like most web designers my mornings usually being with a bit of admin work, replying to e-mails, checking Twitter and maybe catching up on my RSS feeds.

Most of my day revolves around designing websites, coding websites and small bits of maintenance work for my clients. Sometimes I make the mistake of trying to fit too many things in to a day and end up either working far too late to catch up or feeling like I’ve not achieved all my goals. Recently I’ve followed Sam Brown’s advice on focusing on two main jobs each day (one in the morning, one in the afternoon) which has really helped me organise my week more efficiently.

At the end of the day I try to reduce my e-mail inbox a little bit before writing out my targets and jobs for the following day.

Running a successful blog creates a lot of exposure for you in the community. How has that helped with your freelance business and collaborations?

It is difficult to judge as my blog is still in the early stages. However, I have discovered so many talented folk out there thanks to them reading my blog. I’m constantly amazed by how much great work is being produced in our industry! I’ve also been lucky enough to interview several people I admire which have proven to be very popular on the blog.

Working on client projects can take up a lot of time, how much time do you dedicate to writing for the web design blog?

Initially I thought I’d only have to put an hour or two aside each week to run the blog. Big mistake! I quickly found out it doesn’t work like that. You really need to take the time to research, write, edit and publish articles. I’m very much a beginner to this so I try to learn something new with every article.

I’m still trying to find the best ratio for posting articles. One every week is about the current level I’m working on which is working well. It means I have enough time to write articles that I think people will like while leaving plenty of time for the all important client work.

What made you start the blog, and who were your early influences?

Ironically I wanted to start a tutorial blog but this is something that, so far, hasn’t featured much on my website. I’ve been a fan of Chris Spooner’s tutorials for a long time because they are well written, easy to follow and always fun. Tutorial 9 and Abduzeedo are also consistently providing really high quality tutorials.

Reading John O’Nolan’s personal blog about setting up his business was also a big influence. John shared the upsides and downsides to setting up a business and I just wish I’d been able to read them before I started up in the early days.

I also really enjoy reading Webdesigner Depot, WpRecipes.com and Web Designer Wall amongst many, many more.

What are your favorite types of posts to write, and what are the types you enjoy reading most on other blog sites.

That is a tricky question. I quite enjoy writing posts that don’t fall in to a particular category.

For example, I recently setup a questionnaire to find the average hourly rates that web designers charge. One reason I did this was purely out of curiosity. I’ve always wondered if I’m charging too much or too little so I setup a short anonymous survey which got over 250 responses.

I shared the results on the blog along with some additional data and I intend to keep this going with the results updated every couple of weeks.

What posts perform the best on your site and why?

So far my hourly rate post has got the most views, feedback and promotion. I think this is because people were genuinely interested in what others in the industry were charging. My readers really helped to spread the word to a wider audience and we had people from all over the world submitting their rates.

Another popular post is a collection of free credit and debit card icons that I designed. I suppose everyone loves a freebie! I think as long as you write something interesting or provide something useful you are going in the right direction.

Do you have sites that you follow consistently?

I’ve recently discovered The Oatmeal which is very funny. I think all designers can relate to their recent “How a Web Design Goes Straight To Hell” cartoon.

Twitter seems to be replacing my RSS Reader these days. There is so much great content out there at the moment it can be hard to stay on top of it all. I’ve got so many things bookmarked waiting to be read… One day I’ll get a chance!

I also really enjoy photography too so I’m always on Flickr looking for inspiration and ideas.

Where do you usually find your post ideas?

Absolutely anywhere! I’m always jotting down ideas on making a quick note on my phone when I think of something. I’ve got several posts either half written or in the planning stages which I’m really excited about.

I also find that if I’m inspired by something I’ll want to write about it or develop something around that idea. For example, when I saw the fantastic icon for Realmac’s new Socialite app it got me itching to put together a roundup of the very best icon designs I could find. I’m hoping to publish this one very soon!

Do you have a favorite style of music or favorite artist that you listen to while working?

I nearly always have music or a podcast playing in the background while I’m working. The Beatles, Gomez, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, Conor Oberst, The Rolling Stones and Shack are just a few of my favourites.

Anything new we should expect from the web design blog in 2010?

More tutorials! The site is in need of some really good tutorials so this is what I want to develop more of this year.

I’ve also got a couple of guest authors lined up for later I the month which should help bring a new perspective and style to the articles. I love to get feedback on what articles people like and dislike so feel free to get in touch!

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About the Author

Dimi Arhontidis is the designer and co-founder of feedgrids.com. He has been designing for about 14 years. Started his career in graphic design and corporate branding, and in the last few years made his way into web and application design.