My company got featured on the alumni wall!
The kind folks at the Art Institute of CA-San Diego have shined the spotlight on my web development company, EXAMP. In addition to posting our interviews and photo on the school’s Alumni Wall of Fame, they also placed our story in the nationally syndicated alumni newsletter. Nic and I are very thankful for this honor and we’re also excited to be the first “double feature” that the school has posted. This may not be my first time on the wall (I was also featured while working at PINT in 2007), but it certainly means a lot more to me since it is my company name and logo on that wall. Special thanks to Adrienne and the rest of the wonderful staff at the Art Institute.
In case you are interested, the interview text is below.
- Why did you choose to study at The Art Institute of California – San Diego?
I chose AiCA-SD because I knew I wanted to do something in the creative industry, and none of the traditional universities I checked out had any classes to fit that ambition. To be specific, I wanted to learn Flash and Actionscript. As classes progressed, I found myself more interested in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. The dynamic course work and small student to faculty ratio proved to be invaluable in my understanding and interest in a given topic. - How did you decide to start the company together?
We saw great potential in one another, as well as the possibilities afforded by combining two skill sets into one service. With his exceptional eye for design and experience in designing for highly-trafficked sites, I knew he would be a great fit as the company’s Creative Director. - What are the advantages of having your own business?
There are so many advantages to having your own business. I am available at almost all times, which is convenient when dealing with both clients that have a full-time job and clients that are wholly-committed to the current project. Another advantage is being able to name my own price. We have been fortunate so far in that we have not needed to do any advertising or promotion, so we have not really needed to sacrifice much as a means to gain new business. Our biggest advantage has got to be in our ability to pick and choose the clients with whom we want to do business. If we do not think it will be a good fit, then we try to refer them to someone who may be better able to help, or we can simply choose to just say “no thanks”. - What are some challenges of running your own business?
We face several challenges running our own business. The first challenge was putting the business together, which will are still doing and will always continue to do. Luckily The Art Institute required both Nic and I to take a Professional Practice course, which helped us tremendously in discovering what we were trying to do and how to express that to potential customers. Another difficult challenge is in creating a positive client experience and maintaining that experience for the project’s lifecycle. We also try to do everything under the guise of “best practices”, so that means we can’t cut corners or hack something together. We need to deliver quality on time, every time – and that’s not always easy. - What are some of the primary design/software tools you use?
I primarily use Adobe software to get the job done. Designs are cutup using a combination of Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and FireFox (enhanced with a collection of useful plugins like Firebug, YSlow, and ColorZilla). We use the Yahoo! User Interface Library (YUI) for any JavaScript widgets that we don’t code in-house. We use Invoice Machine for our project tracking/invoicing, and we use Google Voice for our business telephone. - What part of your education provided you the most help with starting your company?
The Professional Practice course with Sarram, E-commerce Site Design with Secor, and Portfolio I/II with Sandsmark were all crucial to us in developing the materials and portfolio we would need to impress clients and look professional. The project-based nature of each class was essential to us in coming out “guns blazing”, which I believe has undoubtedly contributed to our early success. I see a lot of my friends leaving traditional universities with no idea what they want to do and nothing but grades and a degree to show potential employers. - Who was your favorite professor/instructor and why?
Every WDIM faculty member influenced me in some positive way. Sarram really helped polish my professional abilities. Sandsmark was a breath of fresh air and always got me thinking in new, creative ways. The others were all great too but Kris Secor was my favorite instructor because of his dynamic teaching style. He was very flexible with the course work, and made sure every student was able to take something worthwhile from each class. I always looked forward to his classes and I always learned something new. I also heard he loves to code in PERL, which is impressive. - What advice would you give to current students who are looking to be successful in their industry?
Get out into the field as early as possible. The school can teach you whatever you want to learn, but only you can decide what you truly enjoy doing. Experience is the best way to figure that out. If you are lucky enough to discover what you enjoy early on, then become an expert at that because people want experts. A jack of all traits may bring a little bit of everything to the table, but he also brings a whole lot of nothing.
