When I was still on the outside looking in I often wondered why a guy called Adii perpetually had one of the top blogs on local content aggregators. Steve Hofmeyr came and went online, the Koekemoer became a legend in his own lunchtime, and then there was Adii, perennially one of the top five or top 10 most visited sites in South Africa.
As I picked up my journalism career and got writing about social media it all started to make sense. Then it crystallised when colleague and fellow writer and broadcaster Simon Dingle tweeted that Web designers are the new messiahs of the Internet. Smart guy. Dingle's right. As the world becomes more convergent, Web designers are the poster girls and boys for aesthetics, cool and usability. Sure the coders create the function, tools and incredible apps, but the designers are the face of the Web.
Interesting thing about Adii - his apparent humility. Despite the fact that he has achieved a degree of global 'weblebrity' for his work with people all over the world citing his design kudos, he appears more focused on his work and serving the WordPress community that is his niche, than self-aggrandising. But this seems to be part of the WP ethos, and when founder Matt Mullenweg was in South Africa as part of the Word Camp global tours, everyone kept commenting about how accessible, humble and wise he was.
Designing for WP is a smart strategy because of the explosive market. Leading international news brands like CNN, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Time, BBC and People Magazine use the WP platform. Governments also appreciate the ease and functionality, with the UK Prime Minister's Office relaunching its site using WP at Number10.gov.uk. Then there are the stats. These are the latest figures according for WP for August 2008, according to publishing platform's blog:
As the world becomes more convergent, Web designers are the poster girls and boys for aesthetics, cool and usability.
Mandy de Waal, freelance writer
286 860 blogs were created.
298 655 new users joined.
3 442 638 file uploads.
About 1 580GB of new files.
439 terabytes of content transferred from our data centres.
6 750 960 comments.
5 354 732 logins.
"WP is popular, simply because it is that good. I think the most important thing that WP has proven to everyone, is that it is not a passing fad. They've grown an incredibly strong community, which was initially driven by the open source model, which gave the masses access to an incredible product. I think it is probably down to their community involvement, the support that can be obtained within the community and digital professionals providing top-end solutions built on WP." Adii is a self-taught Web designer and developer, specialising in using the open source, content management system, WordPress, which means he builds Web sites and other online marketing solutions for clients. He's also a successful small business owner, and runs his own design agency, and co-founded the established WordPress theme store, WooThemes.
Here's Adii, WordPress rock star's take on digital life, the universe and everything.
What do you do?
I'm not a firm believer in putting myself in a box by labelling me as someone within a certain profession. At the moment I'm a designer and developer (self-taught), while more important, I'm establishing two businesses. The first is {radiiate}, which is just the formalised entity of my previous freelancing activities, while WooThemes is my shot at creating a sustainable online business.
Is there an engineering alchemy that drives stickiness, usability and software likeability?
I don't think I need to champion open source software in this regard, as the model as proven itself already. I do, however, think the stickiness and likeability of software (both these are related in my mind) is heavily reliant on the usability and support thereof. Considering the amount of software options available (within any given field), the only way for the developers to stay ahead of their competition is by creating a passionate user base. And judging by the size and skill-level of the average member in the WP community (for example), they've done it right.
When did you first get interested in blogging software and design?
At the end of 2006. I'd been involved in a few small business projects at varsity (the type of projects that are never profitable and all about the "experience") and when I finally decided that I was over that, I decided I wanted a blog (because it was becoming more prominent in SA at that time). Since I knew a bit about HTML/CSS at that stage, I decided to try out a few blogging platforms and eventually settled on WordPress, after teaching myself to use it in about two weeks. From there, I continued to muck about and eventually launched my own personal blog in February 2007, after which I also started doing client projects.
What is good design?
You'll need to ask guys like Elliot Jay Stocks, Khoi Vinh, and Jason Santa Maria. I think design is just a function in the sense that it should serve some kind of purpose. So to an extent it is very closely linked to designing something that is usable, while looking good at the same time. I do, however, think if you design something super-usable and life changing (take the paper clip, for example), then most people won't criticise the look thereof anyway.
How does good design affect usage from both an aesthetic and functional perspective?
Ultimately, it will serve and influence both the aesthetics and functionality of the product. As mentioned above, I think a usable product (design-wise) will definitely influence the aesthetics thereof, since that is simply a subjective feeling that a person will have about the product; which means people can be "brainwashed" to believe the product is indeed pretty. If, however, you have a crappy product, you are going to be hard-pushed to convince anyone that it doesn't look half-bad.
What are the big trends in online design locally and globally?
Experimentation, I think. Every single day, you can probably find a designer who has just possibly created a new design trend. This means every designer has the possibility of becoming a pioneer in any given design style, technique, procedure etc.
Why do you love WordPress - why does it work for you?
At this stage, I'm tempted to say I love WordPress because I really know it well now and I'm able to pull off about 90% of things that I'll attempt to do with it. Beyond that, I like the fact that WordPress has been the common ground where I've been able to engage and meet a wide variety of people that I would've never had "access" to in the past. WordPress also seems to work for my clients, which means that too then works for me.
Who are your gurus?
So many to name... I think I owe someone like Dave Duarte a heck of a lot, because he gave me an opportunity to be involved in the social media circles last year, which helped me progress from only being a manufacturer (in terms of creating Web site solutions), to someone who could be a thought leader as well. Then, I can also mention both Mike Stopforth and Charl Norman whom I respect for different reasons.
Internationally, I have a lot of respect for both my partners on WooThemes - Mark Forrester and Magnus Jepson - as I've learned a lot from both of them in the last seven to eight months since we've been working together. And finally, there are the celebrities like Ryan Carson (Carsonified), Elliot Jay Stocks, Khoi Vinh, Mark Boulton, Chris Pearson, and Collis Ta'eed.
Who are your best local and global designers?
Locally, I think Mark Forrester is king (even though the poor sod is based in the UK now), while young talents such as Fresh01 and Foxinni are starting to make a name for themselves. Internationally, I love Elliot Jay Stock's out-of-the-box thinking, Khoi Vinh and Mark Boulton's grid work, Collis Ta'eed's slick and unique style. One to watch is sure Liam McKay - just for the pure passion and skill he brings to his work.
How crucial is open source to the way people feel about the brand?
It is important, but not the only determining factor in whether a brand can be successful. I think open source can drive the promotion of a brand in its early stages, when budgets are tight, but again that doesn't mean that a non-open source brand can't have the same success. I think one needs to take a "horses for courses" approach on this one - not every business/brand can incorporate an open source model, but there is some that can do with a little "free" help.
Simon Dingle tweeted: "Web 2.0 is transforming Web designers into messiahs." Certainly in SA we see they have huge influence and reach. What's your view of this?
I think this comes down to the way that designers can communicate an idea. I've always found that people are visual beings and that pictures will always be worth a 1 000 words. Most people want more than just written content and designers have that ability of engaging readers on that visual level. So maybe Web designers are highly regarded, and they certainly have influence, since they will be creating the interface of the next great Web app.
Are you a design messiah?
Not by a long mile.
Can you describe the way you think?
I've actually got a business mind, so if you meant to ask about the way I think in terms of design, I think it is heavily influenced by my business/strategic tendencies. I'm not overly arty (I can't draw for the life of me), so I think in a very functional/strategic way. Ultimately, I think every design should accomplish a purpose and I'm probably much better at handling those strategic aims.
What influences you in terms of design?
I'm a sucker for mash-ups of different styles. I particularly like to do designs that have a good balance between the artiness and functionality (especially grid-based work) thereof. In terms of the style of a design, I'm very impulsive and I can be influenced by anything I see online or off.
How does design influence the bottom line - profitability?
Design is just another business function/process, which suggests it also contributes to the profitability (direct and/or indirect) of the product/service/company.
Your best gadgets?
I'm not a major gadget geek, but I love my MacBook Pro, iPod Touch (which will soon be replaced with the 3G iPhone once it arrives on our shores), my Canon 400D camera and then also the combo of having an Xbox and a 320GB hard drive.
Your best design resources online?
I love BestWebGallery for inspiration and then I think following the designers I mentioned above adds a lot of value. Smashing Magazine is also not bad - especially if you like those listy-type posts.
Your best design online inspiration?
BestWebGallery definitely and then recently I've spent quite a bit of time on Flickr and DeviantArt - just browsing around for great designs.
The first five browsers you open each morning?
The WordPress admin panel for adii.co.za, our membership backend for WooThemes, Google Reader, Gmail and Basecamp.
Your best online apps?
Basecamp, Freshbooks and Campaign Monitor. Can't beat those three.
One thing you couldn't live without?
I'll be all sensitive (and non-materialistic) and say my fianc'e.
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Mandy de Waal is a freelance writer, columnist and investigative journalist. A former broadcast journalist, De Waal writes for Brainstorm, ITWeb, MoneyWeb and is the editor of MoneywebLife. She writes about technology, convergent media, corporate rot and whatever else takes her fancy. Read the riffs on her blog.
Follow her on Twitter.
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