David McKay

David McKay is a Web designer for US-based company Netconcepts. He works in their Auckland, New Zealand offices.

The Work

I started as a programmer, doing HTML code and playing around with JavaScript. My true passion is design, so recently that's the area where I've been concentrating my efforts. Sites that I've worked on, within client briefs, include recipefinder.com, pdma.org and bluewaterfish.com.

Career Route

I worked as an English tutor at Brigham Young University's Hawaii campus. In 1995, when the Internet became popular, they wanted a Web site, so I taught myself HTML and Photoshop. Learning those skills early was an advantage.

Design

Most clients have different tastes, so designs vary. Often we're working to a client brief on the design side. Sometimes clients are very specific, and other times they don't know what they want at first, but as development progresses they become more particular. The colours are often specified - especially for big corporate clients with house-styles. Often we have to transfer the style of corporate printed materials to the Web.

Navigation is rarely specified, so that's down to us. Navigation should be concise and easily recognisable. I read an article about flash that said 99% of Flash is junk because it usually has such non-standard interfaces. It takes people a while to figure out which button to press and where it's going to take them. Better to keep things fairly standard and add a touch of creativity.

The Trend Towards Slim Graphics

I prefer more graphics than the current trend. Designers sometimes go crazy with splash front pages or a 50k image map on the front page. Broadband hasn't come through yet, so we have to be realistic. I like content too - obviously that's why you go to a Web site - but it has to be packaged right, it has to look attractive. I like a little eye-candy.

Once broadband becomes worldwide, we'll see bigger graphics.

Software Gems

Photoshop, definitely. Although it may sound unusual, I also use QuarkXpress for layout, because I'm really familiar with it. I do that for the look and feel, the ability to move elements around. It's similar to Dreamweaver in that respect. Then I reassemble the final page in HTML and enhance the graphics in Photoshop. Photoshop 6 is very Web-friendly.

I work on a Mac, so I really like BBEdit. PageSpinner is good for building forms and JavaScript.

New Zealand and the Web

New Zealand seems to be a testing ground for new technologies. We have EFTPOS, the debit card system that allows you to make small purchases in local shop by entering a personal code. It's very popular.

Unfortunately, we're really behind on broadband, and things are expensive here, for example computers. I did Web development work in Hawaii for five years, where there were plenty of Internet connection options available, yet EFTPOS was rare. Cable access is only arriving in Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city, right now.

Everybody is keen. E-mail is very common and we're all excited by new technology, even though we're a little more conservative than the US - that must be the British heritage. The concept of EFTPOS and simple credit card use carries over the Web. All that's holding us back is the exchange rate. New Zealanders expect to be able to use their credit cards online.

Here's a curious cultural story. When my wife and I were in China, we dealt with government officials at a high level, and I was amazed that when they gave us email addresses they were often so-and-so@hotmail.com. Again, the enthusiasm was there but economic limitations were holding them back.

Pet Hates

I like Flash and strong design, it keeps me coming back to a site, partly out of respect for the work that went into it and the talent, but I do despise long intros that you can't skip past. Opening pages that give browser specifications are unnecessary. And there's no excuse for first generation sites with massive tiled backgrounds. It's so much better to have no colour or one colour in the background.

I hate the browser differences and platform differences. They're so frustrating.

Advice for New Designers

Be prepared to multitask, to know more than just the speciality that you're interested in. Know your machine, so you can get the best out of it. Not many people know enough about typography. You can get some great effects from using fonts and text really well.

More Culture

I'm part American and part native New Zealander (Maori), so I have an interesting mix of cultural perspectives. The Maori people here are starting to use the Internet. It's been a slow process because economically they're not in a strong position, but they see it as a way to express themselves. I think it's a little more important to them than it is to the average white New Zealander. They get to say powerful things, however and whenever they like. It's helping them with community building.

There are mailing lists with technologists, mathematicians, scientists, getting together to see how they can better their people. It's really exciting.