For the second part of my design series, I thought it’d be great to get some real insider knowledge into the designing industry, and really get inside the mind of a designer. I had a few ideas of how to do this, but at the end NOTHING could beat a good old fashioned interview.
The first person that sprung to mind when I thought of designing was a guy called Gaya. Gaya is a really talented young designer, and, luckily, he agreed to do an interview with me. See it below!
Thanks for agreeing to do the interview, Gaya. Tell the Teenius readers a bit about yourself…
Thanks for interviewing me, Simon. So let’s jump straight to the point. My name is Gaya Kessler and I live in a small village in the Netherlands. I am currently 21 years old and am finishing up with University. In my spare time I like to go out and do stuff with friends, listen to music, go to concerts and give in to my Nintendo addiction.
I’ve been doing some Internet stuff in the past but since December 2008 I finally found the time to start up a blog. It’s called Gaya Design and it’s about web development and cool tricks for your website. A few weeks ago I was asked to join the Fuel Brand Group to become the editor of Fuel Your Coding. A site centred around coding and all kinds of other things.
Yeah, I’ve checked out both those sites and they’re both great… some awesome content on there. So, what’s Gaya Design all about?
When I first planned on doing a website for Gaya Design, it wasn’t a blog. But since I love the Internet and love reading tutorials to increase my knowledge, I’ve become more and more interested in writing my own articles.
Gaya Design features articles from jQuery effects to server side programming. I have a secret love for interfaces and how they are designed. Especially the usability part of this all gets my attention. With Gaya Design I hope to spread the things I’ve learned and the things I’ve developed and share it with everyone on the World Wide Web.
So, lets talk a bit more about you as a designer. How did you get into designing and programming?
The first time I started making websites was a while ago. I had been messing around with several WYSIWYG editors and it really started to see the fun in it. Shortly after that, I started using Paint Shop Pro 8 (or less?) to create my own pieces of art. I found it really enjoyable and didn’t care about how it looked, it was just so cool to do.
I’ve always been looking around the web and started to enjoy good looking sites, this inspired me to take the next step and learn a bit more about the web.
Then I got some HTML classes in High School and got hooked at the same moment. From there, I can’t remember a moment I didn’t write code for web development. It went from HTML to learning PHP at Computer Science on High School to moving on to CSS and web standards.
By that time I was in University and started to learn other types of programming languages. My love for designing was still there and did it a lot in my spare time, thus Gaya Design was born: Just a small portfolio site.
After about a year in Uni I went to a local web development company and asked if they needed someone. And luckily, they did! I’ve been working there ever since and got my skill to levels I couldn’t have imagined before. These guys really appreciate what I am doing and encourage me to investigate and make up new stuff for the Internet. That’s how Gaya Design transformed into a development blog.
Wow, so you’re a pretty experienced designer. What changes have you seen since you started designing, and what do you see for the future of the designing world?
Good question, Simon. I’ve been really into drawing since I was a little boy and have been into art and abstract pieces for a long time. When I first started to see more design work on the Internet I got particularly interested in creating my own pieces. Looking at other people’s work has really boosted my inspiration and found myself a way to create my own style. I really really like the way big designers blog and showcase their works on the Internet these days. This has already meant a lot for the Internet and the websites on it. Compared to 10 years ago, you can see the big change. This brings a lot of new designers and beautifully designed websites.
A good change I see is the readability of websites and the user centered designs. The pieces of the Internet are finally coming together and designers all over the world are creating beautiful designs. Just look at all the theme directories out there, they hold so much talent.
As for the future. I really believe design and art is a way to express yourself, and with the tools available this can only get better.
As a designer, what design blogs would you recommend for people to go and read? Also, who do you think are the best designers out there at the moment?
Hard to say. There are so much awesome designers and types of design out there. I must say I am a real fan of the grunge designs, but I think it has been over done lately, mixing in with other styles. Grunge is grunge, and not trendy thing. I really like Chris Spooner’s grunge style and the simplicity of it. Sieb, a colleague, is also one of my favourite grunge artists (http://siebdesign.nl/).
My favourite designers / blogs are:
Cool, thanks for taking the time to answer some of my questions, Gaya. Unfortunately, I can’t ask all the questions I’m sure my readers would love to see answered, so is there any way that Teenius readers can contact you?
Thanks for interviewing me and I hope your readers enjoyed it . You get in touch with me in a lot of ways! Go to my website: www.gayadesign.com and look around or comment, or try www.fuelyourcoding.com.
You can catch me on twitter through @gayadesign. I also love music so obviously you can catch me on last.fm.
Gaya is one of those awesome designers who is always there to help. He’s a great guy.
Btw Kewl interview.
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Thanks once again Simon! Hope your readers will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed answering the questions.
Cheers!
Gaya’s last blog post..Puffing Smoke Effect in jQuery
No problem, it was really great to interview someone that clearly knows a lot about design and programming
Thanks for the great interview. It is always nice to get to know someone in an industry you are not familiar with. I do not know to much about design so it is nice to find great resources online and meet experts. Your design series is one I am looking forward to seeing more of.
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Well, I’ll be posting the design series in intervals. There’s no set end for it, so it could be going on for a while, but at the moment I’ll do a “normal” post or two inbetween each part of the design series.
What an awesome blog!! Thanks for the great interview. I don’t think I will ever have the passion to be that good.
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Yeah, Gaya runs an awesome blog and the new design on it is incredible. It’s just so innovative and original
Also, one thing I didn’t actually realise until yesterday was that you can actually move the chimneys, and if you drop them over the edge then they disappear. I mean, in itself it’s not incredible, but it’s those little touches that really completes a design 
Very good interview you have here, Simon. Keep it. I really enjoy read the whole article =)
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Thanks for the comment and the compliment. It was a real priviledge to interview Gaya and I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I’m not sure what you meant by ‘Keep it.’ though?
I have seen Gaya becoming famous nowadays. Thats an awesome interview. It is a good read for those who don’t know even a dim about coding and designing. Great interview Simon and great answers gaya….
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Yeah, I have a feeling that in a few years time Gaya will be a really big thing in the designing/programming world. He has so much knowledge it’s unbelievable, so I personally wish him the best of luck for the future
Thanks for the kind words on the interview by the way
Nice interview, I come from the Netherlands too. =D
Great interview teenius. You seem to know how to ask great questions. Very interesting person to interview also
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Thanks
I must admit, I just think about what I think the readers will want to know, so by getting comments like yours it really spurs me on 
And, yeah, Gaya’s a really cool guy. i definately recommend checking out his website as he posts some great stuff.
You people are all too kind
Thanks for the lovely comments!
Gaya’s last blog post..Puffing Smoke Effect in jQuery
Wonderful interview . I really appreciated the views of Gaya
Awesome interview Simon. I myself have tampered around with design and found it very relaxing
Teenius, i have some contacts who’d love an interview here – how can they contact you?
Gaya, awesome stuff dude! Are you self taught through internet or books?
Thanks for the comment Ben. Yeah, I’m always happy to consider interviewing people, tell them to hit me up via the contact page or my Twitter account (@teenius).
Also, I hope Gaya doesn’t mind me answering a question directed at him, but according to the interview he was interested in design so got some HTML lessons at high school. I’m pretty sure he self taught from there though.
Cool – thanks for the quick response! I’ll let my friends know right away,
Thanks again and i look forward to Gaya responding.
Well, the HTML we learned was from a tutorial site haha. Many stuff like PHP also. Then it was mostly self-taught through trial and error. Later on I got to college and learned the real programming basics. Then I followed a Rich Internet Applications course in college and learned a bit of Javascript. I must say that most of my knowledge comes from experience and just doing it. Don’t be afraid to fail, we all do.
Gaya’s last blog post..Puffing Smoke Effect in jQuery
Gaya Rocks.. great interview Simon.
I guess you missed some questions like.. what do u have in breakfast Gaya? lol..
but yeah Gaya.. can we have a look at your Workspace ? .. Pleeeeeeeeease !
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iBlend made a post about workspaces. My older one is there: http://interactiveblend.com/blog/interactive/show-me-what-youre-workin-with-2/
Got a new monitor, keyboard and mouse now (about time haha)
Gaya’s last blog post..Puffing Smoke Effect in jQuery
Haha, in future interviews I’ll make sure to try and do a few more “personal” questions
Hi my friend ^_^ Great interview!
Thank Simon.
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Just can’t get over how nice that design is! Cool interview Simon.
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dude Gaya, you’re the MAN!!
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