Interview: Matt Brett

Hi Matt! Thanks for using Carbonmade for over 2 years! How's life? How's your new home?

Yo! It's probably closer to 3 years now since I first signed up with Carbonmade. I jumped on pretty early.

Things are good on my end. My baby girl is getting so big, so quickly - she's now 7 months. The new home is great! We're in a cozy old house on a quiet, friendly street. It's a great fit for my little family. I've got some pretty sweet office space in the basement as well.

How did you get your start in design?

I got into design and web development at the same time back in 1997. I had just formed a band and we wanted a website, so I signed up for an Angelfire account and started poking around in the "advanced editor" (which was merely a text box with HTML) and learned HTML through trial and error. Since the web was mostly text and animated GIFs at the time, design didn't come until later. I had actually planned on getting into video production, but once I got online, it was game over. I knew that's what I wanted to do.

What inspires your work?

Everything, really. Someone recently asked where I came up with the colour scheme for my redesign, which was actually inspired by a set of luggage that my wife picked up a few months ago. Originally, I had gone with dark text on a lighter background, but when I saw this rich brown suitcase with pink lining, I just loved it!

How would you describe your style?

When my previous design attracted so much attention, I was afraid that I was be held to designing grunge websites for years to come. But thankfully that hasn't been the case. I try and cater to my clients' needs as much as possible. But when they really don't have a set direction they want to go, I usually fall back to the eroded, beat up look. While the whole "grunge" thing has definitely gained ground over the last few years, it's still not overly popular to the point that people are sick of seeing it. But more importantly, I haven't seen a whole lot of really good grunge designers out there, and I would definitely say it would be my strongest style.

What types of web design projects do you most like working on?

Blogs for individuals, definitely. I prefer working one-on-one with people, and that sort of project allows me to stretch both my design and development muscles.

Why do you choose to freelance rather than work at a big design firm?

Commuting sucks! I worked in Toronto for 5 years while living in a suburb about half an hour out. Problem is, when you add rush hour traffic to the mix, the commute doubles, which results in 2 extra hours added onto my work day spent sitting in a car. Not fun. And with having a family, I would leave early in the morning and return after dinner in the evening, which meant very little time to spend with them.

Freelancing gives me the flexibility to take on the type of projects that I'm interested in, and pass on the ones I'm not. Unless I was in a managerial role at a design firm, I wouldn't have that luxury. And if I were in a manager position, I likely wouldn't be doing much design or development work, which is what I love doing.

Freelancing does have its down sides, though. Not having a steady pay cheque is obviously the biggest one. And when things slow down, it can really take a toll on your nerves.

How has having a blog, using twitter, flickr, and social media helped you?

Despite all of their problems, Twitter is still the most valuable social networking tool out there, in my opinion. Not only is great for getting feedback, advice, or making announcements. It allows you to connect directly with people that you might not otherwise have the chance to. It's also changed the way I blog over the years. I now focus more on lengthy articles and use Twitter to get smaller topics I'd like to mention, but don't want to blog about out there. People reply and share their own thoughts, so it's just like having comments on a blog post.

I've been trying to make an effort to use other services like Facebook and LinkedIn a little better. I've never been overly active on either of them, and am trying to utilize their strengths a bit more. The problem is mostly in finding time for them.

How has gaming influenced you as a designer?

I'm not sure that it has, actually. There isn't really a lot I can take from UI elements used in games that would be appropriate for web. But sure, some things relating to style and aesthetics in games have inspired me. For the most part, I find menu systems and such to be quite ugly and cumbersome. The odd game stands out - Codemasters have been doing some amazing things with game UIs lately with DiRT and GRID. Now if only someone would show them where the caps lock key is. ;)

Nintendo, Super Nintendo, N64, GameCube, Playstation 1/2/3, or Xbox/Xbox 360?

Back in the day, I was a Nintendo fanboy all the way. These days, while I have a Wii (and a PlayStation 3), I spend most of my time with my Xbox 360. I just finished up my second play-through of Mass Effect and have already started my third, and I've been back and forth between GRID, Unreal Tournament 3, Battlefield Bad Company, and some of the latest Xbox Live Arcade titles, like Braid and Geometry Wars 2. Really looking forward to picking up Mercenaries 2, Viva Pinata 2, Spore, and The Force Unleashed over the next few weeks.

What's in the future for you?

It's really hard to say, given that I've changed gears quite a few times over the past 3 years. But I think I'll be freelancing for some time to come. I've been doing a lot of brainstorming on ways to earn some passive income, so you're likely to see some side-projects coming out of me over the next few months. I've also talked about releasing WordPress, and I plan to pursue that sooner than later now that my redesign is out of the way.

Thanks for chatting with us! And best to your wife and two daughters!

For more of Matt's work check out his Carbonmade portfolio: http://mattbrett.carbonmade.com/