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Mirificam Press Interview Series: Jeff Croft

May 13th, 2009 in Web Design Culture

by: Matthew Griffin

Jeff is a designer for Blue Flavor, a standards conscious design agency in Seattle, Washington. He recently co-authored two web design books, Pro CSS Techniques, and Web Standards Creativity published in 2006 and 2007 respectively. Jeff is also a frequent speaking guest at conferences and blogs on jeffcroft.com whenever he gets a chance.

Jeff has been designing web sites since 1994, and after working for two universities as well as The Lawrence Journal-World newspaper in Lawrence, Kansas, he found a place at Blue Flavor. Currently Jeff holds the official title of "designer" but wears many hats at Blue Flavor. On his site, jeffcroft.com, he says, "Blue Flavor feels like something of a 'destination job,' and it's hard to imagine myself anywhere else anytime soon."

Jeff is the second designer featured in the Mirificam Press interview series and I'd like to thank him for taking the time to answer these questions.

If you could sum up your philosophy of life in just a few sentences, what would you say?

If you have one foot in the past and one foot in the future, you're pissing on the present. I prefer to be spontaneous, in-the-moment, and never too locked in to any one thing.

Why have you chosen design as your life work?

Because I believe that design adds value to everything it touches. And, there is almost nothing in this world that design doesn't have the ability to improve upon. But mostly because I'm passionate about crafting positive experiences for other people.

Also, it's kinda fun.

What is the purpose of design?

In my opinion, design has two main purposes: to communicate, and to solve problems -- but sometimes the two are one in the same.  When I design something, I am constantly asking myself, "What and I trying to say?" and/or "What is the problem I'm trying to solve?"

If you can't answer these questions, you're not "designing"—you're just putting something together.

Do you think your philosophy about life informs your understanding of the purpose of design? If so how?

Perhaps in the sense that I'm always all about the experience. What's it going to be like to use/view/interact with my work? How is the person experiencing the work going to feel in that moment? I do see some parallels between that and my live-in-the-moment lifestyle.

Do you think that design can communicate truth? Is it even important that design communicate truth?

Design can communicate whatever message the designer intends for it to, and this can certainly include truth.

Is it important that design communicate truth?

I don't know. You'd certainly like to see more clients of design being willing to make  their messages more transparent and honest. As a designer, those are the kind of clients I like to work for the most. On the other hand, as many designer do work for clients, the messages they are communicating aren't necessarily their own, and it's not always their job to help craft those messages—more often, their job is to convey a message that's already been crafted.

I guess the answer is: it depends on the project. And frankly, that answer can apply to just about any design question. :)

What is truth?

It depends on the project. :p

But seriously—truth is a hard thing to define. Sincerity. Honesty. Reality. Faith. I don't know. I wish I were deep enough to have a great answer to this question, but I'm not sure I do.

Can design right the wrongs of this world? If so, to what extent?

Design can right some wrongs, I believe. Design probably can't turn murders and rapists into saints, but there are a lot of wrongs that can be righted by design. Some examples of way design can right a wrong:

• Making something useful more accessible to everyone. Maybe it's making it's better for folks with disabilities. Or maybe it's making something work in a way a child can use it. Or making something that can be used in third-world countries.
• Using design to convey messages that make the world a better place.  Messages of peace and tolerance and  love and humility.

Obviously it depends on your political leaning, but I would contend that the designers working for Barack Obama are doing a brilliant job of using design to right wrongs and make the world a better place.

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