Element Fusion

Recently, we've interviewed one of our top developers and designers, Neill Harmer, to let you get to know him better. He's been with Element Fusion since May of 2008, and is a jack-of-all-trades around the office. He began with Element Fusion as an HTML Xpress manager/developer and now works full-time on development and design. His expertise is coding, with a flair for CSS. His only known weakness is a genetic abnormality that causes Flash content to make him break out in hives.

Me: How did you get started as a designer / developer?

Neill: Rewind back to 1999, when I started messing with coding while working for AOL as a technical support representative. Basically the job got so easy that I was able to answer customer questions while learning and cutting code. My sites were basic and not well designed (picture animated GIFs and far far too many ugly colors), but I was doing the code myself, by hand, in Notepad. When I found out a good buddy of mine was working for this up-and-coming web design company, I hounded him and hounded him to get me a job there. Finally my day came, and they asked for some examples of sites I had done. Although I had no nice professional sites, they were highly impressed I had been doing all my code by hand and I got the job. At that company, I tried many many many different things; coding, designing, programming, project management, search engine submissions, etc. You name it, I tried it. My strong suit was coding, but I had some rudimentary design skills. I decided to go to school and get some graphic arts training that would help me out there, which it has.

I will always consider myself a coder first, because nothing feels better to me than having my nose in code, figuring out all the nuances, and getting all the browsers--yes, even the crappy ones--to work right.

Me: What are your responsibilities as designer for Element Fusion?

Neill: I write in a weird language and make things pretty. At least that's how my four-year-old understands it, but that description works for everyone I think.

Me: What do you love most about being a designer for Element Fusion?

Neill: First and foremost I get to work with some of the best designers. I am continually amazed with the things some of these guys can pull off with code and design, and I feel that being around them elevates my own skills as a developer. I also love the environment here; it's easy going and comfortable.

In adding to the enjoyment of Element Fusion, they also let me ride my bike to work, and when I need to unwind I can go kick someone's butt in Street Fighter IV in the break room (I say "kick butt," but I have the worst recorded butt-kicking to date. Thank you Justin Cowan).

Neill: Simplicity. I love clean, simple lines; not a ton of colors or textures. Some would describe it as minimalistic, but all my designs are thought out and planned with a nigh-scientific approach.

Me: What do you see as upcoming technologies or issues that web designers will have to tackle in the next few years?

Neill: Anyone in web right now is really looking forward to the full implementation of CSS3 and HTML5. Aside from those I mostly look forward to the death and burial of Internet Explorer 6.

Me: What advice do you have for anyone who wants to grow their skill in or pursue a career in web design?

Neill: Learn to code and code well, including cross-browser compatibility. I see tons and tons of designers out there that have great design skills in print that try to make it in web, but have no clue how to code (or even a working understanding of coding). I also know a couple people out there that make a living off of those designers by being able to code a site up for them. If you can design and code your own work, I think you become a much more powerful, well-rounded developer and can move yourself up way easier. Aside from that just keep up with reading tons of blogs and web development sites and know what the trends are.