An Interview with Blogger & Designer Jad Limcaco
Today I would like to introduce my first interview with Jad Limcaco, the man behind popular design blog – Design Informer. I would like to congratulate Jad with successful Design Informer’s redesign and becoming Smashing Network member. That’s phenomenal.
Jad Limcaco is a web & graphic designer and is a well known figure in the online community for high-quality content on his blog – Design Informer. He’s based in Long Beach, CA. Go ahead and follow him on Twitter.
Thank you Jad for taking time to do this interview. For the beginning could you introduce yourself to our readers?
Hello everyone, my name is Jad Limcaco. I’m a full-time web designer working for 4 Wheel Parts and I also do freelance work on the side. These two things keep me very busy along with the maintenance of my blog, Design Informer.
You‘re doing awesome work with Design Informer. Design community noticed it for high-quality content. What is your key to success?
Thanks for the compliments on the blog, Tomas. Well, if I can name one thing as the key to the blog’s success, it would have to be hard work. To tell you the truth, I never expected the blog to grow as fast as it has these past 3 months. I’m an avid believer that hard work is more important than talent. I might not be the most talented designer/blogger, but I believe that if I work hard, I’ll get good results.
Thomas Edison said, “There is no substitute for hard work.”
Where do you find inspiration?
Inspiration comes from everywhere. For design inspiration, there are many different ways that you can get it. You can check out different online galleries and sites such as Behance, Deviant Art, and Flickr, but I do try to avoid viewing too many of these sites as I don’t want to become a copycat. I also get inspiration from things offline. Looking at artwork, taking a walk, nature, and listening to music; these are some of the things that can bring inspiration. I think that it’s easy to get inspired, the hard part is to transfer that inspiration to your computer and to design something that’s fresh and creative.
You‘re a blogger, designer and freelancer. How do you find time to do all that?
Haha, that’s a tough question. To tell you the truth, it’s very hard to find the right balance. In order for me to be effective doing all three, I had to learn how to manage my time. I would suggest having a schedule so you can get things done. Time is of the essence and we all need to learn how to make the most of the time that we have. We all have 24 hours in a day, and how you use those hours will determine how successful you will be. I’m not saying that you have to be on your desk 24/7 but you do need to learn how to be disciplined and tune out the distractions.
You are very active on social network like Facebook, Twitter. Do you have any tips, tricks on social media to share with our readers?
Well, I would definitely have to agree with that. I am very active on Twitter, and this has been the reason why my blog has been successful thus far. As far as tips for using social media, I would have to say that learn how to use it to connect with other people. Communicate with people on Twitter, ask and answer questions, retweet others, share their work, be useful! Nobody wants to follow someone who just promotes themself all of the time. You definitely need to promote yourself also, but promote others just as much as you would promote yourself. By doing so, others that you promote will also do the same for you. Be real and be friendly. Learn how to thank others! These are all small things that can go a long way in social media.
Your works are beautiful and made in different style. What is your favorite art form, design style? (Grunge, clean, typography?)
To tell you the truth, I don’t really have a favorite style, but I do appreciate beautiful typography. Recently, I’ve been really trying to learn typography and I’ve been reading lots of articles and books about the subject. But if I have to choose just one style, I would have to say that I’m a big fan of simple, minimalistic designs. But who knows, that could change next week. I think that when I see a really nice site, I tend to start to like that style. :)
How your workspace look like?
I’ve attached the photo of my workspace. :)
What is your typical day routine?
Well, the day starts pretty early for me. I go to work at my full-time job, then when I get off, I take a break from the computer by going to the gym and exercising. (It’s very tiring to sit in front of a computer all day) Next, it’s back home for dinner. After that, I relax a bit before doing my freelance work and blogging. I usually stop working at around 3am. Some people think this is crazy, but it works for me. Every once in a while, I do cut back on the freelance work so I don’t get burned out.
What would be the biggest mistake you’ve made as a designer/blogger?
The biggest mistake that I’ve made as a blogger was that I didn’t do it earlier. If I can go back in time, I would have started a blog about a year earlier. I’ve also made some other mistakes, you can read about how to deal with them on this post.
3 things that we didn‘t expect from you?
I’m a huge basketball fan, and I love the Los Angeles Lakers.
I don’t know how to swim.
I won a 1st place in a Chess Competition when I was in High School. I’m not that good anymore, I haven’t played in a while.
Note: One of these facts isn’t real, which one do you think it is? Leave a comment please. :)
Do you have any plans for new websites or projects for 2010?
Yes, I do have some plans for new projects in 2010. One of those is a new site to the Informer network called Coding Informer. This site will focus on more development tutorials covering topics such as XHTML/CSS, WordPress, PHP, and jQuery. I’m very excited about this. You can read more about it here.
Interesting Facts:
Favorite music: Christian Music
Favorite brand: Nike, Apple
Favorite food: Steak, Philly Cheese Steaks, Ice Cream
Windows or MAC: I only have a PC but I used a MAC at work and I absolutely love it. So I would have to say MAC.
Favorite design tool: Adobe Photoshop
Favorite Website: http://designinformer.com – OK, that doesn’t count does it? I would have to say http://www.google.com.
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Very insightful (with a tint of humor) and it was a pleasure to read. Jad just mesmerizes me with his style of talking and blogging. I definitely agree with that fact that ‘Hard work’ is irreplaceable.
Success always comes from perseverance and working hard. You may be an extremely talented designer but you are nothing if you expect results without hard work.
Well, I really doubt whether he did won the 1st place in that Chess competition. Judging by his opinions, Chess is more of a thinkers game than a hard workers game. No offence, Jad … but am I right?
It was merely an observation, not a judgement :)
Good luck with Design Informer and congrats for becoming one of the smashing networks. You deserve every minute of it :’)
Thanks a ton for the interview, Tomas. Looking forward for more :)
Great interview,Tomas!
I love to read about other designers and how they`re managing their lives.
I don`t think that Jad knows how to swim :P
Thanks!
Great interview Tomas!
Another great interview with Jad. I’ve followed his blog from the beginning and consider it an excellent source of information for the design community. He’s just a great guy all around. Thanks!
Jad is the man!
Great interview! Thanks for these great insights from Jad.
I vote for Jad not knowing how to swim, only based on the fact that I can’t swim haha.
Keep up the great interviews.
Great interview Dude.
its extremely encouraging to see someone do so well , I think all the first year bloggers are seeing the bar is always raised .[ : )well I am ]
cheers tomas and jad good questions and answers
Very nice. I also love designing.Thanks for sharing
Hey Thomas, nice one featuring an interview with Jad – it brought me here to your site, and I’ve bookmarked it to explore later (it’s almost midnight…I gotta sleep :D )
Also Jad, you’re on fire man! Next you’ll be speaking at the big conferences and stuff! Keep it up!
“One of those is a new site to the Informer network called Coding Informer. This site will focus on more development tutorials covering topics such as XHTML/CSS, WordPress, PHP, and jQuery.”
Nice news!
I’m looking forward to seeing it. :-)
Hi Tomas, this is an awesome interview with an upcoming blogger. What a tremendous success for Design Informer. By the way, I like you design as well.
@Jad, I agree with you about the Golden Rule,”Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This is one of the key to be successful. Also I agree with you about working hard. Of course, working hard, helps if you enjoy your work. It is also important to direct your effort in a fruitful direction rather than a fruitless one; in particular, spend some time thinking ahead. Well Jad,I have been an avid fan since you started your blog 3 months ago. Your redesign is superb! Keep up the good work Jad.
Oh, I forgot to let you know that I think you don’t know how to swim!lol.
Hey Jad! I have the tiger as a wallpaper and I have same printer under my table! :-) funny…
Anyway, Jad is a nice guy if you havent noticed yet ;-)
Thank you all for good words, I’m glad that you liked the interview.
Hey everyone, thanks for the compliments and kind words. I really enjoy blogging and designing, and I also enjoy sharing my experiences. I hope you all got something out of the interview.
Oh, and by the way, I did win a Chess competition in HS, I am a huge basketball fan, and I DO KNOW HOW TO SWIM. :)
————
@Vitezslav – Cool! I barely use my printer though, no ink.
Thanks for the interview Tom, I thought the swimming was the fake fact! Jad, I want to learn how to survive on less sleep too!
Its extremely encouraging to see someone do so well..!
Great interview, the story of design informer just keeps on giving..awesome one indeed! :)
Nice interview! Full of info!