VOICES
Q&A
potentially had the assets necessary for a similar
book about design that might answer all of the
questions I seemed to receive pretty consistently.
As a creative director and high-school football
coach of over 20 years, it’s in my blood to help
mentor, teach and guide others. I love the passing
on of knowledge to those around me. So I went
back through 15 years of old emails, interviews and
presentations to grab any advice, tips or comments I
could find that might be useful to someone in various
phases of their life or career in this industry.There have been a few books on this topic. What’s
different about yours?
There are no long-winded paragraphs with how-to
steps that would take you a day to read. It’s a simple
book with big text quotes that are meant to be read
then thought about individually, almost like a daily
prayer book. The advice comes from my experiences
as someone in the early group of web designers and
developers who were trying to create unique, award-
winning interactive work as the web was being born.
If you’re someone who’s looking at the projects,
opportunities and trajectory of my career with
interest then there might be something there for you.What’s the secret to creating award-winning work?
The secrets are a bunch of cliches but they’re all true.
The details matter. You’re only as good as your last
project. Connect with people in the industry who
have done what you want to do and learn from them.
Avoid getting bored and not excited about doing your
best work. Every project is an opportunity to test
yourself or learn something. Be unique. Do those
things and with a little luck the opportunities for all
of your goals should follow.What’s exciting you in web design right now?
The fact that the bar for good web design has gotten
so low and repetitive. The industry has grown and
matured so much over the past 20 years. We’ve
created some much-needed standards and rules
that most sites should play by. But at the same time,
we have more free tools, resources, code demos,
processing power and opportunities to design and
create unique interactive content than ever before.
In the same way that music or fashion goes retro or
re-invents itself, I feel like we’re at the edge of a
creative explosion/rebellion by a small group of
designers and creators who will re-embrace the
pioneering spirit and no-rules mentality of the early
days of the web.For more information on Launch It, visit http://launchit.
shanemielke.comSHANE MIELKE
Q&ACould you briefly introduce yourself to anyone who
doesn’t know you?
I’m a creative director, designer, WebGL developer,
front-end developer, animator, photographer, author,
coach and Cyberdyne Systems T-1000 Model 101
living in Southern California. I am currently working
on projects for Adobe, Blizzard Entertainment,
Gyroscope, SpaceX and NASA. I also serve as a judge
for the Adobe Design Achievement Awards, helping
to promote design students.Why did you write Launch It?
I did not sit down with the intent of writing a book.
While on vacation with my family in Santa Cruz, we
stopped to buy some books and magazines to read. I
noticed a stand next to the register with several small
impulse buy books for sale. One was titled 101 Things I
Learned in Culinary School.
The simplicity of the book suddenly reminded
me that for years I had been responding to emails
from people asking me for guidance on topics like
my creative process, inspiration, how to get a job,
handling clients and self-promotion. I had also been
lucky to do interviews and conference presentations
that covered many of these topics. I realised that IThe designer on finding answers, winning
awards and why a creative explosion is near
INFO
job: Designer, WebGL
developer, front-
end developer
w: shanemielke.com
t: @shanemielke