Running your own business you soon learn to focus on what you’re good at…and outsource the rest.  That’s why we were psyched to meet Ginger Jenne, a terrific graphic designer and website developer…and a really nice person as well!

Ginger’s a great resource for creating or freshening your WordPress blog or website.  Last year Jane and I got a chance to work with Ginger as our client in which she art directed our photo shoot of Hartford Symphony Orchestra Director Carolyn Kuan and designed the brochures and a huge banner hanging from the Bushnell theater…we loved the results!  Ginger recently launched her own web design, graphic arts, and branding  company, Jenne Design, based in Hartford CT..here’s some Q&A with Ginger who you can contact at ginger@jennedesign.com.  Thanks Ginger!

How did you grow your career as a WordPress website developer?

Many years ago, I started by building and practicing on old HTML websites, which is a good base. I learned on my own by dabbling with code. Clients started requesting their sites on a Content Management System (CMS). So I started designing websites in Photoshop, where I would just send it out to a CMS developer to get built.  That’s about when I met a local CMS developer who created their own proprietary system. The system was great at first, but that was right about when most CMS’s were in their infancy and there wasn’t a big player yet. The CMS market evolved so fast and during that time I was able to play with a lot of different ones. Eventually, on the recommendation of the CMS developer I met, he pushed me in the direction of WordPress. He abandoned his own system to instead use WordPress as well. Since then, all I have been using is WordPress and it’s hands-down, in my opinion, one of the most designer friendly web tools out there.

On the graphic design side of things…what are key skills and traits needed?

Designers do need artistic training or god-given skills. Everyone thinks they are a designer, but monkeys can push keyboard buttons too. Being detail-oriented is a big one.  Spelling correctly is an even huger one.  They should be familiar with everything that goes into a job to make it print great, right down to the paper it goes on. Know typography: the history, the terminology, and even memorize some font faces so you can impress your friends when you see it in use.  Patience.  A creative outlet.  And at least some decent people skills.

How do you see these ‘soft’ (people skills, artistic design) and ‘hard” skills (coding, techie stuff) interacting in today’s online world?  Do you like both sides of your job equally?

Nowadays design plays a huge part in the overall web experience. Apple pioneered that. (And I am proud to say that I’ve been an Apple computer user since the Apple IIGS.) Steve Jobs felt that a computer needs to be an extension of the human: beautiful and intuitive to use. Similarly a website needs to be intuitive and beautiful. CMS websites are a great example of that, both from what the visitor sees and the website owner sees. Compared to sites over a decade ago, which were static and god-forsaken ugly and you needed to know code, a CMS website allows the site owner to very easily keep their website beautiful and ever-changing. And it is intuitive for them to update it. That ease of use is what really attracts companies to a CMS and has made them very popular. But the beautiful & intuitive element is where us designers come in!

I do enjoy both sides of my job. There isn’t any part of the process that I dread or don’t look forward to. From initial client meetings, right through to a website or branding launch (which is really exciting!) I just really enjoy the overall process of problem-solving and the interaction with the client along the way. I love feedback and allowing for creative evolution. If a client is happy, it makes me feel really good about the design process. In turn, those good vibes get reflected in the effort that I put into the project.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I need to keep my brain creatively working well, and I do that by escaping away from the computer whenever I can. Reading. Gardening. Cooking. I love to travel, and have backpacked in Europe and visited the majority of the US National Parks. For the past decade, I have practiced snowboarding, yoga, and bicycling. I race mountain bikes and cyclocross, and do charity road bike rides. If I could have a second career, it would be teaching women to mountain bike. Maybe someday!