ROMAN CHUPRIN of Neolit Creative Group

Smooth working websites are always a pleasure to visit. I recently talked to Roman Chuprin of Neolit.com.ua. He has designed and revised many websites for maximal efficiency and speed. I asked Roman to fill me in on the workings of his websites.

How did you get into web design? “I was always interested in computers and programming. One day I tried PHP - my colleagues were working on a web-site and they needed the help of a programmer. At first I hated it. But some months later I was doing better. Now I even like it.”

Do you remember the very first site you designed? “Yes, of course. That was a simple website. But we had to complete it in three days. So we worked hard. Here is it http://www.svitloservice.com ”

You are doing a lot of programming, is this a specialization for you? “Yes. I am not an artist, so I cannot create graphics for websites myself. I am very accustomed to all the other parts of the job - html, php, cutting templates, publishing, support, working with websites at the server side. I have worked with some notable websites - cagzine.com, fforward.biz, digit.mk.ua, neolit.com.ua, armstar.com.ua, dofootball.com.ua, grotto-fashion.com, arttravel.com.ua , etcetera.”

Where do you get your art for these webpages? “Usually I work with painters, artists, graphic art designers. They provide me with the necessary art.”

What will be the next big development in webpage design? “Development and improvement of AJAX-technologies and the improvement of Flash and browsers.”

Have you ever worked with website templates? “Yes, but with templates created especially for my clients only.”

What do you think about Flash technology? “It looks good but it doesn’t work so well at times, and it’s not the best for SEO.”

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Flash? “In many countries people still have slow Internet. So Flash is loading for a very long time onto their computers. Many people don’t have Flash-players at all. Many users also turn off Flash in their browsers. But these are minor problems. The most important one is bad indexing of Flash content by search engines. If you want to impress a visitor, Flash is just what you need. But if you want to give the visitor information you need to find something else.”

What are your sources of inspiration? “Clients, of course. They always provide me with new questions and problems. So I have to go deep into coding and find new solutions. And of course nature around me, blue sky, yellow sun, green leaves - these simple things explain to me that websites have to be very simple and natural too.”

What are your favorite website designs that you did and did NOT design yourself? “YouTube.com”

What was the toughest project or customer situation you’ve encountered? “The toughest situation is coordination of the technical task for the projects. Especially when the project is big and many people are involved in its realization.”

What are your interests and dislikes in webpage design? “I dislike routines mostly. When all interesting problems are solved and all art is approved by the client. But you have to move these 5px left, widen the footer, change the drop-down lists with radio-buttons, etcetera, this is boring.”

Thankyou Roman, for your insights into making websites work smoothly.

The Template Czar,
Arthur Browning

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