A conversation with our New Media Director, James Greenwood
Posted on Tags: Conversation, Web, CSS3, HTML5, EcommerceHow long have you worked at Strawberry and how did you get here?
7 years I think! I came here as an employee having worked at a few local web based companies. I started life as a ‘proper’ software engineer writing point of sale software for a national retailer. The retailer wanted to sell online (early ‘Naughties’) and my interest in working with the web was stirred! I eventually left the software house I started my career at and proceeded to work at another agency for 2 years before spending a whole 11 days contracting. I saw the role at Strawberry advertised and ended up here. After 3 years, I was invited to invest in the company by Jonathan and I became a director. It’s been a bit up and down (like all jobs), but I love it here.
What attracted you to Strawberry?
Strawberry has worked with Hull City for a long while and I knew Strawberry did the ecommerce store for The Tigers. I’d spent a lot of time working on various ecommerce stores and thought it was about time I combined my love of Hull City and ecommerce!
On top of that, after meeting Jonathan, it was clear there was a desire for Strawberry to become a leading web agency – it was too good an opportunity to turn down.
Did I mention we work with Hull City too?!
What’s changed about the company since you started?
Loads! The web team was initially me – and now we’re up to 13! No longer do we just employ web developers, we also have a dedicated support team as well as online PR and online marketing specialists. To be honest, it’s virtually a different company now to the one I joined.
What tips would you give to aspiring web designers and developers trying to break into the industry?
I think the key thing is to have a ‘personal brand’. Have your own website, have a twitter account and blog about industry stuff (as well other stuff that interests you). This shows the people who do the hiring that you’re enthusiastic, that you keep up to date and that you’re interested in the industry as a whole rather than just after a job.
A good agency gets lots of CVs and job enquiries so it’s important that you’re armed with more than just a Hotmail address.
What are the latest industry trends? What will be the ‘next big thing’?
As soon as I write this sentence, it’ll have changed! The web industry is moving so quickly……
Having said that, I think the opportunities that HTML5 and CSS3 are bringing to developers will be at the root of the ‘next big thing’.
I’ve a feeling that the way we consume the web is about to change again – I don’t think it’s going to be long before Web Analytics are saying that most of a sites visitors are coming from a mobile browser (iPhone, Blackberry, iPad, Android Phones etc etc.)
What projects are you currently working on?
We’ve lots of ecommerce sites on the go at the moment – our ecommerce in-house software was started in January 2009 and we’re racking up clients at a pretty good rate. I think clients like the fact that it’s totally bespoke to them and not an ‘off the shelf’ solution which is what other agencies and freelancers provide.
Is there a website that has inspired you recently?
At the time of writing, there are a few.
It sounds cheesy but our Strawberry site got the creative juices flowing – it uses HTML5 and CSS3 (mentioned above) and was a real collaborative effort amongst the development team.
Other notables are: http://shoeguru.ca/ (stunning design), http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport (the way information is categorised and ease of use) as well as http://www.bountybev.com/home.html (clever one page design) and http://www.nytimes.com/timesskimmer/ (lots of info, driveable by the keyboard)
What do you enjoy most about working at Strawberry?
There isn’t a way of saying this that doesn’t sound cheesy but here goes….
It’s a team of creative people working in a creative environment at the time of a digital revolution.
What’s not to love about that?
Read James' personal blog at www.jamesgreenwood.co.uk