Interview: Eric Shafer of Presidia Studios and CreativeFan
July 6th, 2010 by Tweet
This is our 11th interview in the interview series here at Admix Web, where we are publishing one interview per week of fellow web designers, web developers and graphic designers. Though, I have a few interviews set for the next few weeks, I am still requesting designers and developers to nominate colleagues in the field, or themselves! Please contact me if you are interested at hlamarche[at]admixweb[dot]com. This week we have a 22 year old mastermind, Eric Shafer, who runs Presidia Studios and CreativeFan. Eric works as a graphic/web designer and is a good friend of ours, and he is the kind of guy who is always willing to help and give advice. Even at the age of 22, he is a young sage in the world of web design and development! I hope you like the interview! Enjoy!
Thank you so much for doing this interview for Admix Web. Can you give us a brief background on yourself?
Certainly! I’m a 22 year old graphic designer, blogger, audio producer and recent college graduate. I’ve been blogging for 2 years now, and my flagship project, CreativeFan, has been running for about 6 months. I just graduated from Purdue University last month, and right now I’m testing the waters working for myself, while also seeing what sort of careers might keep me interested. List three things people might not know about you.
I’m an avid cross country runner, ever since high school I’ve been running a lot, it’s a great way to clear my mind while working on a tough project. I also love science, I’m always learning new concepts in astronomy, biology and physics. I tend to develop new interests incredibly fast, whether it’s robotics, medicine and pharmacology, literature or history. Learning new things is always exciting, so I love to keep finding out more. It’s one of the best things about the internet, knowledge is so abundant and easy to access. Lastly, I love working with audio and music, I’ve written a bunch of tutorials, mainly for Envato’s AudioTUTS.
Why Design/Development as a career. What were your inspirations for that profession?
Well, I love doing development and programming, but it gets somewhat tedious after awhile, so that’s why I picked up design, it’s a great break from writing code sometimes. In terms of web design, I always enjoy visiting websites that have incredible design, it’s just one of those extras that really take a website or company over the top. Also, there have always been some artists who I really respect, particularly computer-graphics artists like Rado Javor, Marek Okon, Jorik Dozy and a lot of the artists over at the Luminarium. However, I tend to stick more to functional design than art in my own work.
Do you do more front end or back end web development?
I love doing graphic and web design a lot more than programming and development, although I’ve been doing development for a lot longer. My skills are really varied, and most of my background is in software development, so I really get to work on a variety of projects.
Are you self taught or did you study design/development?
My web development and software programming skills are thanks to my degree in Computer & Information Technology from Purdue University, but all my graphic design and web design skills are self taught, mainly thanks to the awesome design community and the tutorials they create.
How many years have you been in the field, and how has the field changed during that time?
I’ve been involved with design and development for about 7 years now, and it has changed so much just in that relatively short time. The internet moves at the speed of light sometimes, and all it takes is a few people utilizing a new service or technology, and it will take off. I think there’s a much bigger push in the community these days for standards compliance. The recurring problems with cross-browser compatibility are making designers and developers to push for new and improved ways to ensure their websites display and function properly, whether it’s on IE or FireFox, Chrome or Safari, on a PC, Mac, iPad or Blackberry. Sometimes the internet still feels a bit like the Wild West, particularly with standards being used and ‘enforced’, but hopefully it starts to come together so there’s less problems in this area.
Can you describe a day in the life of you?
My work schedule is pretty strange, I’ll stay up working on things for hours if I feel motivated, and I love to sleep in, so the 8-5 type jobs are a bit rough on me. I tend to be most productive between 11 AM and 2 PM, and I tend to be most creative late at night, so I’ll often work on web design at 1 AM in the morning. I tend to wake up, publish posts on CreativeFan, do some social media work on Digg and StumbleUpon, answer all my emails, and then head to the gym to work out. Then I’ll come back, learn something new, eat dinner, work on some design or development, before going running. Right around 9 PM, I’ll really start to work on projects and will work until anywhere between 11 PM to 3 AM. Right before I go to sleep, I submit a post on Digg, since I always seem to hit the front page if I submit late at night. My schedule may change a ton if I work for a company as opposed to freelancing, so we’ll see how it goes.
What does your workspace look like?
My workspace is a complete mess. I have dual monitors, two studio monitors (speakers), my audio equipment, a drawing tablet, and all sorts of cords and wires running all over the place.
Would you define yourself as introverted or extroverted? Describe your personality?
I’m definitely introverted, particularly in person. I really don’t enjoy partying or going out all that much, I’d much rather stay at home and work on some personal projects. But, I love interacting with people via social media, so I’m always sharing with people on StumbleUpon and Digg.
What makes you unique?
I’m unique in the fact that I have a wide variety of interests, and I believe I can accomplish anything if I put my mind to it. I have a couple notebooks full of designs and concepts and all sorts of ideas for solving problems. Every so often I’ll put one of the concepts into action and see how it goes, right now I’m working on one of my favorite ideas, so we’ll see how that goes.
What is your favorite color? Does it infiltrate your designs?
My favorite color is green, but I rarely use it during design. The colors that always seem to sneak into my designs are blue and various shades of gray. I think blue is one of the more versatile colors in web design, so that’s probably why I use it frequently.
What was your first design you actually marketed? How do you feel about it now?
The first design I marketed was for a fitness camp. One of my friends referred the client to me, so I designed and developed the site. It was actually pretty well designed, until the client got hold of it and completely butchered the design. It’s one of the things that makes it hard to build a portfolio sometimes. I always smile when I read the comic over on The Oatmeal about “How a Web Design Goes Straight to Hell”, because it’s something that I’m sure has happened to every designer at some point. The site isn’t up anymore, and the design is stashed somewhere on one of my external drives, but one of the earlier designs that I actually coded was for Presidia’s predecessor, originally titled Exiled Studios, so you can laugh at the old version here:
What is your favorite type of design work? And, what has been your favorite project?
I actually like graphic design and print design a lot lately, it’s fun to take a given concept, product or service and develop a design or advertisement around. But web design will probably stay as the area in which I do the most work. I really like an older 3D abstract piece that I did, titled Hybrid:
Explain the significance of your company name.
Presidia is the company that I run. Originally I was going to be running the business with a friend, but he ended up going to law school instead, but before he did, he had helped me come up with the name. We’re both Mass Effect fans, and in Mass Effect, the executive area of the Citadel is called “The Presidium”, so we decided to modify it a bit and we ended up with Presidia.
Are you a Mac or a PC?
I’m a PC, I just find it easier for developing and it’s what I’m comfortable with. I certainly don’t swear by Windows, and I have nothing against Macs. If I ever move into doing more audio and music production, I’d definitely go with a Mac.
What design tools do you use? Which tools would you suggest to fellow designers/developers?
I use Photoshop for nearly all my design work, and Notepad++ for all my web development work. For any software programming, I’ll either use Visual Studio or NetBeans (depending on which language I’m using). For any CG and art stuff, I’ll typically use 3D Studio Max and e-on Vue, but usually that’s just for personal work.
Do you work better under pressure or do you need time to cultivate your ideas?
I live for pressure. I think most people do too, it’s just a matter of what amount. Without pressure and stress, the tendency is to be complacent and the drive to succeed and accomplish is lowered. However, I’m a bit more extreme, probably thanks to my first few years at Purdue being an engineering major before switching to technology.
Tell me about your blog or business: What made you start it and why do you write?
I started blogging, and running Presidia, because I love creative media, whether it’s graphic design, web design, development, audio and computer graphics. In order to motivate myself to keep learning, I started blogging about it by writing roundups of tutorials and inspiration for my first blog, PresidiaCreative. I really enjoy doing it, so in December of 2009, I launched CreativeFan so I could turn my passion into a fully fledged community.
What is your favorite blog article you have ever written? Why?
I like a lot of different articles that I’ve written, but one of my favorites was an article about matte paintings from famous films: 30 Incredible Matte Paintings from Famous Films
I just enjoyed writing that article because you can get a glimpse into the filmmaking process, and I enjoy a lot of the films that I was able to find art for in that collection.
What is your view of Vlogging, of Video Blogging?
As bandwidth and storage space increase, I think Vlogging might become much more mainstream. I may direct CreativeFan more towards that in the future, if readers feel they can learn more from video than by reading text.
What are some of the design and development blogs you read on a regular basis, why?
I read a ton of design and development blogs, mainly when friends and colleagues send me requests via email, I’ll always check out the articles. SmashingMagazine, Envato TUTS+ and Tutorial9 are always a great read, but I think some of the best articles come out of small niche design blogs.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I’d really like to break into entrepreneurship in scientific fields. It’s pretty easy to launch web ventures, and I really enjoy working with them, but at some point I’d love to solve a scientific domain problem, whether it’s something to do with biomedical informatics, or something with astronomy and space exploration.
Where do you see design, the web, and development in 10 years?
I think the web is going to continue to change dramatically. Hopefully standards become universal, and actually act as standards when it comes to implementation. Also, I’m sure more emerging technologies will make the web more social and interactive. However, one of the areas that might have some backlash is the conflict between social media and privacy. It’s already happening with Facebook, people are starting to realize that the internet can sometimes end up having too much information about you. It will be interesting to see how users end up dealing with the changing face of the internet, because in the end, the users direct the way the internet evolves.
What are your thoughts on the opinion that mobile technology will replace the desktop computer?
I don’t think it will ever replace the desktop computer, but I think mobile computing may end up as a significant portion of the computing market. It will definitely add a new element to the mix in terms of standards, since mobile devices have different sizes, resolutions and input methods.
Please share some pearls of wisdom for up and coming designers in the field.
Network, network, network! It’s the most important thing anyone can do. By networking with designers and developers, as well as social media people, you can not only find some new clients, but possibly potential business partners, and people who can refer you for jobs, or even help promote your work. The single best thing that has come out of CreativeFan for me so far is the ever growing network of people I get to interact with.
What do you like to do to relax in your free time?
I love to go running and also lift weights, watch movies and TV, as well as create art and music.
How can people get in contact with you?
I’m easiest to get in contact with via email, ejshafer[at]presidiastudios.com is the best way. I’m also on Digg, StumbleUpon, deviantART and of course, I run CreativeFan
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Holly Lamarche is a writer and attorney from New Orleans, Louisiana. Holly lived in Santo Domingo for two years, where she taught at a local private High School, and she currently writes and edits part-time for AdmixWeb and lives in Lafayette, Louisiana.
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Man.. this interview is wicked!! … I’ve known Eric for quite some time now and he is a great chap, an awesome friend .. and never-say-die kind of a guy. I never knew he has so much history behind him… He is an all-rounder, no doubt!
Albeit this is a long interview, its quite insightful. Its really great to see people taking up design as an addon to their professional work. It helps to think and analyse in a far better way and unravels the creativity within us.
I personally believe 10 years is too high for defining a timeline. 5 years would have been quite appropriate
Like he said, the internet is growing at breakneck speeds and i’ll be surprised if anyone can guess what’s going to happen in a year or two 
It was really nice to read this interview. You guys at admix are doing a fantastic job unveiling the true talents behind young and up coming designers and bloggers. Great work guys and nice knowing ya, Eric
Thanks Richie!
And thanks Admix Web for giving me the opportunity to be interviewed!
No doubt he is a multi-talented. i know him from the time i started my blog. He show his interest in both blog- very well.
and most of them show focus in any one blog. he is good at both.
My fav+ is his work on 3d.
Thanks to Holly we all come to know more about this dude
It really nice to read this interview. He’s multi talented and nice person. Nice to know more about Eric, keep to the best
Great write up and a great story. Thanks for sharing and some really good words of wisdom in this interview.
My man, he is awesome fella indeed. Always happy to help others. Lucky to have him as a friend, but hey Eric you didn’t mentioned bout your love
Good luck with everything you do. God bless!
Nice interview and great story. It is a pleasure to know more about Eric
Glad everyone liked the interview! This one was pretty popular! Seems like everyone loves Eric!
Eric, Thanks again for doing the interview!
It was my pleasure Holly, thanks again for the opportunity!
Eric is one few guys whom I meet when I started blogging, He is so friendly and always helped me by answering all my doubts. Thanks Holly for presenting this awesome interview because through this I got lots of information about him.
As Bariski mentioned I am also eager to know about your love.
A wonderfully talented guy and great interview! I am glad to get to know more about him. Thank you!
another great executed interview from the great guys here at admixweb!