Recently I got interviewed for a local channel, “Amrita Television” for their cutting edge technology-based show – “Tech Mantra – Keys to future”. The interview was in malayalam, the native language of Kerala. Just thought of sharing the translated version of the interview here, for the upcoming talents.
We Judge a website based on its creativity, innovation, user friendliness and the information it provides us. Internationally this is done by a panel, Awwwards Panel. There are 24 jury members in this panel of which two are Indians. Of the two Indians, one is a Malayalee. Let’s meet Gopal Raju.
As per the latest reports there will be more than one hundred million websites by the end of this year. This means websites are becoming an essential part of our lives. And so website development is a major thing in technology right now.
Interviewer: Website development seemingly is a creative area. So, what is the basic skill set that a web developer should possess?
Gopal: They will have to complete a web designing course which includes Photoshop, HTML, CSS and related software. But the essence is not in just learning things but is in taking up things with passion and going ahead with it, which will make them a successful web developer.
Interviewer: What is the current scope of website development?
Gopal: In our country the importance of website development is being gaining recognition. Until recently, it was not taken very seriously. Everyone wanted to become or have one’s child become a Doctor or an Engineer, professionally.
But as I said, if one has the passion, dedication and commitment, they can become a very successful web designer / developer. Globally as there have been so many new personal devices and gadgets available in the market, the importance of user interface to interact with these devices has become inevitable. Lets say, iPad, iPhone and similar gadgets have user interfaces and related web enabled user interfaces and websites. So the scope of web development is not just limited to PCs nowadays.
Interviewer: I can see that Gopal has two websites yourself, ie; Indofolio.com and Productivedreams.com. How did you come to this point?
Gopal: Indofolio was one of my initial websites as an independent web developer, just to showcase my portfolio.
Interviewer: Was it a kind of experiment you did with Indofolio?
Gopal: Yes, of course. I precisely wanted to try something different. And furthermore, I wanted it to have a pure Indian expression. Normally, we can see most of the websites have a western touch. I have not seen many websites that showcase Indian culture. Hence, I decided on this theme.
Interviewer: Oh! So it goes in a Dhashavadharam style? And about Productivedreams, what is its purpose or target?
Gopal: Productivedreams was started as a blog for the webdesign community, to help designers, to publish useful articles, updates about the latest trends and technologies.
Interviewer: So, Indofolio and Productivedreams brought you fame as an individual, right?
Gopal: Yes.
Interviewer: And so it was this individual fame that took you to this internationally acclaimed Awwwards panel?
Gopal: Yes.
Interviewer: Well, what is the concept of this Awwwards?
Gopal: The concept of Awwwards is that it has an international jury comprising of members from different countries. And I am one of them from India. You will have many websites to be rated on a daily basis and the website with the highest rating will be published as the “site of the day”. And from the “site of the day” websites we choose the “site of the month” and finally from the “site of the month” websites we choose a “site of the year” which gets the award.
Interviewer: Awards and acclaims will definitely show credibility, but how do you get work from international clients?
Gopal: Clients normally correspond through Indofolio and the blog productivedreams.
Interviewer: Who are your international clients?
Gopal: The Mozilla Foundation is one of my major clients with many other international clients.
Interviewer: Obviously, when you have international clients you would need to stay updated with the latest technologies. So what do you think is the current trend?
Gopal: The current trend is to create minimalistic designs. Previously, there was so much of elements, complex designs etc put into a website which in fact was the then concept. But it has changed entirely now.
Interviewer: Less is more??
Gopal: Precisely, yes.
