Study, Hard Work and Projects I Believe in
	Name: Lilly Calandrello Occupation: Web developer Based in: Hammond, IN, USA Website:whispy.com

Lilly: My fluency and expertise in technology has been developed over the past twenty years working with computer graphics for publishing, digital imaging, and the Internet. Web Architecture allows me to interact and explore a broad range of technology, imagery, and expressions. Through this exploration, I see more about my self, others and the world around me. The technology is a set of wonderful, flexible and varied tools that I use to develop my visions. My current journey is a varied one, as I explore ideas, thoughts and feelings beyond my role in corporate America. I discover the artist voice within me through experimentation and interacting with the dynamic world around me. I am a home-schooling mom of 3 independent, gifted children, and am proud to have found a new “niche” in life, apart from my Psychology degree.

In addition to Web Development, I write copy for print, direct mail, brochures, flyers, press releases, proposals, articles and radio and TV advertising. I have found, overall knowledge and skills in print, Internet and collateral PR, I find, is an invaluable asset to web designing.

smarterwork: How do you find the freelance Web build market in the US?

Lilly: Web Development has evolved dramatically over the past few years. Although the Web was born in 1990, it was only in

1993 that the web became widely recognized as a new communications medium, rivaling traditional media such as TV, radio, and print.
Yes a comfortable living, can be had, IF… you do not overextend yourself. In other words; too many projects at once, quite often, do not produce satisfactory results on all projects.

For me, market-performance, a dynamic and attractive market suits me, frankly… Many design-businesses see the market-

potential and try to occupy a part of those. A permanent fight originates around the best exit-places and many entrepreneurs miss the connection through it, at the newest trends. I try to let not that turn into my undoing, and want to reach a higher contentment with ingenious technology, and a smaller market-segment.

I believe that web design and architecture is best nurtured by study, hard work, and by working on projects that I believe in. I believe that this preserves creativity, integrity, my interest, and, combined with hard work, diligence and care, results in better

overall products for the client being serviced. Thus, a “good living” to me, is equal to being satisfied with my own accomplishments and the pride of your client, after the fact.

smarterwork: Where do your stregnths lie in terms of developing a website?

Lilly: With knowledge of advanced design, I have both the tools and the skills to not only create a web design, but a state of the art interactive experience. My strengths are in everything that equals design - I am still learning programming. At this point, I am proficient in the basics, regarding programming. I can; design, produce, market, promote, advertise, research, administrate, write and/or publish it. I am still going to school to learn the rest. As an eternal student, I continue to take courses at nearby colleges and universities in Graphic Design, computer science, computer programming. photography, multimedia and digital audio. I enjoy learning, creating, exploring and growing.

smarterwork: Do you rely on authoring softwares or do you write html?

Lilly: I prefer to code by hand. However, I am proficient in MS Front Page, Net Objects Fusion, Adobe Illustrator, Flash, Director, and Macromedia Dreamweaver.

smarterwork: How hard/easy do you find it to reconcile your own creative style and practical experience with your clients’ ‘vision’ of how their website should look and work?

Lilly: I don’t find it hard at all. It’s quite easy! I enjoy helping my clients brand their international image and presence. It is a task that goes beyond the buzzwords and hype to establish credibility. The user experience is most important. Thematic and unique design, color theory, ease of navigation, fluid interactivity, quality consistency, and highly intuitive interfaces are some of the critical elements that play into every discriminating client application. Great websites are a creative collaboration between the client and the development and design team.

smarterwork: Tell us about the latest site you have worked on:

Lilly: Currently, I am working on design at Whispy.com, and have moved on with the company ( as a part time independent contractor ) now holding the position of Marketing Web Manager. I am responsible for B2B marketing, developing and implementation of marketing campaigns, the design, image and content of the website, ease of navigation and the clarity of its message. I work with development programmers and provide several company reports. Lastly, I work with PR and Ad agencies and coordinate their activities.

smarterwork: What, by your standards, are the key features that ‘make’ a good website?

Lilly: The user experience is most important. Thematic and unique design, color theory, ease of navigation, fluid interactivity, quality consistency, and highly intuitive interfaces are some of the critical elements that play into every discriminating client application. Many elements go into successful web site design; we can cluster those elements into sensory, conceptual, and reactive aspects. That is, design isn't only what you see, it's also what you think and feel as you navigate a web site. A well- designed page, whether in print or on the Web, is a thing of beauty. A skilled page designer can take widely differing elements like body text, headings, graphics, links and whatever, and arrange them into a harmonious whole. Good design is practical as well as aesthetic. Well-designed pages are easier to read, and lead your readers' eyes where you want them to be led.

smarterwork: How do you see the future of Web design (XML, interactive TV etc)?

Lilly: We’ve come quite a long way since “Mosaic”, the first mainstream web browser, was released in late 1992. From black and white text documents to 24-million-color virtual storefronts, web technology has moved forward at a staggering pace. One trend is clearly to emphasize perceptual media. Designs will feature more graphics, sound, and video, and they will do so at the expense of verbal text. We have already seen this trend in standalone multimedia, where text is used primarily to identify buttons. The extensive use of words in multimedia is regarded as an admission of failure: the designer did not have a picture or could not afford video, so she resorted to text. The World Wide Web has not yet reached that point, largely because the Web grows out of such textual applications as email and newsgroups. However, the apparent immediacy of pictures is irresistible. Email will ultimately be replaced by video conferencing, newsgroups by on-demand video clips. The gradual abandonment of verbal text means The Web's continual presence makes constant refinement easier to enact and to measure accurately, and that the Web's technical origins make software engineering techniques seem more natural. We will have to rethink the whole notion of persuasion. Authors on the Web will need a visual rhetoric to replace traditional verbal rhetoric. The Web, is a Darwinian environment, where good designs attract users and bad designs repel them.

smarterwork: What is your favorite site (not designed by you) of the moment and why?

Lilly: I do not have a favorite site. I enjoy them all! If I was forced to pick, it would be cnet.com -- for their information and ease of navigation, guru.net -- for personality and innovativeness sony.com -- for their dry humor, and google ( yes the search engine) -- for simplicity, organization, and the best search experience on the World Wide Web.

smarterwork: What would your dream Web design assignment be?

Lilly: It would be a website that I worked on for another... that educated and enlightened it’s owner. It is my intention to pass along what I have learned to others. I offer personalized design services because I truly enjoy designing for the web and take great pride in my work. With this in mind, I accept personal jobs on an individual basis, devoting my full attention to meeting my clients needs and allowing them to understand all concepts, after I have completed their dream..

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