The Interview

Below is a transcription of an interview I conducted with my mentor, Susan Schroder. I think that somewhere along the way, she forgot that I’m her daughter and went into ‘job interview’ mode. Anyway, this summarizes her role in this project and how she will help me through the process.

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Q: Why don’t we start with a brief introduction?

A: My name is Susan Schroder. I am an author, illustrator, artist, and photographer. I have been creating and selling art for over thirty years. For the past ten years, my focus has been on digital art and photography.

Q: What is your experience with web design?

A: As a business person, I sell my art on products and prints. The majority of my sales are online, so creating an effective and appealing website is important. I have created and designed two different websites that included commerce, so I have a lot of experience in that area.

Q: What about marketing?

A: I have a lot of experience drawing visitors to my website using various methods, including a large social media following. I have knowledge in search engine optimization [SEO] and meta tags, as well.

Q: How do you plan on guiding this project?

A: I would be instrumental as a resource for advice on deciding on a platform for the website, understanding and searching for domain names, understanding templates, and drawing people to your site. Basically, all of the technical set up required when developing a website.

Q: What about the design portion of this project?

A: I use Adobe products like Photoshop and Illustrator for my art, and I have been for nearly ten years. Again, I can guide you through the technical aspects of designing the site if you’re using a program like Photoshop or Muse [web design software by Adobe].

Q: How do you think you can help with the concept or premise of the website?

A: The concept of your website is to be a place of respite for people in need. So I think that the site should be soothing, appealing, and most importantly, easy to navigate. The last thing a person in distress needs is a unnavigable website. And that’s where I think I can help.

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After the interview, we continued on with our meeting, where I settled on a domain name: breathr.net. My next step is to design a logo, explore the web hosting server I’ll be using, and begin mapping out the site. I’m confident that my mentor will be an excellent resource throughout this process, and that I can actually make this website a reality.

The "Wait, I'm Gonna Do WHAT?!" Phase

Disclaimer: For the 20% Project, I have chosen to design and develop a website that can only be described as a ‘happy’ place meant to relieve stress, which I will now elaborate on. However, I do not guarantee that this will actually happen, as I am not a web designer, but I suppose that’s the purpose of this project, huh?

As I said, this website can only be described as a ‘happy place’. We are constantly being bombarded with negativity in our everyday lives, whether it be on the Internet or in the news, and face it, being a human is hard. All of this can induce stress. For some people, it’s just another part of life, but for some, it can turn into something more that just inconvenience. About 18% of adults over the age of 18 have an anxiety disorder, and that’s just in the U.S. I want this website to be an easy, accessible way to help relieve that anxiety before or during a panic attack. I also want to have a section on the website devoted to informing others about mental illness and providing other methods of relieving stress.

I was partially inspired by calm.com, an excellent site for meditation. But I wanted to take it further and reach out to everyone to spread some positivity. Everyone deserves a breather every once in a while.

I have a relatively good idea of how I’m going to accomplish this. I want to finish the actual website early to mid-May, but I won’t launch it until I have a sufficient amount of content. I hope to have that done relatively quickly after the design is finished. After it’s live, I would do my best to continue adding content as I find it. I’ve chosen my mother as my mentor; she has a lot of experience with web design and how the whole process works, so I think it will go smoothly.

I’ve dabbled in graphic design, but this will be my first time designing a website. Of course, I don’t plan on coding the whole thing from scratch, but there’s still a fair amount I have to do myself. I think this will be the biggest challenge for me: the development. I can get the design down, but the construction is another story. The web design program I’m planning on using doesn’t require coding, which should make it more manageable. I’ll also have my mentor to help me if I start stumbling, not to mention the plethora of resources and information that is the Internet.

If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. No matter what, I’ll be glad that I tried. If I can actually do this, I’ll have a finished product that will help people make their day a little bit better, or even just put a smile on their face. That’s enough for me.