One thing that I would like to comment on is that he mentions two key principles he believes he couldn't have done without tuition: Interaction Design Theory and Typography.
I can understand the first, but the second, to do with the layout, size, colour of text etc I think can to some extent be acquired by having a good eye for design, naturally. True, what I think looks good may not necessarily follow the golden rules of type and fit in with industry recognised principles, but then again, isn't design and whether it's any good or not, a matter of opinion? Needless to say, his comment that the constant variations he was made to apply put him in good set for the future, where the more designs, with more variation mean you ultimately have more to work with, ultimating in a better final product. He later puts, it's hard, but sometimes you do have to 'kill your babies'. I think this is very true - because you thought of it first doesn't necessarily mean it's the one and only design scheme to go with.
Further down he promotes the use of acquiring additional, extra curricular knowledge: 'film making, psychology'. This again, I think is very true. The more informed you are, the more aware and successful you can make your work. You sort of succeed on a number of levels rather than just your one discipline. And I think the only way to acquire this broad knowledge is to get involved, in general, with what the world around you has to offer. Sure work experience in _______ field will make the employers take note, but an off key job here (which people might turn their nose up at) could well reap benefits when applied to something in the future. Basically, absorb as much as you can, from whatever you can. He mentions the simplest thing such as reading other creatives RSS feeds. This again is very true, you see what others are doing and it can inspire you and give you that spark you need.
Three points that will form a triangle of importance for me, in Interaction Design, will be Usability, Usefulness and Desirability. I am confident in achieving desirability (making it look nice, smart and suitable for it's context) along with Usability (making it simple and straightforward to understand, whilst making sure everything does as it should, so not to lose the user.) However, when you are set the task, 'make a site, any site' this is where I often question it's Usefulness. Sure, at University, it's the doing that enables you to acquire the skills but sometimes our creations can seem a little pointless? I suppose when working in the industry though, you will be making something that will definitely be of use, as their clients want it.
Lastly I really like his final life motto. Yes, we may find AS3 or php confusing and hard, but then 'if it was easy, everybody would be doing it'.
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The second article 'I'm into minimalistic clean design' I found to entail things close to home, or close to my preferences anyway.
Out of preference, I have come to like / admire what I call the 'empty look', Schafer calls it 'clean design'. Basically, a site that isn't crammed with loads of different items seeking your attention. My key example would be the old Facebook: you had applications galore, a wall that stretched miles, adverts flashing, photos and videos dotted around the page.
Now though, they've refined everything under seperate tabs, meaning it just feels a lot neater. Not everyone is pleased though.
I much prefer section links which send you to a different section of the site, where you can then find what you seek. Obviously this wouldn't work for the likes of BBC News, as I think that tends to replicate what the newspaper has done for hundreds of years - give you all the information, on a priority basis. For such a site, you want to know the headlines, and often, there is more than one important thing going on each day.
Elsewhere in the interview, Schafer's notation that he likes a grayscale along with another colour... well, my portfolio seems to indicate this too.
I found his recommendations to newbies to me helpful. It's the stuff I've mostly been doing anyway, particularly the number one tip of a trip to the FWA. We were asked to do it for an online task last year for Identities, but I've pretty much kept up and carried on with reviews of sites I like . Just seeing what other people do can spur you on, make you competitive, or even just make you aware of nice design effects that you could implement.
His last bit of advice: get a design magazine, well, I'm on the verge of subscribing to .net. I've seen it before, been really interested, but never bought a copy because I thought it just one step away from my skill set. However, I like the variety of what they put out, their tips, and it has a real focus for nice aesthetics, so I'm joining after Schafer's recommendation.
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