Chris Coyier, editor of CSS tricks kindly accepted to chat about CSS, design, creation, and gave us some very useful tips. He also tell us about his side projects, and share his working methods.



1 - Hello Chris, thank you for accepting this interview. For those who don’t know you already, can you introduce yourself?

Hello Adrien, thanks for having me! I am an everyday kind of web designer. If you have heard my name before, it’s probably from my web design blog / community site CSS tricks.



2 – How did you come into web design, what inspired you ?

Web design feels a bit like magic to me. Like I know this secret language, and I can write in it to create these websites that anyone in the world can see. There is a strong feeling of creating something, that I really enjoy, that brought me to and keeps me doing web design.

3 - Among all web languages, you seem to have chosen CSS. Is that your way to express art through code?

CSS is just one of the many technologies that power the web, but it is definitely my favorite. As relatively simple of language that it is, I find it elegant and amazing. It’s like chess, you can learn the basics in a day and spend a lifetime mastering it.

4 – So, do you consider yourself more an artist or a programmer?

I feel a little weird saying “I am an artist”. Like I should be wearing a beret and a black turtleneck. But I’m definitely not much of a programmer so I guess I’ll go with artist.

5 - How much time per day do you spend coding, writing and answering emails for Css-Tricks? Do you work with a time schedule scheme ?

It’s at least a couple hours a day. Its definitely secondary to my actual job but it has grown to the point it requires a lot of attention. There are so many different aspects of it that take time. Email is certainly a part of it, but also writing new articles, participating in the forums, shooting screencasts, maintaining the site and server, working on new features, gathering ideas, and promoting.

The nice thing about CSS-Tricks is that there is no hard-deadline commitments. I’ve kept it that way on purpose, so it can stay casual and fun. Things stop feeling casual and fun when there are deadlines and commitments.

6 - If computers and internet suddenly cease to exist, what would you do for a living?

Like to think about the post-apocalypse huh? Me too. I dunno it’s hard to say. I’d like to just sit around and frail the banjo all day, but that’s probably not too practical. Maybe I’d be a moonshiner.



7– Can you tell us about your side projects (other websites, and even general occupations)?

Besides the day job and CSS-Tricks, my main side project is Are My Sites Up, which is a web application for monitoring websites. You sign up, add your sites (or sites you are responsible for) and you get notifications when they go down. It’s like an early-warning system to keep you from getting in trouble with clients! It’s been a lot of fun to work on both in design and function, and it’s great working on a service that really helps people.



8 – What aspect of a new project do you consider as an absolute priority when you start it?

Trying to dig down to the fundamental goal of the websites existence is the top priority. If it’s a client site, the client may not even be able to tell you this right away. It comes through experience and learning as much about a client/project as possible. For example, if you are working on a new eCommerce site that sells basket weaving materials, on the surface it may seem like the fundamental goal is to sell basket weaving materials. You can create a site that does that very well, but not be very successful. The fundamental goal in this case should be to develop an invaluable online resource for basketweavers, that includes eCommerce. This route will always be more successful.

9 - What advice would you give to someone who wants to enter the world of Internet creation from scratch?

Just start building websites. Build as many of them as you can. Like absolutely any other skill in the world, getting better at it takes time and practice. If someone wants to start and has absolutely no idea where to begin, I did a screencast about the VERY basics of HTML and CSS.

10 – Thank you for your time, do you have anything you would like to add?

Just to say thanks a bunch for having me Adrien! Always flattering to be asked to interview, I really appreciate it.