Jay Cotton
Director and Chief Designer , Hot Ant

Written by Kimberly Chu on 2009-10-08

Jay Cotton is an award-winning designer. He is very experienced in the field of web developing and has created corporate identities, multimedia applications, websites and graphic design solutions over many years.

1. Why did you pursue a career in the media and communications industry?

My family began publishing the Schools Guide magazine in the late 1990s and we were hiring a number of graphic designers. At the time I had recently completed a degree in Media Production because I always wanted to be involved in television. Graphic design was not too far removed from my field of study and it became a natural step for me to move into design, working with my existing family business.

2. What are the most important/valuable skills that graduates can bring to your industry?

A natural eye for good design is great but I would be more likely to hire someone who has the right attitude and work ethic. Also I think a thorough understanding of software and technologies is critical because all jobs need to be turned around as quickly as possible without sacrificing quality. If you’re still learning your skills it is going to add time to the project. Deadlines don’t like to flex to suit you. I’m sure there are plenty of graduates who have excelled in their course thanks to their wonderfully creative mind and unique designs but in my experience most clients aren’t looking for the latest design trend in their website. They tend to be looking for something cost effective that suits their business goals and they usually have fairly good idea of what they are after. Budgets are tight and wild designs are a bit of a risk for most of our clients. It is very rare that we see a client who gives us free reign to design something unique. It tends to be the safer designs that suit our clients so I’d say the best graduate is someone with a thorough understanding of how to build a quality business website and the ethic to get it done on time.

3. What are the biggest challenges you and your organisation face as a member of the Brisbane media community?

The major challenges we face are generally in terms of pricing our services right so that we meet the needs of the clients we want to attract and offering a service that is very competitive.

4. In your opinion, what is the most prominent trend in the Web Developers industry at the moment?

It seems to me that there is a trend toward template designs and DIY. Ahhh! Did you pick that template because it has a nice glossy effect? You should have had it designed by a professional in the first place. I won’t tell you again!

5. What changes do you see happening over the next five years in the Web Developers industry?

It is difficult to predict what might happen with the web – it is such an organic creature. I suspect there might be a trend towards smaller agencies and designers working from home or remote locations. Large offices are expensive and to be honest there is almost nothing that can’t be achieved without an office.

6. What changes in the media sector have you seen in the past?

When I first began our office was filled with PCs running Microsoft Publisher, Quark and Freehand. Now it’s full of Macs running the Adobe CS3 suit. The software has improved dramatically and the computers are leaps ahead in terms of processing power and speed so the options available to a designer are virtually unlimited. Since I started the challenge for a designer has changed from… how can we get this thing to build what we want? to… now that we can build anything what will we create? It’s way more fun.

7. What process do you go through to complete a project?

The responses given by our clients to our Client Brief Questionaire become the starting point. We use this to fine tune our thought process and get an idea of where we should head with the design. Then it’s generally pencil and paper and get the mental juices flowing. A think tank often helps uncover some more creativity. Once we’ve settled on a design that we feel meets our clients’ brief we usually begin by creating a digital non-functioning version of the design in Photoshop. Then it’s on to our client to sell this design before we go ahead and build it. Once approved, we’ll go ahead and start building the working website or multimedia CD-Rom.