Jackie O-Face Person Of Interest Interview: Soh Tanaka

Jackie O-Face . The Person of Interest / Interrogation Interview Series:
Soh Tanaka / _ [ www.sohtanaka.com ] _

_ [ INTRODUCTION ] _

State your name and what you do.
My name is Soh Tanaka, I’m a web designer, developer, wannabe illustrator, and popper.

Describe your current surroundings and your mood at the moment.
Sitting at my office desk, listening to some mellow down tempo.
Mood: Tired.

Which type of communication device are you responding to this interview with?
Desktop.

What are you listening to at the moment?
I’m trying to relax and work so I am now listening to ”I lied” by Telefon Tel Aviv.

Let’s begin..
Let’s do this!

_ [ LIFE ] _

There are many who feel that their financial worth defines their self-worth. What does money mean to you? Does it define you?
You need money to survive in this world… but I am not the type to chase money. My take is that money will come naturally as you master your craft in whatever you do. I always say allow your passion to guide your career and success, not money.

Are you pleased with your current position in life?
Yeap, happily married, found a career I am passionate about, loving friends and family, life is good!

What are goals you wish to set out and accomplish?
As I get deeper into my career, my goals sometimes become skewed. There are so many things I would like to be part of in this industry… I just want to be the best that I can be as a designer and front-end developer. Right now I am following my instincts to take me where I need to go. Just going with the flow I guess.

Describe your role at your current employer. What are aspects of the job that you are pleased with?
I am currently working at a large off road retailer called 4 Wheel Parts, running their design/front-end department. This position allows me to gain some managing skills on top of everyday web design/dev tasks. I’m pleased with everything that the company has offered, I pretty much learned most of my skills working at this company so I feel it was a great place to gain experience and work from the ground up. I’ve definitely paid my dues!

What would you be doing if you were not in the field you are currently in?
I honestly don’t know. Possibly doing something in the skateboarding industry, but I really can’t imagine myself doing anything else.

What do you think of when you hear these two words? Orange County.
I don’t want to get jumped after I say this but to be dead honest: Peeps at the beach with the same tattoo, haircut, outfit, fake tits..bumping electro house? I hope I’m not offending anyone from OC lol.

Did you watch MTV’s Jersey Shore? Favorite cast member?
No, I actually haven’t seen it yet. Should I attempt to watch it? I heard you lose brain cells from it…

Do you have music playing or off while working?
On and off, depending on my mood and type of project.

_ [ WEB / DEVELOPMENT ] _

What type of development software do you use? Design software?
I use Photoshop, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver. All hand code, so technically dreamweaver makes no difference to my work flow. Short cuts and easy FTP access is nice though.

Best time to work?
Day, but I work 24/7.

Do you feel that the internet is plagued with an overwhelming amount of poorly executedly web sites? Do you care that these sites exist?
I think it has significantly gotten better and is becoming much more standardized with the push of web standards. I personally don’t care that bad sites exists, everyone has to start from somewhere and just as long as you continue to progress, you are on the right track.

Do you feel that the issue will disappear with the progression of automation on the web?
In my opinion, code generators are for people without a budget or for regular folks who want to make their own website without having to learn the proper foundation. I guess it has its purpose, but I don’t think it will ever replace an actual designer/developer with skills. You can’t cookie cutter everything if you want a quality product.

Design Bombs [ www.designbombs.com ] functions as a CSS and web design resource site featuring a gallery, tutorials and more.

As we move forward, in regards to improvements in web technology and automation, do you feel designers and developers should feel threaten by bots that can minic what a human can do?
In my opinion, good designers/developers don’t have to fear anything that is automated. People who are skilled in this industry will always be ahead of the game, no code generator will be able to top a creative human mind.

How important is internet presence (regardless of field/industry) in 2010?
Internet presence is everything nowadays. If you are a legit company without a good website, it can really hurt your credibility and your stance against your competition.

Share with us an example of how a company can benefit from strong internet presence.
Especially with the tough economy, many companies are investing more and more on the web and online marketing. The internet allows the company to reach out to customers they were never able to reach before. Social media allows a company to have a face and connect more personally with their users/customers, expanding on their brand recognition and improving customer service. Social media services like Facebook and Twitter allows real time updates, which makes it convenient and extremely useful to post current promotions, events, online contests, and just getting the community involved with company updates and news.

Do you feel a company is doing a disserivce to themselves by not acknowledging the importance of internet marketing and presence?
Definitely. It’s time to wake up!

List some of your favorite sites you have created for clients.
This is my most recent work: www.VestaxSpin.com

_ CHOOSE [ ONE ] _

Mac / PC [ PC ]

Canon / Nikon [ I wish I had either one of em, lol. ]

BlackBerry / iPhone [ iPhone ]

Japanese Food / Filipino Food [ Easy. Japanese Food. ]

Facebook / Myspace [ Facebook ]

Day Time / Night Time [ Night Time ]

Gmail / POP3 [ Gmail ]

Winter / Summer [ Summer ]

CRT / LCD [ LCD ]

Sunny / Overcast [ Sunny ]

Web / Print [ Web ]

Money / Honey [ Honey ]

Email / Phone [ Email ]

Text Document / Development Software [ Dev. Software ]

iTunes / Winamp [ Winamp ]

_ WORD [ ASSOCIATION ] _
Apple [ Mac ]
Food [ Japanese Food ]
Traffic [ Los Angeles ]
Print [ Typography ]
Beef [ Popping Community ]
Web [ <3 ]
Media Temple [ two thumbs up ]
California [ The place to be ]
Streetwear [ Triumvir ]
Stealing [ Biting ]
Los Angeles [ Music, Art, Dance, Skateboarding ]
Behance Network [ Amazing Content ]
Critics [ What? ]
Critics, Critics [ Huh? ]
Circles [ Cyphers/Battles ]
Glitches [ Glitch Hop ]
Social Media [ Twitter Bird ]
Annoyance [ Spam ]
CSS [ Fun ]

Favorite web sites and blogs:
I have too many, but here are some off the top of my head..

www.LooksLikeGoodDesign.com
www.abduzeedo.com
www.typojungle.net
www.WebDesignerWall.com
www.Fubiz.net
www.carsonified.com/blog
www.SmashingMagazine.com
www.alistapart.com
www.Css-Tricks.com

Your web site or blog:
www.SohTanaka.com

Also, visit West Coast Poppin’, a community-based site that Soh has developed and operates:
www.WestCoastPoppin.com

Thank You!
- Jackie O-Face [ The T.E.A. ]

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