A designer in a coding world…

Being at the cutting edge of technology and design forms the backbone of what we do at Dodgems and Floss

We are lucky that our Digital Director has a foot in both camps, we talk to her about her journey and life at D & F.

Andrea, where did you start your journey in the creative world?

I always liked drawing when I was a child. It was one of my favourite things to do at school, combine that with the fact that my Dad was a CAD engineer, designing and computers were forever present when I was growing up. It is no surprise I combined the two.

The next step was the University of Kent where I studied Multimedia Technology and Design. It was a great subject as you got exposure to all sorts of different disciplines like 3D modeling, animation, coding (which I hated, rather ironically given what I do now) and design.

What do you do at Dodgems and Floss?

I’m the Digital Director here, so I’m responsible for all the digital projects, everything from which CMS to use to what coding language should be adopted for a client.

The real difference about what I do is that I code as well as design. That gives me the ability to see a project from every angle and think about the coding of a site while I design it. Being able to approach a piece of work that way does make things easier and quicker, all things that we can pass on to our customers.

What is your favourite thing about being a designer?

The best thing about designing is that you can work on a project and see it from inception all the way to delivery. Doing this job also means you get to explore the newest technologies. We recently redeveloped our own website, based on the very latest CSS grid system, so there is always something new to learn or experiment with that we can eventually roll out to our clients.

Where did you learn your skills?

I was really lucky, I managed to get a job straight out of University at Tesco.com. I finished university on the Friday and started work with Tesco on the Monday. I started out designing websites but I wanted to explore the development side of the industry and that led me to move onto a number of large agencies in London, working for clients such as Disney, Interflora, Cartoon Network and Hilton hotels.

After spending a fair few years in London, I made the move back to Kent to work for a small start up. The next stop was Dodgems and Floss and I’ve never looked back or learnt more!

What has been the most important lesson you have learnt since Dodgems and Floss came into being?

Dodgems and Floss being born allows all of us to explore our creative side and we’ve certainly all learnt to never stop pushing or learning new things. My biggest lesson has been that to provide the best service, we need to remain cutting edge, so I always make sure I have my finger on the pulse. New technologies and techniques are coming out all the time and staying current is really important.

What’s the best project that you’ve worked on?

I’ve worked on some amazing projects for a number of very different clients but my absolute favourite has to be launching Dodgems and Floss. Being able to create your own brand and push it as far as you want is a great experience. I can experiment and I’ve learnt so much from making Dodgems and Floss the absolute best that it can be and integrating all the new technologies that become available.

Finally Andrea, if you could give one piece of advice to someone looking to get into the industry, what would it be?

Always push yourself to learn new things and work on side projects, work on things in your own time to develop your skills. Once you graduate or get your first position in an agency, it is a very different environment to the one that you are taught in. Gain as much exposure of customer expectations and deadlines as you can but remember to have fun as you work.

Want to find out more about the projects we have worked on and how we can work with you? Explore our website, pop into our studio or give us a call. Don’t be shy, say hello!