Interview with Sarah from SillyGrrl

I'm thrilled to have Sarah from Sillygrrl here today to tell us more about her journey to becoming a web designer. Not only are her blog designs adorable (and affordable through her Etsy shop) but she is a wonderful blog resource. This year she did a fabulous series called Six Weeks to a Better Blog.

1. How did you get started in web design?

I discovered the internet when I was 13, just about the time AOL showed up. I spent a lot of time on LiveJournal, Blogger, Diaryland and eventually had my own site hosted by another blogger. I taught myself how to code by picking through other sites to see how they were put together and redesigned my own site about 100 times before I moved on to working for bands and being paid in food. My freelance business finally took off when I decided to take it seriously, put a lot of time into creating quality blog content and opened my Etsy shop.

2. What are your favorite tools of the trade?

Photoshop, Illustrator, Google Fonts, and Pinterest for inspiration

3. What advice would you give a newbie?

Just dive in - you don't need formal training to become a designer. Google everything - there are tons of tutorials on coding and building sites. Don't give up - coding can be really difficult and confusing, but generally it's one teeny-tiny thing that needs to be fixed and your whole site will fall into place.

4. If you were a famous actor/actress, who would you be?

Ginger Rogers - little known fact about me, I performed in a bunch of musicals and was a competitive ballroom dancer in high school.

5. And a few more questions just for fun:

New Zealand or Australia? Neither haha I'm a total homebody and being in a plane for hours and hours doesn't interest me in the least

Tacos or pasta? Tacos times a million

Ringlets or braids? Ringlets, but only if they're teased into a giant fro...I like big hair :)

Sarah is a web designer & aerialist living in metro-Detroit. SillyGrrl is where she writes about her adventures as a circus performer, design inspiration and answers your web design & blogging questions.