1. Hi , who are you and what do you do?
Greetings! I’m Niki – By day I’m a web designer for a small design firm in Boston and by night (or early morning) I’m a freelance blogger and graphic designer. I blog for Creattica Daily (http://daily.creattica.com) and my own blog The Design O’Blog. (http://thedesignoblog.com)

2. Describe a typical day at work?
I usually wake up early (at an ungodly hour)…down copious amounts of caffeine and blog and work on freelance projects. Then I catch a train downtown to work my day job until 5 and then the evening is mine to either freelance, blog or attempt to cook what most people call food :)

3. What do you enjoy most about your work?
I love that design is visual problem solving. Its great when the solution you came up with not only pleases yourself, but the client as well.

4. What do you like least about your job?
I hate internet explorer (exploder) and all the issues that come with it. I also hate it when i misspell css selectors and spend hours trouble shooting :)

5. What is your worst enemy of creativity?
I tend to stretch myself too thin sometimes and this is a huge strain on creativity. I recommend doing less, but doing it better. I should also try to sleep more :)

6. What do you do when you start a new project and you have NO ideas?
I try to write down words/feelings/emotions that come to mind when thinking of the project. Then I usually google image search those words and get visual ideas from there. I also like to research the industry the project is in to get an idea what competitors are doing.

7. What inspires you the most?
Living in Boston inspires me. I’m constantly surrounded by diverse people and fascinating things. This is one reason I always have my camera with me :) This city is old and has tons of amazing typography.

8. Do you listen to music while working? And if “yes” what music do you listen to?
I am usually listening to music when I work, unless I’m really into what I’m doing and i forget to turn it on. I usually listen to ambient electronic music on a station I have on pandora.com

9. How do you deal with criticism?
5 years of schooling, and a few years out in the ‘real world’ have helped me deal with criticism. Criticism isnt usually personal, even though you put your heart and soul into designs. Its just about the design, and you have to separate out your emotions from that.

10. What does your workspace look like?
I love my little workspace! It’s where all the Design O’Blog action happens :) I like to surround myself with my favorite things when I’m working: Cool Posters, paintings of bananas, a picture of my girlfriend, and all my design books. The only thing I dislike about my workspace is the size of it. I have no where to put my printer and scanner!

I work with a 15in macbook pro and a lovely external monitor. But sometimes I just grab the laptop and work from the couch. Its more comfy that way :)

11. Do you remember the very first web-project in which you were involved?
Oh man…yes i do! It was ugly and it was hosted on geocities. I had found the website howstuffworks.com and was reading about how webpages work and was hooked from there. Its interesting that you ask this question. Most of our ‘first websites’ are horrible and ugly….and I just happen to be having an Ugly Website Contest over on The Design O’Blog going right now… (http://www.nikibrown.com/designoblog/2009/02/04/ugly-website-contest/)

12. Is there any advice you would give our readers?
Go outside…get off your computer. I just spent a good two days wandering the city with a silly bright pink fisheye camera and had the time of my life. I feel refreshed and my creativity is ready to go! Sometimes it helps to just disconnect for a while and experience analog life :)

13. What has been the most fun project to work on so far?
My own blog has been a fun project. It started out as a collection of cool things I found online, but has morphed into a mix of design related content. I started writing about design and offering advice to others and in turn it has helped me become a better designer.

14. Imagine yourself in 15 years… what do you see yourself doing?
Still designing and still as nerdy as ever! I’ll probably still be a Mac fan.

15. Please tell us 3 people who we should do this Interview with (Why them?).
@Collis from Envato – this guy is fascinating and always has a million ideas up his sleeve.

@Chriscoye from CSS-Tricks.com – Super friendly and super helpful and knowledgable web guy.

@Chrisspooner from blog.spoongraphics.co.uk – Talented designer and blogger

..wow they all start with C! :)

Niki…thank you very much for answering our questions :-)
So if you want to visit Niki you should do that now: Visit http://http://thedesignoblog.com/ or leave her a comment here! :)