Interview with Marco Kuiper, Marcofolio.net

Marco Kuiper, the writer and creator of marcofolio.net had the time to fill in some of the questions we had in store. Marco lives, like me, in the Netherlands and we happened to go to the same school just a while ago. He is an enthusiast in everything on the web and creates innovative web stuff. In this interview you’ll get to know him a little bit better.

Are you a freelancer?

I used to be. Since I started by blog, I was way too busy with school, work and other stuff to keep on being a freelance developer.

What is the best part about being a freelancer?

Being a freelancer doesn’t have any real “best part” in my opinion. It has it’s up-, but also it’s downsides. For example: It’s great that you have “all the time in the world”, but you’ll need to be very good at organizing stuff, otherwise you won’t meet your deadlines.

What are your best methods for finding/attracting clients?

At the time I was a freelancer, clients came to me through referrals from others. Real-life networking was just a great way of connecting with people. Like I said before, when I started my blog, I didn’t do any freelancing anymore. I’ve had a couple of freelance job offers through my blog, but didn’t accept them.

How did you get started in your field? Did you study something in particular or are you self-taught?

I always was interested in computers in general. I first learned the Java programming language when still on high school. That’s the moment when I knew that I really loved to program. After high school, I started to study computer science. Everything I learned there was about application development. My web development skills are self-taught, just because I love to do that too.

What do you feel are the most important skills for a designer to have/develop?

Keep on loving what you do! That’ll keep you motivated and stay “on top of the game”. If you don’t like what you do, you should simply quit.

Where do you go for development inspiration, where do your ideas come from?

Tough question. I mainly draw development inspiration from real life, but don’t look at specified stuff a lot. When I have an idea for another crazy development proof of concept, that idea just came in my head without any real inspiration. I just think about that kind of stuff all day, what would be cool and what is possible. If it is a combination of both (cool and possible), I always like to give it a shot.

Do you have any favorite websites for interacting with others in the development community?

I do have a very full RSS inbox every day with blogs that I love to follow, but on Twitter most articles are tweeted there before they even get in the RSS feeds. Commenting on articles helps connecting with others too.

What are your 5 favorite sites online?

Other than my own site, I love to visit the following sites:

• SixRevisons – Great WebDev and –Design blog from Jacob Gube
• Noupe – Another awesome WebDev and –Design blog from Noura Yehia
• CSS-Tricks – Chris Coyiers playground, showing some real power of CSS
• Cyanide and Happiness / XKCD – I really love these webcomics, especially Cy&H is a great start of the day
• iGoogle – My iGoogle page with Twitter, GMail, Todo’s etc.

Who, in the online world, would you say has had the biggest influence on you?

I don’t think anyone on the online world really has a real “influence” on me. I just love to do stuff my way. When I think of “inspiration”, I think Jacob Gube (from SixRevisions) does inspire me a lot. He’s just a great guy, down to earth and managed to build a great online empire from scratch.

What are the tools you couldn’t live without?

• My MacBook Pro
• Google Calendar / GMail
• Firefox + Firebug
• Smultron / Eclipse
• Photoshop
• 24” widescreen (really improves the workflow)