Weblog

Since the launch of the new site, I have received so many emails asking questions about Foundation Six. Certain ones come up repeatedly, so I think it is time to a share a few things with you.

Where did the name “Foundation Six” come from?

From the six fundamental principles (or foundations) that I believe embody great website design. It just so happens that they all start with an “F”, enabling the F6 moniker. If you want to find out exactly what they are, I list them in the sidebar of my invoice. All you have to do is hire Foundation Six for your next design project and you will see them.

How many people make up Foundation Six?

Just me. Dave Ruiz.

Choosing between using my name or a company name for my web design business was something I struggled with. While I definitely want my name to be recognized in the industry, I ultimately chose a company name, as part of my business plan is to grow the company into a web design collective that can cater to several clients at any given time. That doesn’t mean I am island right now, though. I work with some talented individuals every day, and we are constantly tapping into each other’s strengths to render the best possible product.

What type of projects do you like to take on?

Foundation Six started with the desire to give small businesses a large web presence with great design, accurate visitor statistics, a content management system, search engine optimization, and effective online advertising. While it is important that the site looks great, it needs to effectively communicate your business objectives, and ultimately lead to successful conversions. To accomplish this, these projects generally take a month or so to complete. I generally have some smaller side projects on the go as well. To save you some time, I am not interested in building the next Facebook/Flickr/Twitter for a percentage of the profits after it launches.

How long have you been designing for?

Real web design, about a year-and-a-half. I would have gotten into it earlier, however markup was intimidating. After learning how to write valid code, I actually really enjoy marking a project up, and realized that this definitely something I wanted to do day in and day out.

I came from a print design/advertising background, and I left a Creative Director position to start Foundation Six. I am passionate about the web, and I felt that this was the most effective way to explore my career goals. I started in consumer packaging design (there are some really talented designers in that field), and have had some really interesting projects along the way, such as designing an award-winning show car. That was a lot of fun!

Why don’t you have a blog?

I do now. Launching the new site with a blog was something I mulled over, but I really didn’t know if it was something Foundation Six needed. After the questions started pouring in and I came up with several post ideas I was definitely leaning towards creating one, but the thing that really sold me was the need for an outlet to properly thank all of the people that helped launch Foundation Six (the business and the site).

I also wasn’t sure if I wanted to put a lot of time into something that might not have many readers. I enjoy writing, so I figured as long as I write about things that I like, it doesn’t really feel like work, so the amount of readers is not the determining factor. I actually don’t have any type of counter or analytics monitoring the RSS feed, as I won’t let the amount of readership affect the content. It wouldn’t hurt to have a large following though.

Will you please sell me the templates to X?

I am surprised at how much I get this question. The answer across the board is NO. My clients own the “templates” to their work, and my site is out of the question, for now at least. The day my next redesign launches, the old one will be up for sale.

What inspires you?

Great question. Sounds like next week’s blog post to me.