Who or what influenced you to get into design field?
I grew up skateboarding and making skateboard videos, and I was always influenced by board graphics, magazines and skate videos.  I started with making some basic titles and packaging and then progressed into more motion graphics and design work.

I’ve always been a big fan of Micheal Leon ( http://michaelleonstudio.com/web/ ), Evan Hecox (http://www.evanhecox.com/) , Joe Castrucci ( http://www.habitatskateboards.com/ ) & Matt Irving’s ( http://www.delphicollective.com/ &  http://juicedesign.com/ ) stuff.

I went to school for a bit where I got a good foundation in web design and development and I’ve been doing the web thing ever since.  I had to work hard at it for a couple of years after school, learning everything I could get my hands on before I was up to the industry par.

Where do you get your creative inspiration from?

It sounds cliche, but I can get inspired by almost anything that has been hand crafted and has a mastered aesthetic and design sense to it.
What tools of the trade you use to make your life as a designer easier?

I’m on the computer way too much.  Lots of Adobe products. My digital camera and video camera as well.  Occasionally I’ll reacquaint my pen with some paper.

What is your next planned software or hardware purchase?

Macbook Pro.  I need to get mobile!  Currently I’m stuck with an old G5 tower that has decided it’s fed up with all the abuse.

What do you see as the next evolution in design in terms of trends?

I work heavily in web design these days, and the next trend I’m expecting is the magazine layout styled sites – sort of along the lines as what Jason Santa Maria preaches.  ( http://jasonsantamaria.com/ )  Mobile is rapidly overtaking the internet right now as well, so it’ll be interesting to see how people deal with it.  I’m expecting that we’ll see a lot of great innovative stuff, as well as a lot of terrible stuff as well.

Could you share a favorite recent web or graphic design project you worked on and tell us a little bit about it?

I’m working on some super secret personal projects right now that should turn out ok…  once I get around to it.  I’m spending a lot of time exploring and learning about mobile lately.

What are you favorite websites or blogs that you frequent?

I’m all over the place – I can never keep up to date with my RSS reader.  I don’t like to restrict myself to specific design sites, because I know that’s what a lot of other people will be doing and I’ll inevitably create work that’s boring and ordinary.  I do however have a lot of respect for Luke Wroblewski, ( http://www.lukew.com/ )  who has emerged as a bit of an authoritative voice on all things mobile + design.  Go explore his site, it’s packed full of brilliant information.

Any advice or tips for someone wanting to become a designer or to improve their quality of design?

School can only teach you so much.  Don’t rely on it exclusively.  Most of the valuable things you will learn in this industry will come from trying things on your own.  Learn to code properly.  Learn something new.  Stay current.

Although my website is old and out of date, I’d love to have a link to it: www.jamesbarry.ca