Marko Petkovic also known as balkanboy is not the most prolific directory designer. But all of his design is to p class and we are glad that he agreed to be the first directory designer interviewed by us.
1. Could you please tell us brief description about you
I am 25 and live in Nis, second biggest city in Serbia. I am chemistry student with few exams left to graduate. Those exams are waiting for my online adventures to end but that is not going to last much more since I enjoy chemistry very much. I am single at the moment and enjoy every second of it, going out with my friends a lot, like to watch good movies, read good books and spend my time however I feel like it. Not exactly a sports type but I just to train kick boxing for few months and thinking of going back to it. I enjoy changes in my life and can’t stand same lifestyle for a long time.
2. How long you involve in designing?
3.5 years ago I believed Dreamweaver was a replacement for Winamp and Photoshop was red eye correction software for photos. A friend showed me how to create simple html page using tables. He caught my attention and that is how everything started.
3. Do you design directory only?
No, I designed few content sites in past .At the moment I am working on site for Japanese quails farm here in Serbia, but most of my work is web directories related.
4. What were the challenges in designing web directories?
In earlier days most of directories looked very boring and simple, with no identity.There was very few directories designers compared to today. I felt like trying to do something about it and replace “just another web directory” look with something different. Today situation is much better since there are much more people working in this field .That is great since it gives me the reason to keep trying to be innovative.
5. What is your first directory design and how many directories that you have designed so far (provide a list)
My very first directory template was modification of free template Sky Blue(www.web-designers-directory.org/phpLD-template.php) but it is not online anymore. After that I created two unique free templates for phpld 2.0 but they are also not available online now.
My earliest design which is online at the moment is for Delimitation directory (www.delimitation.net).
After that I created template for Hedonist Directory( www.0fx.info), Aviva directory v1, Web10 directory(www.web10.ws/), Aviva directory v2(www.avivadirectory.com ), Seven Seek(www.sevenseek.com), Apahcinc(www.apahcinc.org/), Dare directory(www.daredirectory.com ) and latest Active web directory(www.activewebdir.com) which is my first 100% tableless design and I am very happy about it.
Maybe I am missing something, but I will have complete portfolio on www.balkanboy.biz soon.
6. What are your favorite directory design? (One by you and another one by other designer)
It is hard to choose favorite of all I did, since I work on every one until I am 100% happy with it, even if client is happy in earlier stage. But, if I am forced to choose that would be Aviva Directory ( www.avivadirectory.com) since I spent lot of time on it , received lot of positive feedback and it is one of my earliest works in web directories field. I am starting to work on v3 soon and hope to improve it more.
Choosing only one of other’s designers work is also very hard. There are lot of them I like very much and I could list minimum 10 right now. I remember I was highly impressed when I saw www.eonte.com
7. What is your advice for directory owner on how to choose directory designer.
That really depends on personal expectations and requirements.
Having unique design for your directory in order to say “my directory has unique look” is often more than enough for free directories.
Speaking of paid web directories, owners should worry about details. Having nice colors and graphics on homepage is good for first impression of your visitors, but inner pages like listings page, details page and submit link page are equally important selling point for every paid directory. Look of featured links is also one of key points that can increase sales of those listings. Also it is very important that your visitors will understand your directory design well and will find it easy to use. So, I would say there are more things to think about than nice colors combination.
