Get to know the people who make Springbox an exceptional agency. What Inspires You? is a series of posts that offer insight into our talented and creative staff. 

Phil Coffman

Associate Creative Director 

After graduating from Baylor University in 2000, I spent a few months at a small agency in Houston before they closed their doors. Through a family contact, I got a job at Schlumberger, an international energy services company, doing practically every aspect of design you can imagine: posters, T-shirts, interactive CDs, Flash animations, 3D imagery, After Effects, etc. During that time web design became my dominant interest, so I spent roughly four years freelancing with a friend and building my portfolio. Near the fall of 2007, I knew I wanted to do web design full time, so I started looking for jobs in Austin and ended up here at Springbox. 

I try to look for inspiration outside of the internet as much as I can. 

• I love taking pictures and I'm always on the lookout for unusual patterns/scenes that I can quickly snap a photo of with my iPhone, process and post to Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, etc.
• I love watching movies and can nerd out like no other with DVD extras. 
• Hearing other creative people talk about how they make their craft never gets old!
• I enjoy browsing through magazines, such as Wired and Monocle. I'll admit more for the design sometimes than the content.
• Music is also hugely important to me, especially while working. It helps me focus and can aid in keeping the flow of creativity going. Plus, I like to match up music styles to the work I'm doing.
• Online, I have a collection of RSS feeds that I like to check when I can. Dribble has become my favorite designer resource over the past year and features an endless supply of inspiration and inspiring people.  

Which websites have inspired you recently?

I love the scrolling magic of sites, like Nizo app, Nike Better World and Ben the Bodyguard. I also love everything about the IWC site. Not only is it beautiful, but there are plenty of UI decisions happening such as the drop-down approach for the main navigation and timed rotator.

Which trends in interactive are you currently paying attention to?

I'm enamored with font-replacement technologies such as Typekit and Fontspring. Fonts beyond the basic system fonts installed on most machines have long been a key missing ingredient on the web and it's exciting to see more high-quality typefaces being made available for use. I'm also intrigued with Responsive Web Design (A List Apart) and its implications on how we approach building sites that become almost "resolution independent." I love the concept of RWD and how you can craft a site to be viewable across multiple devices without rebuilding the same experience from scratch every time.