Doug of Divine CSS

Divine CSS is made up of 4 designers and 3 programmers all based in the UK. We have combined industry experience of 22years. We are aged between 23 – 42. Some of us work for leading web design agencies here in the UK and some own their own web design businesses. We all take part in maintaining Divine CSS and each website that goes through our submission process is assessed by the whole team. The process is not a quick one which is why we always seem to have a huge backlog of submissions!

We look at design, ease of use, innovation, build quality and technology/programming. Also, where applicable we look at the products/features the website offers. Sometimes the website doesn’t make it into our showcase gallery, but we will feature it in our ‘Awesome Finds’ section of the Divine CSS blog.

• How long have you operated Divine CSS?

  We launched Divine CSS back in October 2008

 

• What gave you the idea to start a CSS Gallery?

  Well it was by accident really, we were well aware that they existed and had used them on many occasions to promote our own work.

  But it was a bit of a let down that in general, some CSS galleries seemed to be showcasing…. well pretty poor websites, seemingly slapping on anything that was submitted. There were only a few of the ‘old school’ showcase sites still keeping a high standard.

  CSS Galleries seem to have taken a bit of a side step recently. Websites are being submitted in a hope to gain some traffic and ranking – instead of because of their beautiful designs. And the showcase sites themselves seemingly just trying to make a few bucks from advertising.

  So we took it upon ourselves to pull together a team of Designers and Programmers and launched Divine CSS, with the aim to only showcase the best of the best.

  PS – Yes we do now offer advertising by only because of demand! :)

 

• Your site is gaining a lot of popularity. What would you attribute your success to?

  Good quality showcases, good quality showcases… oh and good quality showcases.

 

• What is your favorite part about running Divine CSS?

  Quite simply – getting inspiration. Remember we are made up of web designers and programmers, so it’s great to see all these fantastic websites, beautifully designed and utilizing new technology. Everyone can learn something new.

 

• Do you have any special plans for Divine CSS in the future?

  Who knows, for now we just want to keep showcasing great websites. That’s really all DivineCSS is about so we see no need to change that.

 

• How many hours a day do you work on Divine CSS, and your other projects?

  Not as much as we would like to! We do work hard to get submissions seen quickly. I can tell you that on a normal day we have around 50-70 submissions to go through but realistically we tend to actually process around 30 a day, so there is often a small backlog. But all are reviewed and if you are lucky enough to be showcased, we send you an email confirming so.

  We encourage our users to subscribe to our RSS feed or follow us on Twitter, that way they can keep up to date on our submissions.

 

• Are you working on any other projects?

  We are always working on new projects, but nothing to report just now :).

 

• Is there anyone that you look up to and try to model yourself after?

  Anyone involved with the great websites we showcase on Divine CSS!

 

• If you didn’t know the internet existed, what would you be doing?

  I’d be outdoors, getting fresh air!

 

• What advice would you give a new webmaster setting up their first site?

  Oh man that’s a hard one, there are so many areas to cover. I think really it’s got to be research. Know your competition; know what others are doing both in business and design. Make your website easy to use, this is especially important if you are trying to sell something…. Just keep it simple. Also… design for people, not for search engines!