Matthew Price, CompleteVB Interview

Matthew price is one of the leading vBulletin designers around today, He is the Owner of CompleteVB.com which is one of the top providers of high quality vBulletin skins and designs.

First of all thank you for allowing me to interview you on behalf of Admin Forums Matt, It is a great pleasure to have you answer a few questions.

When you’re not designing stunning forum themes what do you like to do? Do you have any hobbies?

I spend a lot of my time working... I would say I spend about 50% of my time designing for higher paid custom work clients. The remaining 50% of my time is spent designing and improving my own businesses. I actually own a few start-ups including a new retail business, Deskology.com, which sells high-end desk accessories that match Mac computers so I guess you could say my hobby is business… When I am not working I like to watch the shows I follow (Workaholics & Bored to Death currently) and also go hiking/sightseeing.

How long have you been running CompleteVB, How did it start? Where do you see it in 5 years time?

I started CompleteVB back in early 2007. It started because I couldn’t find a good vBulletin skin for a website I was starting back then known as “TalkVB.com.” It turned out that I was a freelance designer and I felt that I could start a site and provide better themes than the ones I was being offered. We have gone through 4 distinct re-designs since the beginning, which really allowed us to expand and add more features for our customers over time. I see CompleteVB eventually offering 100-250+ themes in the next 5 years. Oh, and I don’t want to forget to mention we plan on launching CompleteXF.com and CompleteIPB.com in 2012 as well.

At this moment CompleteVB only creates vBulletin styles, Are there any plans to expand to other forum software such as IPB or XenForo?

Of course! We have always planned to start with vBulletin and once we figure out a process that is scalable and works we would use it to expand into other forum software. We will be releasing CompleteIPB.com first with a launch date set around the New Year. CompleteXF.com will be launched just after.

Since you first started out designing forums how do you think forums as a whole have progressed? Are you still as passionate about them as you were at the beginning?

I got into the forum skin business because I myself was a customer. I looked around for weeks and found no good resources for quality themes. I was really passionate about filling the void between forums and quality templates. Since I started the techniques used on vBulletin themes has improved significantly. I’ve always thought it was extremely important to be the innovator in the industry so that explains why we were one of the first theme companies to offer themes in different color schemes. Also, we gave users color changers and we are one of, if not the only retailers to give themes in RTL languages to cater to Arabic users.

Does your job at CompleteVB take up a lot of your time? How does it impact on your personal life?

I wake up everyday and check anywhere from 25-50 emails that were sent to CompleteVB when I was asleep. I spend a lot of times emailing customers and keeping everything going smooth. My personal life is my business life at this point. They are intertwined… like any start-up entrepreneurs should be.

When designing a theme how long does it take you to complete from start to finish? Are there any tips you would like to share for other designers?

Whenever I get an idea for a new theme I have to create it. Usually if I am really motivated and have all the ideas ready in my head a theme can take as little as a 3-5 hours of non-stop work for design only. Please note that I am just the designer on CompleteVB so the themes still need to be coded, which can take up to a few days.

It may sound unorthodox but the way I learned best was to take a screen shot of any website I thought was awesome and put it on Photoshop as a blank document. Then I would sit there for hours on end until I re-created the exact same image as the one I loved. Just make sure you delete the file when you are done! Doing this allowed me to learn all the pro techniques myself without any lessons. It is a process of taking a ton of time to practice making what you see, but it is definitely one of the quickest ways to learn.

And finally, Out of the 35 vBulletin skins CompleteVB has in stock which one is your favorite and why?

Easy. I am in love with the Twisted Series we just launched. There is just something about the way it all comes together that makes the forum seem ‘badass.’ Gamers tend to flock to this design for obvious reasons and since I am a gamer I can see why its one of my favorites as well.

Matthew has told me that he will be giving away a free CompleteVb theme to 2 lucky people who comment on his interview with us!