Behind The Avatar #4: David Yarde of HowsYourBlog.com (and more!)

The idea here is that there are countless avatars and websites and icons and blogs. But every single one of them has a person or people behind them. Get to know the person a little bit and you will be all the more interested and invested in what they have to say and share.

I have been following David Yarde (@dsmy) on Twitter for a little while now and recently started subscribing to HowsYourBlog.com so I could take in his thoughts and insights about writing, blogging and more. David is a self-professed “design junkie” who seems to have a lot of things going on and new ideas springing up all the time. He and his wife Angel (@missneela) run Sevenality, a web and graphic design studio located in the Kissimmee, Florida area. David’s an interesting, friendly guy who I thought would be fun to get to know a little better, so I invited him to be a part of this series so we all could meet the man behind the avatar.

"I'm the coolest Jamaican designer you'll ever meet!"

David got started on the path to becoming a designer at a young age, “during the Windows 3.1 era.”

“I would make things out of construction paper or spend hours in the arts and crafts section of whatever store I went into, so from that time onward I took every class in school I could related to design and psychology.”

David spends a lot of time coming up with new concepts and ideas, some of which get implemented and others that never leave the drawing board. He started HowsYourBlog.com with the intention of making it “one of the great pillars of information and relaxation for freelancers in the fields of design, writing, and web development.” I personally like that he shoots for not just providing information, but also relaxation. Freelancers tend to forget how much we need that.

Another project he is currently working on is called Wired Thinking, “an online magazine for young people to help them deal with issues they face today.” The site is currently under construction but will be live soon.

I asked David to share some of the things he is passionate about. He responded:

“Blogging, photography, nature and oddly enough cats. I actually have a weak spot for kittens…and oddly enough I don’t own one! Yet. Outside of work I love to just sit back and relax with my wife or head into the kitchen and cook something gourmet. I’ve been told that I’m a pretty good cook. I also love meeting new people, trying new things and most of all helping others.”

When talking about his use of social media, David says:

“I swore that I would never use Twitter until one day I got curious and signed up and now you can say I’m addicted. I’ve gained tons of resources and also given away quite the lot of resources there as well. If you’re not on Twitter then you’re missing out. I’m also on Facebook but mainly to keep in touch with friends and family.”

Be sure to check out David and his wife Angel on Twitter, on HowsYourBlog, at Sevenality, and be watching for Wired Thinking along with what is sure to be many more intriguing and interesting ideas to come. Take some time to interact with and get to know them and I’m sure you will be glad you did.

If you are interested in being interviewed as a part of this series, please let me know in the comments, or send me an email. If you have any questions or comments for David, leave a comment below or visit him at one of his websites listed above. Finally, if you are not already, would you consider subscribing to this blog so you don’t miss any future updates? You can either subscribe to the RSS feed in the reader of your choice or you can receive the blog updates along with my Delicious bookmarks in your email inbox by filling out the simple little form at the top right of the page.