Denis Bouquet is a London-based creative web developer known for crafting immersive digital experiences and interactive storytelling projects. From his early days as a full-stack developer in Soho to building a successful freelance career, Denis blends technical expertise with creativity, helping brands and editorial teams bring their stories to life online.

Specializing in editorial and branded content websites, Denis shares his unique approach to interactive web design, animation, and storytelling. In this interview, he discusses his creative process, essential tools, and strategies for staying inspired, offering valuable advice for aspiring creatives and professionals seeking innovative solutions in the digital space.

How did you first get into the industry?

I did a degree in France named Sensory Webdesign and Online Creation Strategies. It required to do an internship that I came in London to do mine. My role was web designer and web developer in a super small agency for 4 months and then I decided to stay in the city (not the initial plan but eh, plans can change). Days after I finished my internship, I got myself a job in a digital agency in Soho as a full stack web developer. After nearly 2 years in that company, I decided to become a freelancer to have more freedom and decision power over the clients and projects I work for.

Where are you based now and who do you work for?

I am still based in London. However, since covid-19 I am working from home / remotely. I shifted focus a bit from classic website development to storytelling and interactive explainers and my collaborations now are 80% related to news industry (editorial and branded content studios). https://denisbouquet.com/editorial-storytelling-developer/

What is your personal background and what role did it play in your career?

I had a polyvalent background. I studied a bit of everything related to digital fields (from game design, history of art, community management, law for digital…) and that makes me understand what every team member is doing and giving me basic knowledge. This really helped me to adapt to different work environment/projects quikcly and understand what is going on.

If you weren’t in your current industry, what would you be doing?

I would still be in the creative field, I love animation and I can do some with code, but the work of people doing motion design is something I always admire.

Can you explain your creative process? What makes it unique?

From looking at a design, I can picture in my head how the responsive will work, what animation can elevate each module. My niche is immersive storytelling pieces and I love to work with super creative designers and try to be a “yes man”. The crazier idea, the more innovating result we might get! A lot of designers don’t like developers because they say “no” or “it’s not possible”. That’s why no-code tools are gaining popularity so the designer can build what they have in mind without having to communicate with dev. It’s a bit sad on my opinion, both are supposed to complete each other and push for a better end result.

What tips would you give to aspiring creatives looking for work?

Keep optimistic and perseverant. For instance, I have some company in my radar I want to collaborate with. What they do is my work niche as well. However, people don’t reply, ignore, and that’s frustrating because we are humans and not robots. So we have feelings and it’s easy to feel down. But everything comes with a timing, a bit of luck and not giving up. By contacting other team member, or doing a follow up, I got to connect to the people I wanted. So if someone doesn’t get back to you and you know it’s a match, message someone else from their team or try again later until you get an answer at least.

What tips would you give to other professionals to get more clients?

Increase your visibility and ask around you. I never like self-promotion, but we have a play that game a bit. I am very proud to be where I am today and that I did it by myself, but the truth is nowadays I feel everything happens from your network. A lot of my projects comes from recurring relationship, I still occasionally expand my collaborations to new people I reach out to, but a lot comes from existing contact, because we worked on a project and they were happy and recommended me or they moved of company but bring me in a project with their new team.

What kind of tools/kit/software could you not do without?

I think people are aware of the dev tools. One little software I want to share is CleanShot X, this is a cheap screengrab software that save me tones of time for communication with teams and feedback. You can annotate screenshots easily (highlight what matters, add arrows etc), and copy paste it where your need. It has video recording, scrolling capture and it comes with a shortcut for text capture OCR which is very very handy!

What’s your secret to staying inspired and motivated?

My secret is to move. I am never taking long contracts or project (but I have long client relationship). I always feel excited to start a new project every few weeks or days.
As I work remotely, I also escape from London a lot, I swap my home via a platform named home exchange, and I go work from abroad regularly. I like to see new things, have new experiences, meet new people. Changing of environment is vital for me to keep my mood up. I always want to share good energy with my teams and if I stay somewhere too long it get drained slowly.
I also chase the sun, every winter I spend 2 months away from London in a sunnier and warmer country. Each year is a new destination. When I am back, I feel super recharged.

What do you think sets apart truly exceptional creatives from the rest of the pack?

Keeping happy on a personal level and caring about your work. If you have both, you will shine.

How do you think technology has influenced the creative industries and how have you adapted to these changes?

A lot of websites and content look alike nowadays because of tools, templates, trend. On one side there is no point to re-invent the wheel and on the other side if you want your work to be noticed it has to be different.
With the evolution of AI, I really want to focus on creative project. I am don’t present myself as a web developer but as a creative web developer. This creativity part is one thing technology can’t do as well as us (for now).

What is the one thing that you would change about the industry?

The one thing I would change but can’t is how people behave, treat each others, the ghosting culture, not communicating clearly, not being considerate of other’s time. It’s seen as the new normal and it feels wrong. Be kind, be respectful, take a minute to reply.