Play, experiment, and don't get a big head. There is always someone who will out do the best, so stay humble. There is enough web for all of us. As my colleague says. "don't we all want to flash for money?"

  Please give us a brief bio of yourself.

Project Manager/conceptualist/A type personality. 26. Canadian. BA Communications. Favorite colour :: blue. Addict of Rilke’s poetry. With Axis for a total of 3.5 years (Feb 2002)

  Please list 3 of your favourite sites.

www.lookandfeel.com (completely different than ours, but equally as accomplished . . .and brilliantly fun!)

www.choppingblock.com (tasty)

www.bumbleandbumble.com (great navigation and organization of information)

  What do you do for inspiration?

Well, we work very much as a team so our inspiration is very individual. At the time of coming up with the concept for the Axis site I was personally reading a lot of poetry by Michael Ondaatje and essays by Nick Bantock. They both communicate a very ethereal environment with their words.

We had angel imagery in our corporate material already so we decided it was time to give her a space. The navigation stemmed from wanting to do something that hadn’t been explored yet. Our whole team is really into sensory experiences so music, games, and art are all sources of inspiration.

  What do you regard as being your biggest achievement?

Still being in business in this economy.

  What software couldn’t you live without?

Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, FLASH

  What projects do you have in the pipeline?

If I told you I’d have to kill you!!!

  Who do you rate as being the top 3 design companies?

Chopping Block, Merkley Newman Harty Interactive, Apple's in-house design team.

  What effect on traffic do your new designs have?

Huge results... but every great online experience needs "off line" marketing, ie: ads, launch mailers, etc.

  Who is your target audience?

Well, the majority of our business has been corporations, but we have a huge passion for the entertainment industry so that is our 2002 focus.

  What did your very first site look like?

You can see it through our site in the portfolio section.

  What area of web design lacks the most?

The meshing of front end & backend. We are doing a lot with Flash and dynamic databases and it’s working beautifully. There is a lot of really great design out there with little revenue building function (for the client), and vice versa. It’s improving though.

  Have you written any books, if not do you plan to?

On Flash? The market is becoming saturated. One of the programmers of our site is being sponsored to write a book. And we are being featured in a book coming out soon . . . or so we have been told.

  What was the toughest thing you ever did with Flash?

A project that we are working on now that has completely database driven content. It will be KICK ASS. :)

  Do you think Flash is here to stay?

Well, technology is fickle. But I think it will become a classic.

  How have you learned so many Flash/design skills and techniques and can you offer any advice for newbies?

Practice, practice, practice. espresso. practice. martini. oops, watch the keyboard with that drink. practice.

  What type of overcoat do you wear when Flashing, basically are you a labels man?

Man? You must be talking to someone else ;) [Editor's note: Good one Amber, you got me _this_ time ;)]

  Any parting shots or pearls of wisdom?

Play, experiment, and don’t get a big head. There is always someone who will out do the best, so stay humble. There is enough web for all of us. As my colleague says. "don’t we all want to flash for money?"

  It’s been a privilege, Amber, thank you!

THANK YOU!