We honestly had no game plan and have never had one on getting clients. We have had the luxury to not have to chase clients down, as they have all came to our doorstep.

  Please give us a brief bio of yourself.

Michael Cina is the cofounder of www.WeWorkForThem.com and currently upholding the WeWorkForThem Minneapolis, MN studio.

Before WeWorkForThem, Michael carried a successful career in typeface design and also maintained his stronghold as an online artist with successful projects like www.Trueistrue.com. Trueistrue was one of the first online projects that brought a whole new approach to the way designers looked at the medium of web development, interaction, motion, and time.

Michael continues to advance the understanding of his education in design styles such as Bauhaus, Modernism, Swiss, and Constructivism into a warping of abstract complex grids that equal functional design developments into the WeWorkForThem line of production.

  What do you do for inspiration?

Turn off the computer.

  Please list 3 of your favourite sites that you surf.

www.google.com - www.dictionary.com - www.k10k.net

  What do you regard as being your biggest achievement?

Starting two corporations.

  What software couldn't you live without?

adobe illustrator - adobe photoshop - fontographer

  What projects do you have in the pipeline?

WeWorkForThem:

-wrapping up www.youworkforthem.com.

-finishing ak1200 brand and packaging.

-grooves magazine masthead, typography and branding.

-preparing to speak at flash forward.

-creating djdieselboy.com full site

-concepting a new trueistrue.

and some jobs coming in right now that I can't discuss, you know the score...

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

Not to avoid the question but I think that each firm has its strengths and weaknesses. So it really depends on what you are thinking of. There are a lot of really nice firms out there.

  Who is your target audience?

We have a lot of people who appreciate our work. It would be easy to say an audience between "20-30" but we have had compliments from people that you would never expect. So you never really know.

We are just happy that people notice our work and like it.

  What effect on traffic do your new designs have?

Sometimes it causes people to speed and run red lights.

  What area of web design lacks the most?

I think traditional design is not represented on the web as it could be.

  What did your very first site look like? Is it still online?

My first site was all text and done in tables. It isn't online, in fact I don't even have copies of most of my old work.

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

Funny you should ask this. I am currently writing a book with Mike Young that WeWorkForThem is going to self-publish on TrueisTrue and DesignGraphik. We hired Curt Cloninger (fresh styles for webdesign) to be the editor.

It will contain descriptions of our work, how we see it, with a cd archive of our past work on there. I have co-authored "masters of photoshop" and have written some short articles around the web.

Recently I have turned down some writing offers. Writing takes me a long time and I can never get out exactly what I want to say.

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

My first piece of advice would be to learn something else then to use flash as a tool. That is all that it is. I am not into technique or canned effects.

  What was the toughest thing you ever did with Flash? How long did you spend on it? Is it still online?

Toughest thing would have to be the last version of trueistrue. It wasn't overly technical but I spent a week straight on it (over 100 fla files). I don't really use flash from an action script background.

The other piece that comes to mind was my 722 piece perfectly synched to music. For some reason I got tons of emails on how I did that?

  Do you think Flash is here to stay?

Yes

  What are your views on design/graphic school. Do you think someone can get into the field without educational experience in a school environment?

I think that it is a very good idea for designers to get an education on design, however that may be.

  When your company was just getting started, what did you find was most effective for getting new clients?

We honestly had no game plan and have never had one on getting clients. We have had the luxury to not have to chase clients down, as they have all came to our doorstep.

  What is the most expensive thing you've bought in the last week?

A car battery. It is a very long story but I ended up paying tons of money on it, almost triple what the best one would have cost.

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

Mike Young and I do 98% of our design and production. We wear every type of hat and overcoat there is.

  Any parting shots or pearls of wisdom?

Love.