Every project in Flash has its own challenges and we are always creating new ways of getting into trouble and getting out of it.

  Please give us a brief bio of yourselves.

Jayme: I've worked with television production for a while but soon decided to move into interactive projects, about 11 years ago.

I've studied multimedia at Minneapolis, USA and worked on xtras.tabuleiro.com and two other companies before starting 14bits.

Bruno: I've being working with internet production for the last seven years and I've worked in two companies prior to joining 14bits.

  What do you do for inspiration?

Jayme: I think inspiration comes from many different sources: movies, video games, fine arts, travels, books, children...

Bruno: I look for references in animations, sites and games during my spare time. And I try to take some time for this every day.

I also find it inspiring working on my personal independent projects. It's a good way to experiment freely.

  Please list 3 of your favourite sites.

Jayme: that's hard. I admire open source projects and communities.

Bruno: www.theFWA.com, www.cgsociety.org, www.lobo.cx

  What do you regard as being your biggest achievement?

Jayme: Although I'm not an artist myself I enjoy working with creative and talented people.

Being able to create opportunities to produce real projects with these people is probably my biggest achievement, professionally. My two year old son is definitely my biggest overall achievement.

Bruno: Stand living with my older sister.

  What software couldn't you live without?

Jayme: Notepad, browser, Flash, Director.

Bruno: Photoshop, flash, emule, a browser and an antivirus.

  What projects do you have in the pipeline?

Jayme: We are working on a few projects right now. I'm very excited with a site we are producing for a large video production company.

Bruno: I'm also very excited with this project. But we're working on some other nice projects that I don't know if I can comment right now.

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

Jayme: There are so many... I'll mention Lobo because we've had the opportunity to work with them a few times and it has always been a great experience to us.

Bruno: I admire the work of many design companies. It's hard to list only three names.

  What effect on traffic do your new designs have?

Jayme: A good design makes the experience of using a website more enjoyable and helps in keeping people interested and coming back.

When a project receives an important award the site traffic usually increases a lot, generating new opportunities for the client and promoting the brand.

But I believe a specific effort has to be done to increase website traffic. It's not something related only to the design or the overall quality of the production.

Bruno: I'm not sure about the design impact on traffic. I design the site so that the interface is in harmony with the content and information and I'm focused on making a design that relates to the ideas and the feeling expressed on the site's content.

  Who is your target audience?

Jayme: It depends a lot on the project.

Bruno: Depends on the project.

  What area of web design lacks the most?

Jayme: I think web design will get better and better with people exploring new possibilities of interactive media and companies increasing their budgets for projects in that area.

I love it when we have the budget to bring a good musician or a talented painter to work with

us on a project.

Bruno: I avoid design solutions that disregard accessibility. A full screen high quality video interface may look good, but it will hardly compensate in terms of file size and hardware requirements.

It may be ok on very specific projects but I usually seek creative solutions to generate visual impact.

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

Jayme: I've done CD-ROMs for a long time. The first projects I worked on didn't have a lot of me on them. I was usually doing the dirty copy/pasting/scanning work for more experienced producers.

Bruno: When it was done it looked great to me. Now I'm glad it's not online any more :-)

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

Jayme: Not yet. If I'm to publish any articles in the future it will probably be on open web sites and forums.

Bruno: No.

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

Jayme: I don't know. Every project in Flash has its own challenges and we are always creating new ways of getting into trouble and getting out of it.

Some large projects may take around four months to go online, but the most significant part of that time is spent on pre-production and not on Flash or in production in general.

Bruno: I deal with the art aspects of the sites and there are always technical obstacles. But challenges are frequently outside the Flash environment.

Coming up with good ideas and defining the art direction are always big (and exciting) challenges. Sometimes it's hard to combine the creative ideas with what is possible to do with Flash.

Every project has its own challenges and it's hard to measure which was the toughest.

  Do you think Flash is here to stay?

Jayme: For a while. It has a very big market share and is currently a very good tool. But things change fast and so do the tools we have to produce.

Bruno: I'm not sure. It would be nice to have different options of software to produce multimedia for the Internet. I find the 3D software market healthier because it offers more good quality software options.

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

Jayme: I don't think a formal education is a must have.

But when it comes to a project what counts is the team work and having someone on the team with a more academic view is good.

Bruno: I find it perfectly possible to join the Internet production market without a course or a degree. In this area a good portfolio is much more important then a few graduation certificates.

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

Jayme: Building a good portfolio was our first step. Many times that meant doing more than we were being paid to do.

Bruno: I think it was important to build a strong portfolio, but I don't think we would be here if it wasn't for the experience, the human quality and the vision of the people involved in the effort.

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

Jayme: I think the Internet has all information you need to know in terms of techniques.

At least it has everything you will find anywhere else. Working with experience and talented people is the best way to learn.

Bruno: I agree.

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

Jayme: Food & drinks.

Bruno: A refrigerator, an oven and a sofa. I'm getting married to the love of my life! :-D

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

Jayme: T-shirts. It's hot in here!

Bruno: I usually wear large t-shirts (to hide my ugly shape) and trousers with many pockets to carry stuff.

  Any parting shots or pearls of wisdom?

Jayme: Team work. Our gr8 team is lead by:

Danielle Gaia – Beloved and gentle goddess

Rico Villas-Boas - Art Director

Leo Beraldo - Photographer / Art Director

Bruno Hamzagic - Art Director

Jayme Cavalcanti - Creative / Programmer

Bruno: Look for a healthy life style and seek happiness on simple things. That is quite complex :-D

  It's been a privilege, thanks very much.

Thank you, my friends.