And of course getting married was another big achievement. Who would have thought that there is someone out there who would put up with someone like me.

  Please give us a brief bio of yourself.

I am currently running the Interactive Production Department at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco, CA.

There, I am overseeing all accounts which have to do with Interactive.

Prior to that I worked at Method and multiple other design shops.

I went to college at the University of San Diego, then moved up to San Francisco to get my MBA.

Yes I know, not the typical educational path to end up in Design or Advertising, but whatever.

I was born and raised in Munich, Germany and moved to the US after I graduated from highschool.

  What do you do for inspiration?

Inspiration can be found anywhere. From articles, movies and TV to just hanging out in coffee shops or bars.

You just never know.

  Please list 3 of your favourite sites.

I guess I do have to mention google.com. Everything they come up with is pretty cool.

books.google.com, video.google.com, maps.google.com and also google.com/analytics are some pretty useful tools which I use constantly.

Of Course FWA is awesome, followed by newstoday.com and k10k.net.

Q. What do you regard as being your biggest achievement?

Probably starting the Interactive Production Department at Goodby about 3 years ago.

It's been an amazing ride, met some great people and production partners on the way and created some fun and recognized work.

Especially since most clients put more emphasis on interactive nowadays and increasing their budgets for interactive, the complexity and creativity of our projects gets better and better.

And of course getting married was another big achievement. Who would have thought that there is someone out there who would put up with someone like me.

  What software couldn't you live without?

Indirectly, since I'm a production guy, I would say Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator since without those I probably wouldn't be where I am today.

But on a daily basis it's just boring Excel, Acrobat,...and of course i-tunes for my sanity.

  What projects do you have in the pipeline?

We have couple of projects in the pipeline. Adobe, HD-DVD, Rolling Rock, Foster Farms and some cool installation work for Saturn. Keep your eyes open.

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

I don't think I can rate 3 design shops as "top" design companies.

To me it's about choosing the right people for the individual project.

So far I had the privilege to work with Erik Natzke, The Barbarians, Number-9, WDDG, North Kingdom, Unit-9, Firstborn Multimedia, 1TrickPony, Kurt Noble and many more.

  What effect on traffic do your new designs have?

Hopefully a good one.

  Who is your target audience?

The target audience always depends on the client and/or the individual project.

  What area of web design lacks the most?

Humor. I'd love to see some more sites which make me laugh.

Like:

http://www.dixiechicks.com/underground/

or

http://www.shaveeverywhere.com

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

Nope, not yet. Sometimes I think about writing a book for Producers. It's hard to find them (the good ones) and most shops and agencies have different opinions of what a good producer should be capable of.

Just in case someone is interested, I' m looking for producers who are passionate about design, understand the latest technology and have their shit together, meaning being organized and don't need to be micromanaged.

  Do you think Flash is here to stay?

At least for now. Definitely.

  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 it's great for a foundation. However, what you really do with it is entirely up to you.

No school, however, can teach you passion and innovation. I've seen some amazing designers without any educational design background.

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

A can of Skoal.

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

Give me some baggy jeans and a t-shirt and I'm all set.

  Any parting shots or pearls of wisdom?

I'm trying to come up with something cool, but I just don't know without sounding cheesy.

How about: "Carpe Diem". Damn, I am cheesy.

  It's been a privilege, thanks very much.

Thank you and rock on.