It's very important to feel a designer's vision. Every great designer has a vision.

Please give us a brief bio of yourself.

Graduated 1994 in visual communication Hamburg.

Worked as a nightporter and painter.

Father of 2 sons and Art Director ID Media

2004 co founder artificialduck studios

What do you do for inspiration?

Change media. I think the best things today happen between media.

Please list 3 of your favourite sites.

I don`t know... FWA of course!

What do you regard as being your biggest achievement?

My drawings in the early 90s and the artwork I have done for BMW P.A.C.E.

What software couldn't you live without?

Photoshop, Browser, mail client

What projects do you have in the pipeline?

2 small projects for the money and after this I choose to have a no-client-time for two months.

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

To drop some names:

I like miniml for his standing. Group94 for their clean technical work and wefail for the truth. And as a designer i think Sagmeister stands out the most.

What effect on traffic do your new designs have?

There is a lot of traffic on our sites :)

Who is your target audience?

The ones who are really involved into art, graphic and the web.

What area of web design lacks the most?

When you only see the upgrades of the software in the designs

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

It`s a html site of a park which was a cemetry before ... sure you don`t have to look at this.

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

I often think about it, but it would be a book with pictures!

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

I did some things with Flash 3, but after I have met with guys like Patrik, I knew that I have to concentrate on the artwork.

I think our toughest thing was 01importexport.net. It was the begining of our collaboration. We spent a long time on it – about 3 months I think.

Do you think Flash is here to stay?

I don´t know if it will still be called flash, but something will be there to publish pictures, movies and navigation in one form.

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

If you study design or art at highschool you will be confronted with a lot of disciplines and you have to look at their history.

In this area you have to find your way. And you have to understand for example that design is much more than the latest trend and the usage of software stuff.

The online scene is very fast. Most of the designers without educational background are faster then others but in a way they hide behind the client.

It`s very important to feel a designer's vision. Every great designer has a vision.

The point is that design only exists with a client, so you can criticize schools for beeing too

isolated etc..

Of course somebody who has studied geography can be a great painter but he has to be very special.

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

When you start you have to be careful with tempo. You will always be booked for what what you have done!

So at the beginning you don`t have to focus on money - you have to focus on detail! Invest time for your vision. After you have placed some projects you will be booked and payed for the things you have realised.

The most effective is like the residents said: you have to be a king of need!

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

A Michel Gondry dvd

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

Clothes don´t have to be labeled to express yourself. I love it when I find something thats works. I wear classic stuff like jackets, shirts mostly black and I don`t change the style for any date...

The history of fashion I find really interesting, there are fantastic photos from their studios, but the glamour .. i´m not into ;). Most of the old fashion designers are really crazy and thats nice. But they develop for a kind of ideal world – you have to be rich.

Any parting shots or pearls of wisdom?

The most mistakes you make at the begining of a project, so be calm when starting!

It's been a privilege, thanks very much.

Thanks too!