Design is moving, sound is taking more importance, technologies are well mastered, the bandwidth is broader... but it seems like we are still talking the same kind of bullshit!

Please give us a brief bio of yourself.

I was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I went to Paris at the age of 23 as a musician. I discovered design in Paris on a Mac SE30 B&W and Mac Draw.

I started working as much as I could in small design structures. I learnt alone, I was fascinated by FreeHand and bezier curves.

I came back to Argentina in 1998, I was fascinated when I discover flash 4 … things moved and there is sound!!!

I came back to France and settled down in Marseille and started working as a free lance designer.

I have a little daughter called Maia.

What do you do for inspiration?

Design is tightly linked to life, it is not easy to understand what has an influence and what has not. After some time, my work is very alike me, therefore things that inspire my life, inspire my work too…

Q. Please list 3 of your favourite sites.

http://www.porsche.com/all/bloodlines/usa/

Luis Vuitton (with Deneuve, Graff & Gorbatchef... not yet online)

http://www.nagaoka-id.ac.jp/gallery/gallery.html

What do you regard as being your biggest achievement?

I like the site I did for HK1, I like the idea that the site doesn’t have a colour, all the site becomes the colour of the customer, like a metaphor of the behaviour of the designer: always being here without imposing himself, being a link between the customer and the signs of time and, after some time being a link that has its own life.

What software could you not live without?

Flash, but it is not a matter of software nor a mater of occupation.

I think, that, if you have an handcrafted way of working, which means interpreting the command through communication, beauty and pleasure; you could either be a cook, a carpenter or anything else and be happy.

I couldn’t live without a means of expression, whatever it is.

What projects do you have in the pipeline?

A site for the launch of a car for a famous French car manufacturer, sorry, I cannot say more, agencies are more and more discreet on that.

It is a very interesting project involving lots of different skills : flash, sound, motion design, videos … towards a very wide audience for a client that is not necessarily known as a top designer … and with a lot of constraints …

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

To avoid naming agencies that everybody knows already here are a few guys I know and who are doing some very good job.

Philippe Giuntini (design):

http://datakick.com/

Keffer (photo):

http://www.konect.org/journal/

HK1 (son):

http://www.home-k1.com/index.html

What effect on traffic do your new designs have?

They are having a good time, they are happy, they hug each other after hugging their computer ;-)

Who is your target audience?

I make top-of-the-range flash minisites for people who have a good knowledge of interactivity.

Well… that’s the kind of project for which agencies call me …

What area of web design lacks the most?

In the design area things are moving. It is much slower in terms of “sense”.

I worked on a lot of projects on which the expected quality on design was very high while the sense of the content was very poor. The lack of sense makes the experience very wearying once the graphic surprise is done.

Design is moving, sound is taking more importance, technologies are well mastered, the bandwidth is broader … but it seems like we are still talking the same kind of bullshit!

Then, it is not a matter of design, it is just a sign of the times.

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

I didn’t have any clients at that time, so I was doing sites on my car (a Fiat coupe 125) my house, my friends…. Guillaume Durand (former grey interactive DC and now at Rapp Collins Paris) proposed me to work on the site Honda IM

My first real professional site. I will never be thankful enough for Gullaume’s trust.

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

No books… as a self-taught man, I need to organise the mess in my head before I am able to transmit it to anyone.

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

I never did any "killer" kind of thing… I don’t think I am able …

Moreover I have a very useful vision of design… maybe it comes from my communist parents

Do you think Flash is here to stay?

Yes, it will always remain software for designing interfaces and it will integrate other components (sound, videos, 3D elements….) A hard core with lots of other things around it.

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

Yes I think it is possible. I am a self-taught man, when I started everything was very simple, flash 4 was much different from flash CS3, coding was very easy, less constraints, it was easier to start without studying.

Being self-taught brings a lot of freedom, I admire people who find the same freedom after years of studies… they are the best …

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

The most efficient way to find clients when you start is your strength, youth and energy.

You present concepts, the client rejects them, but you do not get depressed. Then you learn, and your evolution is followed by the clients.

I think the beginning is the hardest, you would like to do a lot and small clients want to do “impressive” things. I believe that it is easier to work with big clients… if you can sleep at night.

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

I do not have any advice to give concerning flash but about design in general…

Work, look, keep your mind open, understand the work and role of the designer.

Be strong enough to impose your choices and in the same time be ready to accept it is not the best choices.

Love to do things for people who have nothing in common with you.

Regarding flash:

Check other people’s code, think about how they did it, looking for simplicity?

Test and test all over again.

Go for a bath in the sea.

Test and test all over again.

Tell tales to my daughter.

Test and test all over again.

Having some nice milanease escalopes.

Test and test all over again.

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

A MacBook

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

When it is for quality, yes, I like things that last long …unlike web design that becomes old fashioned very fast.

Any parting shots or pearls of wisdom?

We should not forget that we have a very useless occupation.

To be respectful towards those who have a real job, we must search perfection.

and the words of "La beaute rationnelle (1904)" of P. Souriau, sorry in French:

"La beaute nait de la stricte adaptation d'un objet a sa fin"

It has been a privilege, thanks very much.

No thank YOU. It is good to stop and think about your job, for a while.

Translation by: Arnaud "Good Girl" Bes de Berc

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