Please give us a brief bio of yourself.

Hello, my name is Luke Canning. I am a Partner and Creative Director at GRAND, an interactive company based in Toronto, Canada. I was named after the character Cool Hand Luke. Apparently, my mom liked him because he was all kinds of sexy, and my dad liked that he was a criminal. Those are some big shoes to fill.

I have never worked in an agency. I have traveled a large chunk of the globe to meet up with and draw inspiration from independent artists, designers, creative’s and small business owners.

What do you do for inspiration?

I make a lot of effort to maintain friendships with people who are a lot smarter then myself. Folks in careers that differ from my own. Biologists, artists, builders, landscape architects, geologists, musicians… people who work hard and are passionate about what they’re doing. When you hear people talk passionately about doing something they love, it really fires you up to do the same. 

Please list 3 of your favourite sites.

BoingBoing.net

Wired.com

YouTube.com

What do you regard as being your biggest achievement?

From Grade 1 all the way through College, the majority of my teachers and peers had pretty low expectations of where I would go – what I could be. Exceeding those expectations, starting a successful company and mentoring college students has been my greatest achievement.

How do you relax or unwind?

Beers, books, movies and music. But most of all, solid conversation with friends.

If there are any pivotal experiences/decisions you could point to that helped shape your career, what would they be?

Without a doubt, the best decision I have made that continues to shape my career to this day would be taking on self-directed projects outside of regular, paying business. Almost every endeavor of personal and professional interest is the result of taking on these projects. I lose sleep, time, money and probably my mind but I gain insight, inspiration, companionship and a general feeling of accomplishment. A lot of these projects are run through the business now, but they certainly aren’t contributing to my retirement savings plan. Haha.

Who is your target audience?

My target audience is any company or individual interested in sharing creative responsibility with GRAND to create strong ideas with meaning and purpose for a digital world. The end target audiences are the individuals consuming the experience, and they vary from project to project. 

What area of web design lacks the most?

Canadian Budgets, Timelines and our willingness to invest in a possibly crazy idea. Haha.

Are there any websites that have shone through as being pioneering in the last 5 years or so?

Tons. For me, the introduction of story, 3D, video and interactivity put into the Get the Glass, Teamgeist and Coke-Zero websites, all from North Kingdom, was a game changer. All of a sudden, web sites stopped feeling like vapid, empty marketing ploys to push information down our throats. They started to really engage the end user with an entertaining experience worth sharing.

When dealing with major clients, how difficult is it to meet the needs of such wide target audiences?

I prefer to work on projects with focus, where the audience is not everybody and anybody. This is particularly challenging in Canada, because we are a relatively small population spread out over an incredibly large mass of land. Early in my career, somebody told me that the entire population of Canada is equal to or less than the number of people who play Golf in the U.S.A. If you stop for a minute to think about that statistic, you start to see that it has a massive impact on creative executions and marketing in Canada - on what clients are willing to invest in. It keeps budgets small, rarely large enough to deliver the quality of work we all want to be a part of, and creative is often watered down to maximize the audience reach. 

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

Errr… animated .gif’s, super image heavy… pretty asstastic. One of my first sites was a fan-site dedicated to the movie Hackers, all hosted on Geocities. Happily, all that crap is no longer online.

Of all the websites you/your company have produced, which one are you most proud of?

Our most recent launch for Canadian rockers ‘Hail the Villain’ is by far my proudest achievement. I don’t think there are many companies in North America, particularly Canada, capable of pulling a site like that off. I am incredibly proud of our small team for bringing that concept to life. Our partnering company, RUNE Entertainment, did a world-class job on story, character, 2D, 3D and giving us carte blanche on concept and ideation. That kind of trust and collaboration was key to pulling this off.

Do you think Flash is here to stay?

Really tough to say, it’s really up to Adobe to get their rear in gear. If they make the right decisions, then Flash could very well be here for a long time. But in this industry, things clip along at a pretty good pace and nothing is forever. 

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

Absolutely. Plenty of the top creative’s, whether it be in graphic design, art, writing or what have you, are not traditionally educated. I have never heard of a designer interviewing for a position and being asked to show their diploma and/or a transcript of their grades. Nobody cares. It's all about the folio, your passion and your potential. The fact is, people with passion will find a way to break into the field(s) that interest them. 

If you were a student entering this industry or an aspiring FWA award submitter, what advice would you give them?

Your success or failure depends entirely on you. The decisions you make, the work you produce, and the people you reach out to. Don’t rely on other people to guide your career. Stay passionate, motivated and true to yourself.  

How difficult do you find employing the right people in a world where everyone calls themselves a web designer?

The difficulty is in finding talented, decent people and keeping them. It is a highly competitive market out there, and agencies have extremely deep pockets for acquiring talent. We do our best to compete with them on the money side (not easy), and offer an environment people enjoy coming to every day. Not all agencies are ‘evil’, but there are a lot of digital designers & developers out there who have been abused for a long time by people and companies who don’t understand or appreciate the time it takes to produce exceptional work. It is important for people to maintain a work/life balance, and to work in an environment that allows them to produce work they are proud of.  

How do you keep up with the latest capabilities of Flash or do you rely on other members of you team to do this?

We have a small, talented internal team of experts who keep up with the ins and outs of technology and design. Every week, we meet up to discuss trends and inspiring things happening out there. It’s great.

It has been a privilege, thanks very much

Thank you, Rob. My pleasure.

GRAND