TheFWA - Veronique Moreau - MBA Multimedia

My dream is to build a major brand ready-to-wear clothes website, if possible shoes for which I have a passion! I can very well imagine myself making a big production centered around the product with parallax effects and a beautiful photo processing.

Please give us a brief bio of yourself.

I'm Véronique Moreau, art director for the MBA Multimedia agency based in Vern sur Seiche near Rennes / France (almost in the forest!). I've been working there for 7 years now, in an perfect environment for inspiration: I just have to look out of the window to watch the birds, the squirrels and our mascot "pony" in his field of course!

After over a decade of design and web-design creations, this job is still so exciting as it is constantly moving.

What I love in life: pink, shoes, Japan, electronic music, tattoo culture, pin-up... in short, lots of things that are most of the time the opposite of the customers world. Every day, it's a challenge to understand and design around a theme that we do not control. That's why I love my job!

Please list 3 of your favourite sites.

I use to visit these 3 websites everyday:

http://www.ufunk.net for his "weird" and japanese content

http://www.mymodernmet.com for inspiration and poetry

http://www.facebook.com/ to share everything I saw on the two previous sites.

How many hours do you work each week?

35 hours in agency + 15 hours on average for my business as a freelance

How do you relax or unwind?

I do a lot of sports and rest of the time I enjoy painting or drawing according to my mood.

My personal artistic activity is really important for my balance!

If you weren't working on the internet what would you be doing?

I wish I was an illustrator for children's books, a painter or a tattoo artist!

What's your favourite part of your job? What's the hardest part of your job? What do you do when you get stuck?

What I like most about this job is when I have to start something from scratch: redefining the entire graphic of a client. Understand his needs and his business to meet his request at best. Start by designing the logo and then to come of all possible media.

The hardest part is just to start from a blank sheet and look for inspiration, look for the graphics that make the difference. We must constantly renew ourselves and never rest on its laurels.

When I can not find the inspiration, I note all the vocabulary related to customer request and I put every word in google image. I look through the photos very quickly until my brain is saturated with visual information and "tilt" on a concept!

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

Choose to work in a web agency directly after graduation in 2001 instead of choosing a "classic" advertising agency like all students in my class.

What software could you not live without?

Photoshop

How many projects does your company juggle at any one time?

On average, about ten projects.

In terms of software, is there anything new you have been playing with lately or that has impressed you?

After-Effects. I recently did a training on this software and I have been impressed by what we can do with this tool and how we can manage a Photoshop file to animate it.

Has winning FWA awards helped you in any way?

Yes, it's good for the agency reputation and to value our customers: in addition to their satisfaction, everyday they have evidence that they have made the right choice in towards us!

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

No, not yet. I confess I am afraid that the ideas in terms of graphic Web design are already a bit outdated even before the book is published! I'd rather write a blog with very regular updates, because I think this environment is moving too fast for a print edition.

Are there things you do OUTSIDE of work to ensure that you are in the right mindset to be creative and/or successful in whatever you are doing?

Yes, I do not hesitate to go to open days or graduations in art schools. This is usually where we spot what is in the current movement in graphic design. I also participate in some poster competition for fun. I look at lots of urban art blog, exhibitions on various exhibition around the world, and also at the awarded websites.

Looking 10 years in to the future, how far can websites go?

Hard to say! Perhaps websites could become pure mental projections in our brains!

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

The website of our agency and our mobile website :

http://www.mba-multimedia.com

http://www.mba-multimedia.mobi

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

We have made a difference by making "custom" high-end web-sites. Each page of each site is designed and strictly treated to get the most graphical result and to match with the content. This is all the difference with open source CMS available on the market and what we produce.

There must be a project that you have always dreamed of doing, what is it?

What does the future hold for your company, or you as a person?

We would like to work more with clients who aim high demand new web features. Work with major brands on innovative projects with a head start. The research and development part is also one of our targets for the near future as we are already working on a research program about Web and 3D.

For my part I hope I will evolve as a design director and will then be able to transfer my acquired knowledge to other graphic designers of our team!

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

A vinyl player… and yes I live in the digital era but I like having a real "musical object" in my hands when I like an album!

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

Not really: I have my own style and often people say about me that I am a "character": it's more than enough to stand out!

It has been a privilege, thanks very much

It really was an honor for me! Thank you!

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