I’m thrilled to present this interview with Ian Coyle: certainly one of my favourite designers, famous for his work for Nike, his collaborations with Duane King, and Thinking For A Living. Here we find out about his thinking and process, and what went into his stunning new personal website. — Daniel Howells

What did you do at the very beginning of the process: are you a pencil and paper person, a wireframer, or did you dive straight into the code?

My process is very non-linear. I tend to jump into a hybrid prototyping and design phase as soon as an idea forms. I typically explore interaction and preliminary ideas in code, to find the boundaries for the design. Then I’ll return to Photoshop in order to create the first visual concepts. Once I find a primary look and feel, I switch back to code and refine the prototype. I’ll find new interaction points and the cycle continues until I have the final product.

The first pass at this project was a 25,000,000 square pixel canvas that was more about connections in my work across both client projects and personal endeavors. While I loved the beauty in the connections, logistically it didn’t work out as planned. I found I wanted to expound on my work more than the structure allowed so I split my client work into Field Notes and my photography and film into Edits.

The nature of the site is very unusual to most individuals’ personal sites and portfolios. What did you want to achieve on the site, and what did you want it to say about you?

I wanted to give insights into my work, to tell a story about the process and journey of each piece. For the last five years I’ve tended to only work on a few projects per year so it was important to show the thought and theory behind each one. Small pieces of inspiration influence each of my projects and I wanted to give other designers a reason to be curious and explore each project.

For me personally, I simply wanted to give people a look into my scattered mind. My interests are varied and I spend a lot of time dedicated to the craft of design, development, and photography.

It’s my first personal website in almost six years so I’m excited to have it out in the world, and I hope people enjoy it!

Did you collaborate with Duane on this project too, or do you guys tend not to collaborate on very personal projects?

For personal work, it depends on the type of project. While we didn’t collaborate on this site like we do on client projects, our collective influence is always apparent in the work. We always seek critiques from one another. We work hard to keep each other on the right track and make sure we don’t stray to far from our initial goals. I think we both make sure that we support what the other is trying to achieve, assist where we can, and give honest feedback.

As a typographer and designer, how did you master coding?

Starting out as a hybrid designer/developer, my learning process was a pendulum swing. I’d focus on both, but with a keen eye on one or the other as the primary objective to get better. I’d go through six-month or yearly phases with a predominate focus on one skill. It’s hard to keep your energy all in one place so I’d find one thing to focus on in each client or personal project.

For example, when I wanted to focus on design I opened a small letterpress studio to keep typography and minimalism at the forefront of my mind. When I wanted to get better at coding, I’d create small prototype projects or pick a client project that allowed me to focus on a specific challenge.

Learning to code is unique to everyone. To a certain extent, we’re all self-taught in this industry. Technology changes so often that you have find what works for you. Perhaps the best advice I can give is to learn to stop “cut-and-paste coding”. If you want to learn it, you’ll have to bite the bullet and commit it to memory. Learn the intricacies of thinking in code.

What is your take on the “designers should code” argument, given that you are very accomplished at both traditional graphic design and development?

“Should” is the wrong word. It all depends on context, process, and the type of project. It helps to know how to code. But it doesn’t automatically ensure better design.

Our designs are minimal and typically centered on complex interactions that help narrate an experience or create a better user journey. For us, it’s imperative to be able to program. However, it’s taken me nearly a decade of experience to conceptualize in code to the point where it is now part of our design process.

As you get projects of larger scale and importance, if your code is not as good as the quality of your design, you may do a disservice to your project.

There is no simple answer to becoming a better designer. There are lots of types of designers. If being able to code helps you conceptualize your ideas or arrive at new ones faster, it is worth the dedication to learning a new skill. But like design, it is a craft that takes just as much effort. Make sure you love both.

It’s a joke that every time Tim sends me a link to one of their new sites, it goes straight onto siteInspire. Their work is stunning – both aesthetically and technically. We catch up with them to find out more about the way they work. — Daniel Howells

Can you tell us about Sons & Co.

Sons & Co. makes websites. There’s four of us, working in a weatherboard cottage in the backstreets of Christchurch, New Zealand. We share our block with a church, two migrant families and some friendly drunks. We like working in a house, it has a sunny backyard and if you’re uptight you can run a bath.

We’re not big talkers - Tim always says “talk less, work more” - and we work quietly and studiously. We’re very like-minded and that’s important. We like the same things, there’s never any conflict, and we’re very honest with each other. Crap ideas are instantly ridiculed and killed quickly and cleanly, which saves a lot of time. “Suggest that again and you’ll regret it” is far more productive and helpful than “okay…let’s work up that idea and present it as an option”.

Duke Ellington said “there are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.” Design is the same.

We’re not particularly intellectual in our approach. Design theory can be interesting, debate is entertaining, but you know good design when you see it. Duke Ellington said “there are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.” Design is the same. For that reason we never wade too much into lengthy rationales and justifications. Analysis can be a real party pooper, it kills the fun. Our favourite tools are common sense and the bleeding obvious. “Trust us” and a cheeky smile is surprisingly effective when questions arise.

There’s a lot of emphasis on process these days from both studios and clients. Many agencies have trademarked names for their creative process, which is funny to us. Briefs will often say “in your response please demonstrate the process your company will take to complete the project” or something like that. It’s tempting to say “we just show up and get to work” because that’s really how it happens. When pushed we say our process is thinking then doing, in that order.

We don’t have much stuff in the studio. Just a phone, laptops, A2 pads and black pens (never blue). We started that way because we had no money, but found we didn’t need much else. We recently sold our printer because we never used it except to print joke notices like “Tuesday is nude day”. We do have a lot of chairs though, we seem to collect them like strays, and we have some nice paintings too, on loan from an art gallery client.

The thing for us when getting a brief is to make sure we find an interesting problem. Eric Gill has a good quote about that, paraphrased, “boring problems produce boring solutions”. The first thing we do, before any design, is write. All designers should write, we think, words are an important part of design. Design concepts with Lorem Ipsum are academic and unconvincing. On words, artist John Baldessari said a nice thing about art writer Calvin Tomkins, “I love him because he would rather say house than edifice.” Small words and few words are fine.

Our clients are all very different, we don’t specialise in a particular industry, more a personality type. We’ll work with anyone who is intelligent, adventurous and has good taste and we’ve been lucky enough to find a few, but we’re always looking for more.

You recently launched the teaser site for Image Mechanics’ new iPhone app, Nizo, to massive acclaim. Can you tell us more about the process of how the project came about, how you worked with IM, and how you handled design through to development?

We’d worked with Jason and Vicki at Image Mechanics on their studio website. They’re in Sydney, but seem to like working with New Zealanders (Kris Sowersby of Klim Type Foundry worked on their identity). We emailed him some rough sketches and a treatment and they sent back a note saying “Fucking love it”.

Someone remarked that the site “looked like it had been done in a weekend” which is an unintentional compliment, we think. We’ve seen some imitations recently too, which is also complimentary.

And Crane Brothers?

Murray Crane is a well-known New Zealand fashion designer. He’s an intimidating guy; he stands uncomfortably close, is highly opinionated and difficult to please. Read this job ad and you’ll see what we mean. But he’s a great client because he loves design and has excellent, idiosyncratic tastes. The website is a glimpse of his unusual aesthetic: “unsafe” colours, “wrong” imagery and highly detailed layout and typography. The brief was pretty simple: Tradition meets modern. No pin cushions, no scissors, no measuring tape. Fuck it up and I’ll kill you.

We may allow one or two practical jokes a day, but they’re squeezed in between solid periods of getting shit done.

As a small agency, how do you actively market yourself and find new clients?

We don’t have a studio website, or blog, or Twitter or any of those things. Which in part is due to the “less talk” policy, but we also enjoy the contrarian approach. Yet we still find work, which is a constant surprise and relief.

Our marketing is our work and that’s where we spend our time. The exception is we enter the New Zealand Best Design Awards which has been a good way to promote ourselves locally. Awards are good for self-esteem too.

Tell us about New Zealand and Christchurch: is there a large design/digital community that you integrate with?

New Zealand is the same as anywhere, but smaller. Design studios tend to do a bit of everything: graphics, web, moving image, interiors, but we’re a little bit of an anomaly in that we only do one thing: websites. We’re just sticking to our knitting, learning all we can, trying to improve.

There’s some superb designers in New Zealand and lots of people we look up to. The good design work in New Zealand is equal to anywhere in the world and the nice thing is you can call the very best people up, they’ll answer the phone personally and invite you round for a beer.

Now the techy bit: can you tell us a little more about the technical aspects of your sites: what sort of CMS/back-end do you use (for Crane Brothers, for example), and how do you keep up with the rapid developments in Javascript and new technology?

We use pretty standard technologies, nothing out of the ordinary, but I think we use them well. That’s to say we use what’s appropriate and never anything for the sake of it. Behind the scenes, our sites are built on Django.

What are your studio’s daily distractions - what do you read, do, browse, or play with when work gets a bit too much?

We try not to get too distracted. Outside of hours we spend a lot of personal time looking at art and design things, but when we’re in the studio it’s business time. We may allow one or two practical jokes a day, but they’re squeezed in between solid periods of getting shit done.

Fuzzco have one of the most beautiful studio websites I have seen in a long time, so after posting it on siteInspire, I was keen to get in touch to find out more about this quirky agency who consistently deliver lovely work. — Daniel Howells

When did Fuzzco start, and who’s involved?

Fuzzco started in 2005. We had just moved to Charleston shortly after graduating from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN where Helen studied Studio Art and I studied Mathematics. We’d had no formal training in design or development but we loved it. It took about a year for us to ween off our other jobs and buy our own computers so that we didn’t have to take turns working on my old college PC. We rented our first office in a converted warehouse in the old Navy Yard north of the city. In 2009 we took the plunge and hired our first employee, Mason Greenewald who is with us to this day. Since then we’ve moved our office twice and hired some incredibly talented people which today includes Mason, Melanie Richards, Erik Holmberg, Blake Suarez, Helen Rice and myself.

What’s your favourite colour?

Red - #F72E2A.

You have a beautiful office, situated in a converted church. Can you tell us more about the conversion, and what the office means to Fuzzco?

At the time we were working out of our house (we’ve had 4 offices in 6 years) which is also located on Spring Street. When we started growing we realized it was time to find a real office and get work out of the house. The church is located about 3 blocks east of our house and it’s size and condition were just right for us to come in and renovate without losing our shirts. The building is about 1300 square feet- it needed significant structural repair to the front entrance and back wall, a new roof, new wiring and plumbing, excavation of the old asbestos tile floor as well as a solution to the termite problem. We loved coming up with ideas for this space- we really wanted something minimal and clean balanced by warm, organic textures. The office is our nest. We love it.

You recently launched your agency’s website - can you tell us about the process and how you went about creating it?

Our process is extremely collaborative. Everyone has ideas that get trialed and tested and iterated until they work. When you are working on a project for yourself it’s so hard to commit to a direction with confidence because most of the time there are so many things you’ve been aching to do, you want to do them all but in the end it all has to make sense and have purpose so it’s a process of trying things you are excited about and that you hope will work over and over again until they do. Not to mention you have to overcome self-doubt and trust your instincts.

How does being based in Charleston influence your work and style?

I believe we’d work the way we do no matter where we lived. We love working and we’re always going to be hard at it. Charleston is a beautiful city that feels increasingly alive with each day that passes. There is a burgeoning creative community and lots of people doing cool and interesting things. Oh and the food is the best per capita anywhere in the USA.

What excites you about digital/web design right now?

It’s a great day to be a (web) designer. The vast number of ways people experience design seems to be growing by the day. There is always something new to be learned. In the digital space, from websites to web apps to mobile apps to device-driven experiences and the constant sharing- it feels limitless. Millions of people are creating great things every day. The world isn’t big enough and it can be overwhelming to stumble upon something great then something else great, and so on.

The revolution in typography for web is a big one that has really made a strong impact. We’ll always wrestle with the lack of a global browser standard and the limitations that puts on the efficiency of really using HTML5 and CSS3, so that creates a constant struggle. Doing, optimizing, doing, optimizing, testing, re-optimizing, creating browser-targeted overwrites, tweaks in font stacks, etc. If I could wish for one thing it would be for a global, singular, perfect browser that serves experiences as predictable as a copy machine. I’d like to reserve the right to take that wish back.

dn&co is a branding agency with extensive experience in print, digital, film and exhibition spaces.

What prompted the design of a new site?

The old dn&co site was woefully out of date, both in terms of content and design – not to mention it was produced entirely in Flash. We have also recently moved into the middle of the West End, and our studio has a great sense of momentum which we wanted to reflect.

Our old site made us look a little like a print design agency. The new site’s black and white home page shifts the focus onto the concept and form of our identity work, while clicking through each project shows off our production capability in full colour. The words ‘multi-disciplinary design agency’ have always been banned in our studio, so a critical challenge of the brief was to get across that we do work in all media – hence the animated gifs and embedded clips to show off digital. The old site was a touch cold and impersonal, so the journal and studio sections aim to provide a human element to us. Our studio is a wonderful place to work so it was key to get that across. It also helps that we can add to all sections as new projects and stories are released.

We were however keen to keep an element of enigma from our old site, not saying too much and letting the design speak. We also wanted to retain the ever-present dn&co logo, instead of the more traditionally prized upper-left real estate, as we feel it is bold and provides continuity from the old site. It is definitely controversial – but we like to challenge comfortable norms and create debate.

How as a small agency did you all reach a consensus about the direction of the site? Who was involved and how did you all provide input?

The website was a true team effort. We wanted to create a site to reflect us as a collaborative team and be a unique piece to be proud of. There were key elements set out from the start that we needed to achieve to match our business strategy, but otherwise it kicked off like all our projects – brainstorming ideas based on goals, selling points and our audiences, and then distilling the ideas into structure and finally original design. We printed out design iterations and project content and put it up on the studio walls – covering nearly 10 metres – so that everyone could chip in. Three designers put in the hard effort, but we all touched it.

How would you suggest other agencies approach their own site?

The best tip we can give other companies is to know who you are as a business, and make sure you stand out against the crowd in your special way. Also, someone needs to draw the line somewhere – otherwise you’ll never get it live.

Code and Theory is undoubtedly one of the most exciting digital agencies around, being the creative and technical force behind many of the best sites posted on siteInspire. We ask them a few questions to find out more about the company, and the process behind their work. — Daniel Howells

Can you give us the quick history of Code and Theory, and how the agency started? What sort of clients did the agency have in the early days and how did the early days inform the direction and growth of the firm?

Code and Theory was started in 2001 in New York City by Brandon Ralph and Dan Gardner, Code and Theory has grown organically since then through a commitment to creating excellent and innovative work, regardless of medium. The firm has worked with a wide range of clients in the media, entertainment, consumer products, technology and fashion industries to realize both small and large-scale projects across multiple platforms.

You have expanded dramatically over the last few years. How have you managed to keep the C+T team dynamic, and still be able to produce quality work?

Through the expansion of the past few years, we remain committed to protecting the culture that makes Code and Theory special. This manifests itself in three main areas: thoughtful hiring, selectiveness in our work, and a commitment to providing incredible value for our clients. This value-first approach not only makes Code and Theory a better place to come to work everyday, it makes us more passionate, more collaborative and just better at what we do.

Further to the last question, do you have any plans to expand beyond the US shores? Which geographies do you find exciting right now?

We are already working with global clients such as Gant which is based in Stockholm, Bottega in Milan and have more than 8 nationalities represented in our offices right now! We are open to all opportunities but do not have immediate plans for expansion.

You’re currently recruiting for quite a few roles in New York City right now. Tell us what it’s like to work at C+T, and what new recruits might expect from the agency.

At Code and Theory, creativity and passion come first. We have brought together a group of very special people both talented and open minded. We foster collaboration across disciplines and encourage the exchange of ideas. Like most agencies it is also a fast paced environment but the community support system helps deal with those pressures surprisingly well. We also have one of New York’s best ping pong teams!

Atlantic Records is another of my recent favourites of yours. Can you give us a bit of an insight into how you worked as a team to design and produce the site?

The challenge Atlantic came to us with was exactly the type of project Code and Theory excels at. It was a business challenge - record label in general are looking to remain relevant - paired with an experience challenge – how to create a great experience within a catalogue of very different artists - with very high design expectations and an appetite for innovation.

We built a multi-disciplinary team including visual and experience designers, technologists, strategists and social media community managers. They worked together through an intense process examining key strategic, business, and brand experience questions, and understanding target audience behaviors. This was followed by crafting concepts and experiences that led to a truly innovative yet seamless and elegant solution marrying design and technology, content and community.

We are proud of this work because the end-product looks terrific, but also because it proves that the efforts we put into building and maintaining our culture pay off in tangible ways for our clients.

Thrive was formed in August 2008 by myself, Jerome Iveson. I’m a Graphic/Web Designer with a love of typography. I’ve been working in the creative industries for 15 years. I started out doing traditional print work. However, just around the time computers we’re taking over from traditional techniques, I transitioned into web design and then finally moved into web app development, which is what I do now. I have always had a keen interest in design, typography and technology and recently I have been playing around responsive web design and CSS3/HML5. Over the years I’ve freelanced, had employees and done a bit of consultancy.

My vision is to build functional, beautifully designed web and mobile applications. I want Solo to be the best looking and best functioning app there is. My whole ethos revolves around good design and streamlined functionality. I seek to create an independent aesthetic; to stand out from the crowd. A lot of websites and web apps I see lack individuality and seem a little ‘cookie cutter.’ I want to buck this trend.

Solo’s UI is beautiful. How did you arrive at the design of the app, and what challenges did you face in its development?

I wanted to get away from the spreadsheet feel of traditional desktop apps such as Filemaker etc. A lot of web apps still have that feel and for me, tend to be lacking visually. I know quite a few designers/developers will have read ‘Getting Real’ by 37 Signals. It’s a great book with a great methodology for building an app. But I’ve seen loads of apps that take it further and follow Basecamp’s visual style; which for me is clean but uninspiring.

My main aim is to show business data in an easy to digest, visual form, free from clutter and unwanted visual distractions. I started out looking for a clean style with a tight but interesting grid. I tend to design cleaner stuff like this in one Illustrator document as I find it easier to keep visual consistency this way. Using symbols and style sheets allow me to make changes globally, across the whole design. With the typography I wanted a sort of print feel, with large type in places and good visual hierarchy. I’ve always liked Clarendon as a typeface and it was great to see it on the web. The app is designed to be lean, compact and easy to learn. If I could I’d like everything to be available on the dashboard at the users’ fingertips.

We faced quite a few challenges along the way. Typical problems included longer than expected development, and getting the developers to realize that pixel perfect really means pixel perfect! When I started I had a limited knowledge of CSS, however I have since taught myself. Something that comes in handy when I want to get that pixel perfection. In any simple design like ours, it’s the use of space and juxtaposition of the elements which will really make it or break it.

Tell us about the back-end: what platform is the app built on, and how did your back-end team work with the front-end/design team?

The app is built on the .NET platform with the usual mixture of jQuery etc. for the front-end. We have always had a very small team. Firstly it was just myself and our original developer, who has now left for pastures new. At the moment there’s myself, our new developer Mario and our new Marketing Executive Craig.

With such a small team there was a very tight bond between the front and back-end work. In my opinion, I feel that in v1.0 we have managed to get out a pretty good product. I admit that there are still areas that need improvement, however we are working tirelessly to make sure that the functionality matches the aesthetic.

Tell us about the tech scene in Newcastle: why did you decide to base the company there? Do you find any problems running an app firm being away from London or California, or is location not important for you?

I have lived and worked in Newcastle for 15 years. There is a small tech scene here and good access to local funding for small businesses. For that reason, within the UK it is as good as anywhere outside of London. We are funded by http://www.northstarventures.co.uk/ through the Proof of Concept Fund. They have been very supportive. Saying that I wouldn’t say no to moving to California; I can imagine that the weather is definitely a lot nicer there than in Newcastle!

You’re currently busy getting the name out about Solo. Do you have any advice for other app teams for marketing their new products?

I think getting a good head of steam up before launch so you can get people through the door is very important. We did this a little, but still something that we really could have done a lot better. When we launch another product I’ll really pay attention to this. There are so many good tools that can help with creating things like this. Things like BetaList and LaunchRock are good examples and really get subscribers up at launch.

Other tips: really utilize Twitter, answer your support questions quickly, and above all, listen to your users! After all they’re always right. Honestly!

I was recently asked by GettyImages to take part in their Digital talent campaign, featuring individuals from the digital design and development industry to talk about their work and their motivations. Here are six of the resulting videos, and counting. — Daniel Howells

I, like everyone else, was wowed recently by “The Evolution of the Web” - an interactive infographic created by a collaboration of Hyperakt, Google Chrome, and Vizzuality. In this feature, Hyperakt’s Deroy Peraza talks about how the project came to being, and the process behind its design and development. — Daniel Howells

The Evolution of the Web was a true collaboration. The Google Chrome Team had created a static version of the infographic in 2010 with mgmt design and GOOD. They painstakingly researched and identified browser release dates and key technologies and established a visual language that expressed the momentum of innovation, especially over the last few years.

This year, to celebrate Chrome’s third anniversary, Google wanted to pay tribute to the technological achievements achieved on the web over the last 20 years. They asked Hyperakt and Vizzuality to work together to extend and enhance the infographic created in 2010 into a rich interactive experience. Hyperakt’s role in the project was to adapt the piece for the web. After extending the timeline to include the technological developments of the last year, we worked to add clarity to the timeline. We flipped the timeline to begin with the earliest browser, Mosaic, on top, incorporated logos for the browsers and updated the color palette. Most importantly, we added some depth to the timeline content by giving all the browsers and technologies hover and click actions. For the browsers, we added a trip down memory lane. On click, a lightbox slideshow appears containing screen captures of the all the past versions for that browser.

Hyperakt, with assistance from the Google Chrome Team, researched and prepared over 60 captures to illustrate all the browsers. For the technologies, we added a short description on hover for each, and provided external links for further reading on sites like Wikipedia and CanIUse. Beyond design updates and interactions designed within the timeline, Hyperakt designed how the piece works in the context of a browser window. We emphasized the horizontal nature of the visualization by limiting scrolling to the horizontal axis, and added tabs to open and close the copy-heavy description panel, allowing users the option of focusing only on the timeline. Support for multiple languages was integrated via a dropdown menu by the visualization’s title.

As new interactions were being designed for the piece, Hyperakt worked closely with the awesome team at Vizzuality, who brought the design to life with their elegant code. Over the last few years, HTML5 has spurred a rush of new technologies and Vizzuality paid tribute to that by developing in HTML5. They took advantage of SVG browser support to draw the intricate vector shapes over Canvas and used the great Raphaël and JQuery libraries to add subtle animations and interaction, making the user experience feel rich and responsive.

One of the most interesting sites I’ve posted recently on siteInspire is that for the Dentsu Network, designed and developed by New York agency, Firstborn. We catch up with them to find out more about what it took to create the site. — Daniel Howells

In a few sentences, tell us a bit about Firstborn.

Firstborn is a digital agency headquartered in New York City. We are strategists, designers, producers and technologists who share a passion for creating great ideas and translating them into engaging, intelligent and innovative user experiences.

To me, Firstborn have been primarily Flash focused producing hugely visible brand sites. The Dentsu Network site appears to be a change in direction for the agency, adopting CSS3 and HTML5 as the primary technologies use. Is this indicative of a new direction for Firstborn?

We would say it’s indicative of our willingness to use different platforms and technologies to achieve the desired results. Even though we have a long history with Flash, it doesn’t mean it’s always the right solution or that we’re not considering other approaches.

As a team of designers and developers, how are you learning and adapting to the rapid change in the web design landscape?

We do projects and learn through doing. Each project gets better by pushing further each time. We stay up to date on the latest changes little by little so we never get left behind. It’s important to allow for testing, protyping and “playing around.” Most experimenting happens with in projects because it is hard to predict what each project will require.

Tell us more about the Dentsu Network website: how did the project come about?

Firstborn recently became a part of the Dentsu Network. It’s been really great so far—Dentsu Network West is made up of a collection of likeminded companies that offer different things. After adding Firstborn as one of the digital arms of Dentsu, they approached us about creating the site. The entire network will be featured on it.

How do you manage to sell the creative concept to, and manage the expectations of, presumably the many stakeholders of the Dentsu Network?

The site was really a collaborative effort. Because we’re part of the same company, essentially, it felt more like a partnership than an agency presenting to a client. The process was quite enjoyable without a lot of obstacles.

We created a simple presentation of creative concepts and most importantly there was a ton of trust involved with this project. Dentsu Network West was an amazing “client”—they treated us as the experts and let us do our thing.

Could you briefly tell us what Firstborn’s typical process, from concept through to deployment, and what are some of the useful or unusual learnings from the project that you can share with the design/array audience?

The first step is always a discovery phase where we dig into the brand (or business) to determine what makes them (or the product) truly unique. This can involve the client in collaborative brainstorm sessions or be a process that Firstborn takes on and presents findings and concepts back to the client. Once everyone is signed off on the conceptual direction we begin the sitemap and wireframes. For Dentsu Network West, the concept was based around a vertical scrolling HTML experience – a way for us to introduce Dentsu Network West by telling the story of their past, present and future – so we jumped right into design after the initial sitemap phase. From there we move through design, development, content creation and population as well as quality assurance testing before launch.

For the Dentsu Network site we also took a “launch and then rollout additional content” strategy in order to prevent lingering in the development stage for too long because of heavy content considerations. So, the site will grow with more offices and talent in the coming weeks as well as a custom content management system for easy site management.

Dentsu Network is the most future-obsessed agency network in the world; which means looking to all of the ways people communicate and interact with content digitally. The Dentsu Network West site was built for browsing on a desktop or tablet and a separate mobile version was created to optimize that experience. This also meant taking a progressive enhancement approach where we give the best experience possible to each operating system and format.

I first met Cameron when I paid a brief visit to Studiomates in Brooklyn back in 2010. His passion and enthusiasm for the internet, design and entrepreneurship is truly infectious and inspiring, which is embodied by his conference Brooklyn Beta. — Daniel Howells

Can you introduce yourself, and introduce the wider Fictive Kin team - what do you guys do?

My name is Cameron. I go by Fictive Cameron on the internet. I work with 6 other obnoxiously talented, handsome, charitable, witty folks building predominantly web products. Their names are Sean, Evan, Bedrich, Frank, Ed, and Tyler. Our current focus is an app called Gimme Bar which makes it dead simple to save anything on the web. We hope it will change the way people interact with and share content.

I attended your new conference Brooklyn Beta last year, and it was a fantastic event. What was the idea behind the conference, why did you feel it needed to happen, and what are your plans for this year’s event?

Nice of you to say. Folks definitely enjoyed the conference last year although neither Chris, my co-organizer, nor I really got to see much of it. We had our whole teams (Fictive Kin and Analog) running around like crazy to keep things from falling apart. It was our first conference so we had plenty to learn.

The idea behind the event was to create a web conference that embodied the friendly spirit of the web community. We wanted a single important narrative aimed at a target audience. The narrative was roughly “build something you love” and the audience was experienced web practitioners. It was mostly friends of ours the first year because we were pretty unproven and its tough to get folks to travel for a brand new conference run by two guys who have never done it before. A lot of our friends took a risk on us and it was nice to know that they had a good time and felt the risk was worth it.

This year our current plan is to not have heart attacks. Chris just had a baby and work on both of our products is pretty intense right now. Take that and combine it with selling out way too fast and a whole lot of hype and you got yourself a recipe for some stress. That said, we have some really great speakers lined up and weʼre trying to do as much of the same as we did last year to keep it consistent. Weʼre also getting help from Jessi Arrington in addition to, as always, our teams.

One of the things that distinguishes us from other conferences, I think, is a focus on attendee interaction. We think thatʼs where the magic really happens, in the white space of the conference. The talks are meant to be appetizers for broader discussion throughout the event. Weʼre also expanding our narrative a bit. In addition to inspiring folks to build something they love, weʼre having professionals from other industries (education for example) come in and talk about the problems in those industries and how they think the web might be able to help. The idea is to give some direction to that inspiration so hopefully it will turn into action.

As well as BB, you’re going to speaking at Simon Collison’s New Adventures in Web Design 2012: how did you guys meet and can you tell us what you have in mind for your talk?

I think I met Simon because he knew Jon Tan pretty well and Jon works with Chris so when Simon came into town he swung by Studiomates to hang out for a beer friday. I had already known of his work and was a big fan. It was around the time that Chris and I had been talking about BB (although it didnʼt have that name yet) and Simon was also considering doing a conference. I think we all got each other psyched up and out came Brooklyn Beta and New Adventures.

He ended up doing a workshop at BB which was excellent and legitimately saved Chris and I from losing a lot more money than we did. Then Chris and I made it a point to go to Nottingham (by way of a visit to The Mild Bunch in Bristol) and attend Colly Con. Enjoyed the hell out of that. Picked up a trick or two for BB 2011 as well. Hadnʼt thought about all this in a while. Kind of cool to see how the threads weave together.

I want to see more designers building great products for the world at large instead of doing client work or creating things for the insular design community.

As for my talk, Iʼm kind of a one trick pony when it comes to my message. I want to see more designers building great products for the world at large instead of doing client work or creating things for the insular design community. Iʼve been outlining a talk to sort of forcefully make that point. I donʼt plan on speaking at a lot of conferences so I hope to make this one a really good one.

The seven of you in Fictive Kin work in different States. How do you handle collaboration and managing your work across State borders? What are the challenges you face as a team and how do you overcome them?

We have 7 full-time folks living all over the place:

• Sean - Montreal
• Evan - San Francisco
• Bedrich - Baltimore
• Frank - Washington, DC
• Ed - Indiana
• Tyler - San Francisco

We also have a Gimme Bar intern in Denmark, two new interns starting next week here in NYC, and 3 designers doing some top secret work in our design R&D program (UK & NYC).

We basically rely on three tools to get our job done.

1. Skype: We use this for our morning calls and any sort of interaction that requires extra nuance or clarity that text canʼt afford.
2. IRC: Most of us use Adium as our IRC client. IRC is basically our office. Itʼs where we hang out, tell jokes, and feel most like a team. Somehow the magic of IRC makes it feel a bit like youʼre in a similar space despite the geographic distance.
3. Pivotal Tracker: We use Pivotal for project management. Anyone who uses PM software knows how bad it all is. Pivotal gets the job done, but I really donʼt like their pricing and their visual design hurts my soul. I day dream constantly about simplifying it, redesigning it, and releasing a basic FK pm tool.

A couple random notes on this kind of co-location.

1. Time Zones are killer. It makes a big difference that five of us are in the same time zone and on the occasions that Tyler and Evan are on east coast time, the increase in energy can be felt by everyone.
2. Meet in person as often as possible. Whenever we get together as a big group it pays out enormous dividends even if we donʼt get a ton of work done. It just feels great to be reminded of how well you get along with your team and just how smart they really are. You can only get that from in person chatter.

You mentioned one of your new products, Gimme Bar. What’s the story behind the app?

We wanted to reinvent usersʼ relationship with content. Iʼve got a pretty long form essay on A List Apart called Orbital Content that touches on our views, but hereʼs the key points:

1. Saving beats the shit out of bookmarking. Bookmarking is like creating a little map for yourself to get back to the spot where you located some piece of interesting content. Saving is taking the piece of content that you are interested in and creating a copy of that content for yourself to keep forever. Different and better. With bookmarking you rely on content not to change or be moved. You can also suffer from the mediocre url structures that plague the web. For example, if you bookmark something on http://pleaseadoreme.tumblr.com/page/2, because of the nature of a tumblog, that content will likely be different when you go back. You also canʼt get more granular than a full page. You canʼt target specific quotes, images or videos with a bookmark. 
2. Users should own their data, not applications. This is a core part of our philosophy. Right away with Gimme Bar you can back up anything you save to Dropbox. And when iCloud comes out, weʼll do the same for that. Gimme Bar doesnʼt own your saved content, you do. If we start slacking, you can pick up and move to another service. A lot of apps out there are going to use things like bookmarklets to help you build collections of interesting content from around the web (Instapaper for articles. Svpply for products.). We think that you, and not those services, should own that content. Otherwise you get into a sort of Last.fm scenario where one service has a ton of valuable info about you, but they donʼt open it up with any kind of API so itʼs basically worthless. Imagine what Rdio, Spotify, Turntable, or Pandora could do with that info.

Anyhow, we still have a lot of work to do on the app, but itʼs coming along nicely and we really hope people like it. Weʼre going to start rolling out lots of invites next week so be sure to sign up if youʼre interested.

You clearly love Brooklyn, and have chosen to peruse your technology career there rather than your home state of California. Why?

Iʼve never felt more at home in any other city. Iʼve never felt more at home in any other workspace than Studiomates. When I moved here, I attended a design event at which Massimo Vignelli was speaking. He was asked why he left Italy. His response was that “In Italy, the ceiling is to low. In New York, the ceiling is…there is no ceiling.” That describes part of what I feel when Iʼm here. There is no upper limit to what you can achieve.

“In Italy, the ceiling is to low. In New York, the ceiling is…there is no ceiling.” — Massimo Vignelli

That said, I love San Diego. Los Angeles is full of beautiful people. And SF has a nostalgic soft spot in my heart. Also, California Summer destroys NYC Summer. Hands down. Southern California is basically the physical embodiment of a perfect Summer.

When did you first hear about Tina, and what made you want to work there? And further, what is it about Studiomates that make it work so well as a work space?

I actually canʼt remember how I first heard about Tina. Sheʼs kind of omnipresent on the web so it could have happened any number of ways. It was at a time when I was aggressively studying design and development and looking for an excuse to leave SF and head to NYC. The opening at what was then called Studio 612a was all I needed to make the move. It just seemed like a great opportunity to relocate and start with a basic social circle. I can imagine that the move to NYC could be a bit alienating if you show up not knowing anyone. That wasnʼt really a problem for me because Tina was so welcoming.

Studiomates works well because of the people. Itʼs a pretty organic beast these days with 30-35 folks in and out. Thereʼs a sort of self-selection that happens after a while that has resulted in a culture. If you are a hard worker, if youʼre talented, considerate, giving, and generally nice, you will fit in great. It also doesnʼt hurt if youʼre willing to have a couple of beers and play rock band or march around DUMBO in a rainbow birthday parade. Studiomates is at times way more friendly than it is professional which comes with itʼs own set of problems, but those are problems that at least I am super comfortable with.

Finally your to-do app - Teux Deux, a collaboration with Swiss Miss - seems to be going from strength to strength. Why do you think it has been so successful?

I canʼt say for sure because we didnʼt plan for it to be so successful. The number one comment we get is how simple it is. People love that. Itʼs not intimidating, itʼs easy to understand quickly, and itʼs beautifully designed thanks to Tina.

I also think that there is something fundamentally right about organizing your tasks by the day you will do them on instead of by projects. I essentially use mine as a combined calendar/task manager. Everything I need to do and everywhere I need to go is in there and assigned to a different day. Gets things out of my head and into a place where they can theoretically get done. If you havenʼt tried that style before, I recommend giving it a go. Itʼs really effective and our app is free.

A final point is that I think Tinaʼs brand of niceness gets infused into everything she does. Itʼs not an act. She is just actually one of the nicest people around. People who read her blog root for her and I think that carries over to Teux Deux.