Max · How long have you been in the interactive Design field?

Tom · Probably programming, because I studied it quite a lot since High School and all during my time at the University. I really like to explore how design and programming can affect each other and result in a single, unique piece. I find it interesting to set some basic ‘design’ parameters, and then let various factors, such as time, information updated through content management systems, technical equipment or a particular audience, influence the end result.

Petr · For me, the first and the last came design. Unfortunatelly, I’m too old now to pick-up programming skills, to any great extent. So, running the business with Tom together is the most beneficial for me, he makes me look better in public. [smiles]

Max · Do you feel right now is the best time to be in the business, or have you seen better days?

Tom · I think the interactive business is getting better these days.

Petr · I do remember better days. Back in 1999 I worked with the Agency.com in New York as an art director, the company occupied three huge floors on Wall Street and their offices were spread all around the US in that time. But as Tom said, it looks like the industry is picking up again. Lets hope it gets even better.

Max · You mentioned the market for interactive design in the Czech Republic is small, how’s the design scene, is there anyone else in your area doing advanced websites and CMS?

Tom · There is quite a lot of Web design companies here in Czech Republic, but they are more technological– or less design oriented.

Petr · Yes, I think regarding interactive work, our studio is in some strange and interesting space inbetween worldwide and local market. We can often compete on the technical aspects of sites with the “Techie Web” companies considered here as ‘Web design companies’. At the same time, we have the recognition and credibility in the design community. I would say other local ‘interactive’ or ‘Web’ boutiques are strong on either side or another. It’s just question of time– there will be more strong players on the playground.

Max · How does the studio typically prepare a project?

Tom · In the beginning of the project, we often spend quite a lot of time meeting the client and discussing the content, purpose and various aspects of the site. I think our most critical work starts here and I personally enjoy this phase a lot. For example: on the Museum of Decorative Arts website, we spent about two months analyzing the internal processes in the museum, as well as

analyzing how the different exhibition places are related, and how the sponsorship of the museum works. This resulted in a complex site-map which described not only the hierarchy of the site, but all the content and its attributes and also relations between the content. Most of our websites makes use of our own content management system. We are not just trying to help the client to update the content of the website, but also to save his time by finding relations between the content, and making some of the content publishing as automatic as possible.

Max · Tell us about the Huskycz.cz project and what your design process behind it was like…

Petr · It was the first project with some real recognition and publicity for the studio, even though financially it was almost a disaster [smiles]. The entire budget for the project was low, and in the end the client didn’t pay us until the second season– without any serious reason or explanation. At least the publicity paid off…

Tom · Yes, we still like this project because of the funny ‘dressing’ idea, and because we are happy with the result, but the actual production process was quite a pain.

Max · How long does it take for you to complete a site of this size?

Tom · I guess, it was like three or four weeks of designing and actionScripting, but the photo-shoot took quite a long time– mostly because we had to wait until that years’ collection was actually produced before we could use it on our models. I am sure you know the actual design work is just a small part of the whole process.

Max · Biodeo is a very different kind of corporate site, what was your process and learning experience in designing it?

Petr · It was the one to teach us: that everything always takes much longer than you think it would at the beginning.

July 24, 2004, Conducted by Max Hancock

Tom · We started a with a logo redesign for this client. Even though the client didn’t choose the one we preferred most, the concept was quite clear from the beginning. The idea to make the website somewhat organic, in that putting all the content into ‘bubbles’ seemed quite fun, but in retrospect, since it is completely content managed it was harder than it seemed to come up with some actual working equation between the amount of text and the resulting bubble size.

Max · Some may say the interfaces on most of your sites are difficult to use because they are so different from the norm. Is that a fair assessment? Are you intentionally pushing the envelope on interactivity or is this simply the sort of site you really enjoy doing? For instance, on S2Photo, it has the appearance of a nice photography site, but there’s a certain amount of play and click-n-learn when fully experiencing the site.

Tom · I think that the interactivity is a part of the whole design and I really like to think about it and work with it, thus with each project I am simply trying to find the best way to present the content. As www.upm.cz is quite a classical XHTML site because of the content and target audience, S2photo should be, in my opinion, more playful and challenging.

Petr · Just recently during my trip to the USA, I witnessed many people who had a diverse level of computer skills, playing with the s2photo site, and they “got-it” (understood it) pretty fast. I’m usually the one who’s pulling Tom back [smiles]. I think his solutions are pretty intuitive, and once you click a few times through it, you get the *trick* pretty easily and you notice its similarities throughout the site.

Max · What interactivity or design concepts and bag of tricks are you often relying on?

Tom · I always start with the content– the visual just pops up somehow [smiles].

Petr · My only trick is to get enough sleep.

Max · What is the single most important thing to keep in mind when designing a Web site?

Petr · Design is not only about the slick visual look or flashy animation effect, but it is altogether: a well organized site map, the clever functionality, the user friendly navigation and appropriate visual solution for the interface. For me, the right amount of craftsmanship applied should play more of an important role than a designer’s ego.

Tom · I agree. I think it’s all about choosing the right solution for the project; conceptually, visually and technologically.

Max · Have you ever made a great blunder in one of your projects, if so, could you tell me a little about that experience?

Petr · Well, there were a few… and I’m sure there will be some in future. Nobody is perfect. We try to keep mistakes a secret; just between the client and us. [smiles]

Tom · We are constantly learning things– not only design related, but maybe even more project management related. I think it’s a lot about being strict with the requirements you know you need to have in order to complete the project. Making compromises in the beginning always results in some more problems in the end.

Max · I love the style behind your websites and I can’t help but feel you guys are in tune with other great Czech artist and design masters of the past. Is that natural, or do you seek local influences?

 

Petr · Of course there are certain conscious decisions in beginning of every new design but I could also safely say it is “natural” in some way. Maybe it has something to do with the general cultural heritage of our country and we just have it somewhere under the skin, unconsciously– when we are lucky enough it comes out.

Max · How would you define your style? Is this Deconstruction, New Wave or something else?

Petr · I don’t think dgu has a specific style or at least we don’t think about the style or even about a ‘dgu style’ when we design.

Tom · We share same way of thinking about design, but I wouldn’t call it style probably.

Max · What historical figure do you consider as your mentor? Is there any great design master that you look up to?

Links:
dgu (www.dgu.cz)
Experiment and Typography (www.e-a-t.org)
Museum of Decorative Arts (www.upm.cz)
S2photo (www.s2photo.cz)
Biodeo (www.biodeo.com)
Sutnar (www.sutnar.cz)
Husky (www.dgu.cz/husky)
www.ardea.cz

Petr · P. Scott Makela, my professor at Cranbrook Academy of Art. He was always extremely enthusiastic about every new work/project, big or small.

Tom · Working with Petr is an education on its own. Mainly, I can thank him for the progress I have made in past the three years.

Max · Tell us about your love affair with Typography, what typefaces can you not live without and why.

Petr · We take the typography seriously in our daily work but I’m personally not a ‘monogamous type lover’. For me every individual project may need a different kind of typography treatment. I think that our way of thinking about the concept for a specific project usually enables us to be quite intuitive and flexible about the right choice of typeface.

 

Max · Why did you do this site, e-a-t.org, what’s the story behind it?

Tom · e-a-t is a website accompanying an experiment and typography exhibition our friends, the designers Alan Zaruba and Johanna Balusikova are curatoring. They asked us to build a website for the project, and they gave us free hands and pushed us to experiment a little bit. So the concept behind this website is to try to transform new hierarchical ‘website’ structures in traditional text layout. Because of the specific audience of this site and the ‘experiment’ background, we’ve let ourselves forget a little bit about usability and tried to push this concept as far as possible.

Petr · Nobody complained about the usability yet, so, I’m not sure if it means we didn’t push the envelop enough or that they are just too comfy with it.

Max · Besides Print and Web sites, what are your other ambitions?

Tom · I would like to explore interactivity not only on the Web, but also possibly in other mediums such as projections, touch screens, smart phones, cameras and in systems where such devices communicate.

Petr · It would be nice to find some extra time for a video/digital typography editing in future again. I miss that since my grad school.

Max · Do you find balancing your personal and professional life difficult?

Petr · More and more often I do. I’m fifteen years older than Tom, I’m in my early forties, so, I’m coming to the age when I would love to spend more time with my wife, taking care of my physical strength and relaxing a little bit more… or, no strike that, maybe after a few more years. [smiles]

Tom · Not yet, give me more interesting projects! [smiles]

Max · What frustrates you the most about your career?

Tom · I am not frustrated… yet.

Petr · I have to admit, I’m one of those happy ones for whom his job is his hobby. I’m still excited about what comes next, like a child would.

Max · What do you do to help you relax after a hard days work?

Tom · I listen to a lot of music so that’s another world of mine. Movies, swimming and traveling… the inspiration is everywhere!

Petr · The swimming pool and the dirty bicycle road by the river are my best friends in these days. ∞