How did you get into web design?

I'm a pure illustrator, 2d animator - but web design also fascinates me, especially Flash technology. Some years ago when I was looking for a professional application for animation, I found Flash MX and when I realized its great capabilities in animation and web design as well, I started downloading tutorials from the net and buying books. To be honest this knowledge is applied to personal projects only, so I don't regard my self as a web designer.

Do you remember the very first site you designed?

The very first site I created was my first personal website in Flash some years ago. It was a little bit of cartoon style and childish containing cartoon characters. I consider it terrible now but it was a very good practice for my flash skills.

You are doing a lot of Flash and illustration. Are these specializations for you?

Yes, illustrations are my main professional field and I use Flash for motion graphics and animated stories.

Where do you get your art for these webpages?

Everything is created by me in Photoshop, Illustrator and/or Flash. Besides I learned ActionScript on my own wanting desperately to create my web portfolio reflecting my illustration skills the best way without depending on another person's web design skills. And people's comments so far make me proud of it!

What will be the next big development in webpage design?

The new technologies are not far away. I have seen Microsoft's Blend, the rising rival of Flash and Adobe's Apollo, which both of them can create the impressive new generation websites. We are talking about independent full strong applications available in internet mixing videos, graphics, 3d models and tons of data providing a new experience. There will be no limit in graphics creativity, design layout and interactivity as well. These promising changes really please me mainly from the point of a designer's illustrator's view and visitor's, as well.

What do you think about Flash technology?

Flash technology is great both in light animation techniques and rich applications. Though older versions of ActionScript were clumsy - but well flexible for a lot of stuff - compared with other technologies, problems are over in version Flash CS3. Judging from what I have seen so far, the new flash player is reliable and can handle everything with no special effort. And ActionScript CS3 is really powerful with Object-Oriented features.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using Flash?

The main advantage is motion ability. I think that was the first impression everyone had when Flash started dominating the web. No other application let you design and animate almost whatever your imagination comes up! And the video feature boosted Flash's popularity. In my opinion there's no serious disadvantage any more - since file size issue has declined during the last years due to the broadband connections. However 3d is still an important issue for Flash. Macromedia's Director could handle 3d content with no problem and I can't see the reason why Flash can do that. Microsoft's Blend is capable of excellent 3d handling, though the target audience is still not able to experience this new technology due to browsers and operating system limitations. But if Flash adapts 3d content, then the target audience will be global. I really wait for this day.

What are your sources of inspiration?

Nature and beauty around is my main inspiration. I'm trying to create beautiful art giving pleasure both to viewer's eye and soul using vibrant colours and motion-like design elements. Other people's trends and music still have a severe impact on me. Concerning my animations, ancient Greek philosophy and human-feelings issues are my main source for strong and full of messages creations.

What are your favorite website designs that you did and did NOT design yourself?

Many sites have impressed me during the last years either for their design or content. There' s a vast number of examples but some of them were definitely 2advanced.com, neostream.com and areadesign.ch - the older version.

What was the toughest project or customer situation you've encountered?

As I mentioned before I'm an illustrator and haven't dealt with a web project. But from my experience in general I have seen there are some clients, who have no serious knowledge about web design or graphics design field, they are insecure, have bad art taste, demand a lot of things and can't make up their mind for final results. You either impress and satisfy them with your self-confident and excellent artwork at once or reject them for your sake!

What are your interests and dislikes in webpage design?

I'm looking for great aesthetics in websites' design - especially if that's an artist portfolio - and useful and remarkable content presented in nice way. Poor design, lack of serious content and problems with the navigation are always factors to make me leave a website within the first minute.

Thank you, Ilias, for all the info and experiences in motion graphics and Flash.

Helen Walker

Helen Walker graduated with a degree in Mass Communications and Sociology. She worked as a newspaper journalist for two years after that. Having always been interested in cyberculture and its impact on society, Helen switched to online journalism and joined Design Interviews blog in July, 2007. Ever since she's been interviewing web designers and administrating the blog. Helen is a keen movie-goer and she is also a panda lover.


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Get in touch with Helen: helen.walker4@gmail.com