Interview with David Platt

We recently were given the opportunity to interview one of our (awesome) readers, David Platt. David is an interaction, print, and identity designer and artist. Check out his interactive portfolio here, and also head on over and take a look at his artwork here. David had a lot to say, so let’s dive in!

FYI: So tell us a little about what you do.

DP: I am usually hired by agencies to do the layout and concept-side of websites; I don’t really do the coding. I do some Flash animation as well, but recently agencies have been using me more for website designs.

FYI: Speaking of flash, cool Martian animation on your site!

DP: Haha, yea, that is actually based on an algorithm I found in a Flash book.

FYI: At the early part of your career, what did you find to be the biggest step forward? Also, what was the biggest challenge?

DP: Well, I started off in print. My biggest challenge was learning Flash, actually. In terms of freelancing and working with people, I still find managing people to be quite challenging. (pause) How do I answer that question…

FYI: Haha! It is a tough one.

DP: You know, I think one of the biggest challenges for any young designer is to realize their own vision, and avoid trends. If I’m looking for a junior designer to hire, it seems to me that a lot of junior designers jump on a trend… Like a Wordpress theme that looks like all the other Wordpress themes out there. Branding your own company is the biggest challenge, I’d say. If you can brand your own company, then you can show potential clients that you can brand their company. I developed the Martian site, and that was very challenging. Designing for yourself is taking on the hardest client you’ll ever have.

FYI:Most definitely. Recently, we wrote a post about thinking outside of the box, and how that wasn’t necessarily the best practice. If you approach a project with the goal of thinking outside the box for the sake of it, you are already putting yourself out, because you might abandon good practice.

DP:Yea, totally agree. When I approach a project, I keep in mind that I have to know the rules before I can break them.

FYI: So that when you break them, you have a good reason. Along the same lines, if you use a trend, use it for a reason.

DP: Absolutely. If it doesn’t have a function, I’d just as soon leave it out completely.

FYI: Shifting gears a bit here, what is your most enjoyable project type?

DP: To tell you the truth, the most enjoyable jobs I receive are when the client is a good client. If I, for instance, get a good wireframe up front, then I am freed up to focus on the design rather than the content. There’s some places I go into and the design director is so much better than me, and that’s great. I get a chance to learn so often in my job.

FYI: So when did you get your start with interactive work?

DP: I started interactive stuff before the web existed. I started with CD-Roms with Director and Shockwave, and then when the web came around, I learned basic HTML and Javascript rollovers. And then when Flash came out, I saw the very first couple of sites done with Flash and was totally blown away by them. The first one that really blew me away was for a company called Gabocorp (view the 1997 archived version of Gabocorp’s site here). At that point, I knew that Flash was the future of web design, which was true until recently. People have decided that Flash is too much eye candy, and so they are reverting to XHTML and CSS, and using Flash for banners.

FYI: Yea, we’ve seen a lot of a move towards Javascript libraries and things of that nature that interact with the web elements and DOM directly.

DP: There’s definitely a debate about it. Flash isn’t dead, for sure. In fact, the FWA site is done completely in Flash. I’m kind of on the fence on the issue; I like the quietude of the move towards mostly static sites, but I also think that the eye-candy Flash provides can be a good thing when used correctly.

FYI: Where did you first start with your work? Did you start out as a freelancer, or did you go to college for design?

DP: I went to college for film and television. My dad was a creative director at an agency; I taught myself all of the programs, starting with Quark and then going through Photoshop and Illustrator. I learned my basic design principles from my father though. I don’t know where I would have learned that otherwise.

FYI: It’s a bit different these days, wouldn’t you agree? You can jump online and learn a slew of Photoshop tricks and design principles from blogs and Twitter friends.

DP: Most definitely. I read a lot of design blogs, and I guess a lot of people learn that way today.

FYI: You started to mention a few programs you use. What would you say are your top five programs that you use on a daily basis?

DP: Can I mention Photoshop five times? Haha. Truly, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, InDesign for print stuff, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, Acrobat… Those are the top programs I work with these days.

FYI: And how about your top inspirational content online?

DP: I read most of the Fuel blogs, and a few of the blogs on the Envato network. I also hit the main big design blogs, as well as the FWA to check out some of the better Flash sites. A lot of the content on most of these blogs, though, are targeting younger, less experienced readers; at least once a day, I get to read a great article that I can learn from.

FYI: Absolutely. Thank you so much for doing this interview with us! Where can we look at some of your work?

DP: My Martian Design site and my art site both have some of my work content on them.

Again, thanks so much to David for doing this interview with us! We look forward to hearing more from David and the rest of you all in the future.