Name?
Joe Bru Vik

Age?
23

Location?
Oslo, Norway

Mac or PC?
Use both, but prefer PC for web

Site(s)?
www.tricom.no/sabre

The Boss?
Guess that would be me.

Design education?
Yes, graphical webdesigner at norwegian academy of it/design/arts but I was before that a trained bricklayer, and a warden (guard ?) at a maximum security mental institution unit in Oslo.

Hunk, spunk or flunk?
Pardon me ? well, I guess I could have been a hunk if it wasn't for missing a front tooth in a footballgame in Norway Cup some years ago. quite a show really, 22 players and 3 referees on their knees looking for it while I was knocked out with a girlsteam from California comforting me along with ambulance personell that tried to pull my other front tooth free from my upper lip.

Disgusting personal habits?
I eat loud. I love cheap, unhealthy food. I also use way to much snus, which is dry tobacco scandinavians put in their mouth. add that to the missing fronttooth, and you got yourself a pretty disturbing,disgusting look right there.

Nice personal habits?
I am very nice to my little sister

Hobbies off the net?
Scubadiving. I have been scubadiving all over europe. best places is a wreck in oslofjorden that lies really deep, and Comino at Malta. Would like to dive in Australia some day.

Favourite quote?
"now you can get a big mac and a pint of coke for only 50 nok"

What do you know about Australian web designers?
Little I'm afraid. I know a couple of them from linking experiences, but there seems to be very few of them exposed when taking under consideration the size of the country. not to mention the unique platform and contactground for inspiration to artists the australian native culture should preserve. though i have quite a bulk of australians subscribing to sabre mag, must be around 300, so I guess they're out there. maybe you are shy ? send us the url's, cause we're only happy and nice people here at sabre magazine.

How did you first learn of the internet?
At serverschool. loved design much before that, but started with experimenting at the web then.

What do you like/hate about the net?
i love the designscene on the net, the tighter world, and the close encounters with other designers. i hate nothing but "catch-them"-javascripts.

What drew you to web design?
I didn't have much choice really. I have a disease called panic disorder that forced me to quit masonry and bricklaying, and the academy of IT saved me, so to speak. but i have always been into design so i guess deep down that pushed me away from tcp/ip and into ftp.

What is your working style (Photoshop, etc)?
I never ever know what I am making in the beginning of a graphic. My strange working brain jumps in at a later stadium, throws in some strange impulses that reason tries to decline. that goes on and on for hours. i have a constant inner battle between the weird sides of my inspirations from the dephts, and the common sense.

Do you think that Flash is cool or overused?
flash is like most other techniques on the Internet cool when it is used properly and with a communication to the viewer in mind.

Do you prefer technologically advanced sites or sites with simple but good design?
I see we are getting into questions regarding my taste. I think I will keep some thoughts just for me, but I can certainly say that to me personally very often the design expressing very much with very little communicates with most success.

Do you have any cool design tips?
be yourself, get into yourself for that inside voice that will sooner or later speak for you anyway, never stop learning, know that you can never be "the best" or finished eduacated, and always play.be like designers like mschmidt and joshua davis who always helps and encourage others even know they are among the very best.never arrogant.

Favourite sites?
I see so many wonderful sites, and there is no reason or bandwidth I should name them all. The era of the few and fierce are over. A few sites that are elementary for us all though :
carbon 14 and futurefarmers for their brave hearts. vtwinlabs and designersrepublic for their technology. k10k and shift for their mentality. combine and tree-axis for their colours. volumeone and dhky for their freshness. posttool and e-media-c for their communication. circumstance and digitalpulp for their scripting.

Favourite designers? (Web or otherwise)
Dave Bravenec of Carbon 14 has a wonderful sense of design, and the capability to put wind behind the simplest themes.

Design styles you hate?
None at all. Design is art, and it is both wrong and dangerous to discuss it flat. Though different styles communicates different to different people.

Do you think web designers will become the design elite?
i thought we were :-)

Do you see yourself as an influential web designer?
Not really. I'm no different from the others out there. I aim upon framing designers, rather than competing with them, so i'm mingling around in the shadows. My greatest inspiration comes from the period of working in a maximum security level mental institution, and the face of Jon Blund - a sublime childhood televisionshow doll from Norway, so i truly hope this doesn't influence too many. that could quickly turn into a bizarre reality.

How would you like to be remembered?
as the one designer who could eat more than any other without leaving photoshop .

Thanks Joe!