Name:
Davin Risk and Gayla Sanders

Age:
Older than everyone else... Davin is 30. Gayla is 26

Location:
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Mac or PC:
Both We only recently bought our first PC.

Site(s):
fluffco.com - our personal/professional site.
yougrowgirl.com - it's all about plants.
lowresolution.com - a yet to be discovered site that will stand as a purely experimental space (it's a team-up site...).

The Boss:
Tony Danza or Judith Light (just who was the boss?)

Design education:
We both have Fine Art degrees from different Universities.

Hunk, spunk or flunk:
Gayla: I'm a flunk because I left my degree unfinished by 1/2 credit. I didn't have the money to finish and then I felt like that last 1/2 class in Art History just wasn't going to make a difference to my life. Davin is a hunk.

Disgusting personal habits:
Davin: Nail biting. Knuckle & neck cracking.
Gayla: I am terribly judgemental. People call me The Judge. But I'm usually right.

Nice personal habits:
Davin: Friend to the cats. Gayla: I like to give people presents. I'm always entertaining people and feeding them.

Hobbies off the net:
Davin: I don't have any. Gayla: I'm a "hobbiest". Gardening, I have an aquarium, making stuff by hand, silkscreening, making books. Lately I'm a cooking machine. This makes me sound like a suburban mom doesn't it? I also enjoy garbage picking and going to the local secondhand stores.

Favourite quote:
Gayla: "Not strong, only aggressive. Not free, we only licensed. Not compassionate, only polite. Not good but well behaved. Chasing after death so we can call ourselves brave." From the song "Thieves In the Night" off the Black Star album.

They paraphrase the Toni Morrison book "The Bluest Eye". This song has had a huge influence on me. Actually the whole album did. So good.

What do you know about Australian web designers:
Not too much since we live on the other side of the world. Just from a few sites we've run into. We barely know anything about Canadian designers except for our friends.

How did you first learn of the internet:
Davin: In 1990 at University we had "net" access in the form of lovely command-line things like USENET, TELNET, GOPHER, ARCHIE, and yes... even some MUDs. After a couple of years the 'web' came along in all of its grey backgrounded glory and I started trying to 'design' for it.

What do you like/hate about the net:
Likes: The fact that for free or on-the-cheap people can set up a personal or public space without any filters. The ability to be self-sufficient when need be and the ease with which projects can come together. We've also done print design (and love print too) which has the pressure of only knowing the true results of a project after the final printing. With the web, things can be "instant" and really quite malleable.

Gayla: I love personal sites. I'm a real voyeur that way. Even the ones where people just write really boring journals. I can read that stuff for hours.

Dislikes:
Pulsating rainbow line breaks. That stupid gif of the guy who pees. That damn running dog. Please no more dancing baby references. 'Design' companies that go on-and-on like they're writing a goddamn novel about their services when in reality it's all just * fluff *

What drew you to web design:
See 'likes' above.

What is your working style (Photoshop, etc):
Fairly standard... Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, then we type all of our own code. Netscape over IE. Oh yes... and there must be 'clutter' for inspiration.

Do you think that Flash is cool or overused:
Both.

Gayla: I've seen a lot of really awful stuff but I've also seen stuff that brings me to tears it's so darn good.

Do you prefer technologically advanced sites or sites with simple but good design:
Both.

Do you have any cool design tips:
Learn to hand code html.

Favourite sites:
There are so many... Our pal Gord High www.clockdin.com for the good music www.atlasmagazine.com www.bornmag.com www.k10k.com www.word.com www.teamchina.com

All the design team-up sites. It's good to make friends.

Favourite designers: (Web or otherwise)
Saul Bass, Tibor Kalman, David Carson, Charles and Ray Eames, Reid Miles (the guy who did the Bluenote covers). From the web Amy Franceschini (but we like the print stuff too), Matt Owens, Nicola Stumpo, Stella Lai. Someone named 'Milly' of Jean Co fame.

Those are all the big names but of course there are so many out there that we respect as people AND as designers. Scott Fox, Gord High, Cindy Dabis. You know who you are.

Design styles you hate:
We just can't get into the use of the supermodel as a design element.

Do you think web designers will become the design elite:
There probably won't be any momentous passing of the torch between print and web ever. But what is happening, and will continue to happen, is that the role of designers is blurring to encompass lots of media. Most people have their focus but you see so many people who are on the web but also do print, motion, and industrial / product design. But here's hoping that design on the web gets its due respect as part of all that.

Do you see yourself as an influential web designer:
Davin: No. But I think we're pretty good at what we do and add our own little zing here and there. I would love to think that we accomplish one of our goals to be fun and entertaining for someone out there.

Gayla: A friend of mine told me that I influenced a girl in high school to become a book artist simply because I made a book in my grade 13 art class. That made me really happy. I don't think I'm an influential designer but I hope that I influence people in other ways the same way that people influence me.

How would you like to be remembered:
Davin: While I do see myself as a designer, I don't think that figures too much into how I would like to be remembered. This question has a really somber tone... being 'remembered' means 'leaving' the people whose memories are important to you.

Gayla: This question made me think of a line in the Beach Boys song 'That's Not Me'. "I could try being big in the eyes of the world, but what matter's to me is what I could be to just one girl". It would be great to do lots of important things and change the world and be a superstar and all that but I think it's most important to be a good friend to a few people. That sounds like a Miss Teen USA answer.

Any final comments:
Davin: I have no real words of wisdom despite my wizened age. Thanks to Andrew for the chance to join the other great designers on his site.

Gayla: We accept gifts and monetary donations.

Thanks Davin & Gayla!