Name:
Jan Nilsson

Age:
26... starting to feel a bit old.

Location:
Stockholm, Sweden.

Mac or PC:
Mac and PC

Site(s):
pixeljunkie.com, invertebrae.com (together with ryan/faceLIFT, joshua/praystation etc.) and a couple of other upcoming collaboration projects.

The Boss:
Since I work at razorfish I guess you can pick any of them dudes.

Design education:
Not really. I've been involved since around 86 when it comes to interactive media where I was fooling around the amiga scene, doing artwork for demos and so on... airbrush work... the school of life simply.

Hunk, spunk or flunk:
Hmm... If I knew the definition of any of those words... I guess spunk suits me just fine... I'm not the flunk kind of guy, that's for sure... but on the other hand not the hunk either... gotta be the spunk...

Disgusting personal habits:
I guess I can be a pain in the ass when it comes to a lot of things. I'm really stubborn, I'm kind of a besserwisser aswell... I don't know if thats disgusting really. I guess it sometimes can be an asset. I guess you're fishing for things like drinking or smoking or something like that.... I often consider myself a winner, meaning I hate loosing...

Nice personal habits:
See above. I'm also really committed to whatever thing i'm up for. I always try to give 100%.

Hobbies off the net:
I love getting new impulses, visually. Like taking pictures, like travelling, love music. I guess the biggest and most time consuming hobby gotta be movies... I'm totally in to movies, everything from LD's to DVD's and ofcourse going to the movies as well. What else? Hmm... I love parties, cool clubs...

Favourite quote:
"If I can't fly I'm gonna have a bitch of a time trying to find my brand" is a recent favourite... I think it captures everything in one sentence.

What do you know about Australian web designers:
Not that much. I know you :) Then I know Ryan Holsten and Matt Mejia at Spike, an australian company getting established in tha states. What else.......l…gg till

How did you first learn of the internet:
I guess it was back in 91 when I started taking some courses at the university. I got involved in this computer association kind of deal and started to get familiar with telnet, ftp, lynx and that kind of stuff. Then in 93 I started studying Computer Science and got heavily involved in everything concerning computers. I used the very first Mosaic beta and the
first version of Netscape that was released on the unix platform. Then I got some deeper understanding when getting involved heavily in programming, learning the IP protocol structures and all that... So you could say I'm a tech dude as well as a designer... :)

What do you like/hate about the net:
I love the fact that you can sit down, create your little piece of artworkand then publish it and within minutes you might get response from peoplearound the globe. That really is fantastic. Then I love being able to get to know other designers, people with similar interests and so on. There aren't that many things I dislike about the net. I guess I sometimes might find the lacking of maturity among some users a bit disturbing... I always get irritated about the fact that ..... blab blalb lalblvbl

What drew you to web design:
As I wrote before... when I first realised the possibilities to be my own"publisher", being able to show some of my stuff and get feedback just like that. That really got me going.

What is your working style (Photoshop, etc):
I mostly use Photoshop except for the typo that is created in Illustrator. I also create some elements in 3dstudio and lately I've been really addicted to AfterEffects which is a great tool.

Do you think that Flash is cool or overused?
I would say it's overused. Maybe because I don't really use it myself... ;) To be honest there are very few sites where flash actually are meaningful. I like flash when it's integrated in a subtle way, when it enhance the interactive part but that are not the fact for most of the times. Most of the flash sites are really ugly as well, the actual designpart tend to be overlooked and instead some ugly transitions are created. Don't get me wrong - the technology is good if used in the right way... and there are some good examples out there...

Do you prefer technologically advanced sites or sites with simple but good design?
I'm gonna be completely honest with you. The first thing I focus on is the design, I just can't help it. Still, if we're talking corporate sites the underlying technology has to level with the design. I really love when I stumble onto a production where nothing has been set aside. When the design is outstanding, the concept is really strong and when the technology not
only does what is supposed to do but also is a part of the design and the interactive experience. When the technology is also a spice visually I get really excited.

Do you have any cool design tips?
Hmm... This is a hard one... I guess I'm known for doing some kind of weird tech design and often get questions about how to do that, how I come up with stuff etc. I guess blending layers and subtle messages is part of my recepie. Then again you've got to have an idea before you start composing... The idea is the most important thing. Many designers tend to say they get an idea and then sit down and start designing, modifying and coming up with new things during the journey. I'm almost certain what the outcome of my idea will be from the beginning. I have most of the details all set up beforehand. I can create a picture in my head like a couple of days before I start designing and then know exactly what to do. That is part of my style also. A lot of planning.

Favourite sites?
Don't do this to me :) This is like receiving an oscar and forgetting to thank your crew or something like that. There are so many sites I like for different reasons. Suction has been a favourite for a long time. I like Combine, typographic, circumstance etc. Also like shift and lately a lot of other nice communities like uploading.

Favourite designers? (Web or otherwise)
I'm into a lot of architechture and industrial design. I love printwork like the stuff produced by the crew at attik. When it comes to the web there are so many talented persons I could go on for a while... Well, let's see - like the stuff from john j. hill/52mm, andy slopsema/combine, the kioken productions, marc klein/pixel industries, jimmy chen/typographic, matt owens/volume one, amy/futurefarmers, bernardo rivavelarde/escuchando imagenes etc. I also like some of the things done by clement mok and former studio archetype, some of the things done by metadesign, some of the brand a stuff etc. Love movie titles and agencies like imaginary forces, fuel etc.

Design styles you hate?
I don't hate any designstyle. I guess I sometimes get tired of everyone doing bad raygun rip-offs and stuff like that. I like most design styles if they are executed really well. You can separate a good design from a bad one fairly easy just by looking at the details. I like details, I don't wanna "get the design" right away. I wanna sit down, look carefully and maybe find small elements that might not be obvious at first sight.

Do you think web designers will become the design elite?
Maybe not in general, but some will. I think today many of the print designers don't have the proper respect for the interactive designers. That will change I think. It has to change! When internet is integrated in some way with tv and reach more people the interactive designers will get an even more important role and hopefully more respect. I guess in time a designer will be a designer, no matter if it is for print, web or any other media. It has to reach a certain level of maturity I think. The business will become more mature.

Do you see yourself as an influential web designer?
I wouldn't go that far. I guess many people is facinated in the designstyle I represents, but influential? I don't know. Maybe in a way.

How would you like to be remembered?
As the guy who never ever compromised on his artistic integrity. The guy who always delivered kickass solutions no matter what. :)

Any final comments?
Thanks a lot for a nice contribution to the design community! Respect.

Thanks Jan!