Michael Brown
www.ventilate.ca
Freelance | Toronto, Canada
Tell us a little bit about your background?
Born and raised in Toronto. I studied Architecture at the University of Toronto and then took a post-grad in New Media. After the last compnay I worked for shut down, I was hesitant on venturing into the world of freelance, but now that I have had a taste of the “free world” (and as long as the work remains steady) I would not have it any other way.
Could you tell us a little about ventilate?
Ventilate is a design portal. Each month a new issue is released which has interviews with industry leaders and design professionals and our “Whats On” section is continuously updated in an attempt to bring you a daily dose of design inspiration. I originally launched ventilate about 9 months ago (October 2002) because I was tired of submitting URL’s to other portals……….so I built my own. Since then some great people have joined ventilate. Each contributor brings their own fresh perspective on design and development in New Media and without all of our collective energy ventilate would be nothing.
When did you start with graphic design?
I have been interested in visual design since I was a young kid, I was always drawing, painting and very involved with photography. While other kids were out playing baseball I was trying to get my drawing to look EXACTLY like what it was I was trying to draw. I have a deep interest in photorealism.
I have not really had experience with print design. My interests are more focussed on motion graphics and design for the web. Right now I am more intrigued with 3D than I am with anything else. It seems that with enough knowledge of 3D there is really no boundaries or limitations to what can be done.
What are your sources of inspiration?
Anyone who makes great strides in their industry. Dante Alighieri, Rem Koolhaus, Hani Rashid, Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe, Mark Stetson of Digital Domain, Michael Moore, James Schmalz….. the amount of dedication and energy these people put into their work is inspiration for everyone to work harder. Like Hillman Curtis mentions in MTIV, “learn from the Masters”.
How many hours/day do you spend on your computer?
At least 8hrs…..probably more like 10. You know you spend too much time on a computer when you go outside and the sun starts to flicker like a computer moniter :)
What is your favorite food?
mmmm…..Cantonese Chow Mein……how can we live without it?
What kind of music do you like?
It depends on the day…..all my music is sorted by genre. One day I might listen to electronica the next it could all be Led Zepplin or Reggae.
What are your fovorite websites at the moment?
These are my favorite websites: www.fallondesign.com, www.h23.cl, www.urbancollective.com, www.stampete.de, www.fluffco.com, www.heliozilla.com, www.flash-mx.com, www.mindmeldcreative.com, www.amphetamine.ca, www.verbalisms.com, www.ninedots.com, 404found.whitfield.ca, www.durothethird.com, www.favouritwebsiteawards.com, www.group94.com, www.hipatrip.com.
What programs do you use to create your websites?
Macromedia: Homesite, Flash ….. Adobe: Photoshop, Illustrator ….. Soundforge, Swift & 3ds max.
What do you know about brazilian web designers or graphic designers?
I am very much anticipating: http://www.brasilinspired.com/book/ to be released. I also visit http://www.sodabrasil.com.br/ to get my dose of Brazilian flavor. There has been alot of talent coming from Brazil……it must be the tropical weather and gorgeous beaches : )
Any final comments?
You can do anything that you put your mind to.
Thanks Átila Meireles for having taken his time to make this interview with us
Interview done by Flavio Monteiro for UAILAB
March 2004
Professional experience in on-line and off-line media. Art direction. Brand development (visual identity). Character creation. Development work for web, flash animations and presentations, creating web sites.
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