采访2advanced.com的Eric .

大家都知道www.2advanced.com吧，他是设计类网站中出类拔萃的一个
[a]www.2advanced.com[/a]

Interviewee: Eric Jordan (EJ)
Interviewer: Tim Toomey (dM)
deviantMAG: How long have you been doing web site design and how long have you used Flash in your designs?

Eric Jordan: I've been designing websites for around 5 years now, and have been using Flash for around 3 years now.

dM: What sparked your interest in design?

EJ: I've been drawing freehand since I was about 5 years old. I found an interest in designing movie trailers, but computers butted in and and I found myself developing website and realizing it was where I was the most happy.

dM: Did you receive any formal training in the programs you use?

EJ: Not really, I took an art class for illustration in high school, moved onto a semester of college with art training and decided to let it all go after 4 months. Most of what I have learned is through experimentation and pure love of the medium.

dM: This question takes a jump onto a different subject, but a big part of design and what digital artists output is based on what inspires them, so the next few questions I have sorta deal with that.

What music are you into currently/ what is in your CD player right now?

EJ: Currently im listening to D:FUSE, "People". i listen to mostly Progressive House and/or trance. Its a strong source of inspiration in my life. It helps me focus, to find that plane where creativity and reality live on different planes.

dM: What are some of your favorite websites to visit (outside of design/resource sites)?

EJ: Buy.com (Excellent for electronic devices important for survival in this digital world), and cnn.com. CNN is important because being a full-time designer tends to suck away your time with the real world, and CNN brings you in touch with tangible things that exist beyond the realm of the pixel or the tween.

dM: What websites out there do you find inspirational? (For example, design websites, weird websites, or anything of the sort.)

EJ: Inspirational... Munkosity, James Patterson. Anyone doing something different.

dM: Who/What do you turn to you cant find inspiration on the web?

EJ: The freeway.
Its so concrete and devoid of life...
But there is an essence within it...
Mankind's progress...
Blind or otherwise...
Its always reaching for something...
A greater destination.

dM: What is your stance with graphical online communities and do you frequent any of them?

EJ: Graphical online communities tend to bicker, lose sight of the essence of art, and get caught up in the defense of what they feel is right or true, rather than the observance of unique viewpoints. I tend to distance myself from it because it clouds my viewpoint and motivation.

dM: Can you give us a brief summary of the steps in your creative process?

EJ: For personal, or client work? They vary greatly. 80% of my personal work has never been released. I'm entirely too critical.

dM: Wow. Is the work in your experimental portion of "2advanced" some of your personal work?

EJ: Most of the exploratory section of "2advanced" is myself. We're training our designers to learn their voice, and to contribute, but many of them take some time to mold into designers that can be proud enough of their work to release it to the public.

dM: Can you give us a brief summary of the creative process you go through when designing client's websites?

EJ: First, we take the client through a series of Rough designs, a conceptually loose representation of what the end product may look like. Then, we move on to the comprehensive stage where we refine the concept chosen by the client and then provide Flash prototypes. Once prototypes are complete, we move onto buildout, where actionscripters get involved. Its all about Illdesign.com

dM: Can you tell me some more about the molding of your designers?

EJ: Unfortunately most designers do not have a sense of their true "voice". Most take what they know from previously designed material and expand upon it. It is rare to find a designer who has a true voice. At "2advanced" we are all close friends, and try to promote the environment that allows creativity to flow freely.

dM: Describe a day-in-the-life of Eric Jordan.

EJ: My day usually begins at around 7:30AM, when I jump in my car and head for the studio. The routine stop for coffee is a must on the way to the office; it’s the only way to get my head functioning in the early hours. Once my dose of caffeine has set in, I usually settle into some music for the 20 minute drive to "2Advanced". Some good trance or house tracks usually get my mind turning, and help me to get into the creative mode for the rest of the day. I always carry my Digital Video camera around with me everywhere I go, so if I see some potential footage material somewhere along the drive, I’ll usually try to grab as much of it as I can without crashing my car into anything.

Once I hit the office, it’s all about more coffee. Then, I usually answer some emails, browse the web for a bit, or yell across the office at my partner Tony who loves to blast 80’s music on a regular basis. I need to talk some sense into that boy.

The rest of the morning hours are spent contacting clients to address any questions they have, or take care of lingering issues from the day before. If any of our designers need help with something they are working on, I’ll usually try and get them on track for the rest of the day. Once everything is squared away, I’ll sit down at my system, turn up some music and begin working on client material, whether it is Photoshop work, flashing out a site, 3D rendering, or whatever. Lately we’ve been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes design/development which has me locked into multimedia apps like After Effects or Poser.

For the better part of the day I am either conceptualizing, or actually building sites in close collaboration with the rest of the team. There is a solid vibe in the studio and we all give each other good feedback, so the days are usually pretty productive. We get into such a good groove sometimes that we forget to have lunch.

The day usually isn’t over at 5:00. I usually hang around the studio until 7 or 8 o’clock because the production schedule is almost always either full, or overflowing with work. I like to keep things ahead of schedule. I love what I do, so it doesn’t bother me to work late hours. Once I do leave the office, I typically have some dinner, do some experimental material at home, and then get ready to do it all over again the next day.

dM: Would you say the sheer popularity of 2Advanced has parlayed into more contractual work for yourself or not?

EJ: The attention that 2advanced.com has gotten from the design community has definitely translated into more overall exposure and contracts for the company. The buzz has definitely helped us out as a business, and helped land us some seriously large projects. The downside is that once in the spotlight, it’s stressful to live up to the expectations time after time. But we try our best to put out work we can be proud of.

dM: Many of our readers, as well as the online art community, have been wondering for quite some time now if the rumor about your stealing work from chapter3 is true or not. Is there anything you’d like to say in response to that, or is there any rumor you’d like to put to rest about this topic?

EJ: It’s so easy to lose touch with the truth when you have such a loosely regulated platform of communication like the internet. Information gets scaled, transformed, stretched, cut up, and spit back out as something totally different. Apparently it has been misconstrued that the Chapter 3 collaboration piece in the Exploratory section of 2advanced is not a true collaboration. People believe what they want to believe, and it would be impossible for me to spend my days handling damage control on situations like these. I used to let these types of things get to me, and it really did a lot of psychological harm. I learned to teach myself that it doesn’t matter what ideas people get in their head about me. I know my heart, and it would not do me any good to let myself get caught up in what people think about me or 2advanced Studios.

dM: Do you have any upcoming projects you’d like to let dM readers in on before the rest of the net?

EJ: We’ve have a ton of new projects ready to release soon that we’ve been developing over the past few months, along with some large behind-the-scenes work that the public will never know about because the companies forbid us from disclosing that we did the work.

Some of our current up-front projects include an NHL team, a prominent software company, a blue-screen technology firm, and a popular Gin brand. Unfortunately, we are under N.D.A. on most of these projects until they release, so unfortunately I cannot be specific about who the clients are at this point.

Also, we just finished co-writing some material about XML integration with Flash MX in the upcoming release “Flash MX Magic. As beta testers for Flash MX, we were able to really dig deep and come up with some clean approaches to integrating XML with MX at an early stage. In addition, we have a tutorial on interface design appearing in the Flash MX bible, and possibly a feature interview in the next edition of CreateOnline magazine.

dM: Who do you see as being ahead of the pack in the design industry? (Besides yourselves of course.)

EJ: Lately, the only studios I’ve seen producing work that deserves mention are crews like We Work For Them, and One9ine. The studios that used to lead are now joining the ranks of fallen dotcoms, such as Kioken, NY and Dennis Interactive.

dM: How long does it take for you (on average) to complete one of your Flash projects?

EJ: The average flash project typically varies depending on factors like interactive complexity, backend functionality, and client iterations. We strive as a studio to keep engagements around six weeks for any phase of a given project.

dM: What are your thoughts/criticisms on the tendency of your sites to influence the trends of smaller flash websites on the net? Have you ever felt pressured to establish new trends with your flash design to stay ahead of the wannabes?

EJ: Of course I feel an element of pressure, but the main goal is not to establish new trends, but rather to top myself. Evolution as an artist is important to me, not defining what the internet should look like. I love what I do for a living, and I am doing this for myself and my clients, not to impress future Web designers.

dM: What’s next for Eric Jordan?

EJ: We have some interesting new avenues we are taking at 2advanced which everyone will soon learn about. It seems like we have more ideas than we know what to do with. As for myself, I’d simply like to keep growing as an artist and continue learning new things.

dM: Thanks for your time, Eric.



-------------------- (★ )猪头_)---_   _---(_加油( ★)
  \_/____/ ^  ^ \ / ^  ^ \____\_/
       \/| .  . |V| .  . |\/
        \( (oo) ) ( (oo) )/       猪头！猪头！加油加油！
        <\<~~  \   /  ~~>/>        猪头们努力呀！
        _(_~H___)_(___H~_)_         乖乖的冲刺！

看英语~~~~~~~~
挑战极限啊！~~~~~~~~~:supergrin: -------------------- “我最爱西瓜”
小恐龙说~~~~~~~~~~

你太能灌了啊。 -------------------- 我是方便面

你太能灌了啊。

--------------------
我是方便面

啥意思？
你知道www.2advanced.com，不知道别来搀和！

是个人就都知道，靠 -------------------- 我是方便面

是个人就都知道，靠

--------------------
我是方便面

呵～～
但是你是条鱼呀！

你的意思是说你也不是人了   你的图表是个什么啊   你叫什么啊  你是酒吗？ -------------------- 我是方便面