about
ventilate.ca's Hillman Curtis Interview
1. Can you tell us a little about the design team behind Hillmancurtis.com?
It really varies project to project. I have a very small core team. It starts with me, then it grows depending on the job. I have people I trust with 3D, ActionScript, CSS, html, Design and FCP editing.
2. HillmanCurtis.com has made a dramatic change from a Flash intensive site to one more streamlined and accessible by older technologies. How difficult was it to make this transition?
It?s not hard...the same things that are important to me in motion design remain important in static design... restraint and a focus on the message. I was fortunate in that some big clients trusted me to design entire site systems at a time when I was regarded as mainly a Flash designer.
3. You cite Dziga Vertov's famous notion of "making the invisible visible" in your new book MTIV: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer. How much influence has Soviet film theory had on your work?
well...I was a film major back in school so I think film in general has always been an influence. Honestly, I wasn?t aware that Vertov used m.t.i.v. Until recently, but I think the fact that he employed the rapid pairing of disparate images to create a narrative entirely its own isn?t that different from what a lot of Flashers are doing...or new media designers in general. He also was well aware that a large percentage of his audience was illiterate...which is interesting in that for our audience (new media designers - online) text doesn?t have a lot of importance...at least it shouldn?t, simply because we?re communicating globally to many different cultures/languages. I?m a huge fan of motion graphics and I love text...but my challenge is to get the meaning across without text...because who knows who?ll be viewing your work and whether they read English or not.
4. There have been many parallels between the birth of the internet and the advent of film. Both were liberated by experimentation and self-expression. However much of film today falls into a restrictive Hollywood form. Would you say that commercialism may similarly suppress diversity in web design?
Not anytime soon...the beauty of the web is it?s freedom. You don?t really need those archaic infrastructures ? film studios, music industry, MTV ? to express yourselves, or to have your work viewed by a potentially large audience. So long as that freedom lasts there will always be an incredible amount of innovation. We?re extremely fortunate to have such a medium.
5. What kind of political or ideological power do you feel the internet has in today's society?
It?s huge. There seems to be some cynicism surrounding any type of political protest that resembles the protests of the 60?s...with the exception of the WTO protests. But I think the web allows for a different and almost more subversive type of political protest; from info-sites, to email campaigns. I?m not saying that it?s better than taking to the streets, just that it?s an equally, if not more, effective way to spread a message in our times.
6. As you mention in MTIV, you have discovered that technological limitations can be liberating as they force designers to strip away all but the essential elements of a design and focus on the core message involved. Would you say the same of limitations imposed by a brand? How do you approach creative space as a commercial artist?
I think of an ad as a big bucket... A certain percent of that ad should be concerned with the marketing speak..the other is for the invisible. Every product or brand has a theme and these products and brands exist because of their ability to tap into recognizable themes...and make people feel something. So I focus on the theme...on telling a story. If you look at that title ?Commercial Artist? and deconstruct it, you can look at it this way; you have a responsibility to your client and their brand...which is the ?commercial? part of the title...but you also have a responsibility as an artist...and artists have always responded, reflected upon, and hopefully influenced the world.
7. I believe that you are an enthusiastic DVD collector? When DVDs first entered the market, certain directors, including Stephen Spielberg, refused to allow their movies to be produced in the new DVD format because the deleted scenes and alternative endings allowed audiences to view films in a manner unintended by the director, which they claimed breached upon the director's artistic control and therefore damaged the movie's artistic value. What are your thoughts on these special features? Do they deteriorate the artistic value of a movie?s final cut?
Some directors just refuse to have out takes or even a menu. David Lynch?s Mulholland Drive has nothing but the movie...you can?t skip ahead...you have to watch the film as it was released. That?s cool...but I also love to watch scenes over and over...looking at the lighting, the edits and the performances. I hate alt-endings and deleted scenes...with the exception of the deleted scenes from ?This Is Spinal Tap?.
8. Your career has been quite a journey, beginning in the world of Rock and Roll and finding its way into the world of interface design. I am sure there have been many ups and downs. Does any particular moment stand out in your mind as being your greatest achievement?
The Adobe site was great while it lasted...they?ve changed it quite a bit recently and that hurts...but at the time the design reflected everything I believed in design-wise. I?m also very happy with the way MTIV turned out...
9. How was the BD4D London event last October?
Unbelievable. It stands as one of the two or three best talks I have ever given...not from a stand point of my performance, but from the stand point of the energy of the gathering. It was a beautiful space that looked over the river, but the star of the gathering was the gathering itself. I loved it.
10. And of course, what was the last great movie you have seen and what was the last great book you have read?
Adaptation. I wasn?t as crazy about Being John Malcovich as everyone else was...but Adaptation was great. The last great book would have to be ?A Movable Feast?...which is actually a collection of short stories by Hemmingway all about Paris in the 20?s and about his discovery of his craft.
Thank-you Hillman, your work has made many people want to try harder!
It really varies project to project. I have a very small core team. It starts with me, then it grows depending on the job. I have people I trust with 3D, ActionScript, CSS, html, Design and FCP editing.
2. HillmanCurtis.com has made a dramatic change from a Flash intensive site to one more streamlined and accessible by older technologies. How difficult was it to make this transition?
It?s not hard...the same things that are important to me in motion design remain important in static design... restraint and a focus on the message. I was fortunate in that some big clients trusted me to design entire site systems at a time when I was regarded as mainly a Flash designer.
3. You cite Dziga Vertov's famous notion of "making the invisible visible" in your new book MTIV: Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer. How much influence has Soviet film theory had on your work?
well...I was a film major back in school so I think film in general has always been an influence. Honestly, I wasn?t aware that Vertov used m.t.i.v. Until recently, but I think the fact that he employed the rapid pairing of disparate images to create a narrative entirely its own isn?t that different from what a lot of Flashers are doing...or new media designers in general. He also was well aware that a large percentage of his audience was illiterate...which is interesting in that for our audience (new media designers - online) text doesn?t have a lot of importance...at least it shouldn?t, simply because we?re communicating globally to many different cultures/languages. I?m a huge fan of motion graphics and I love text...but my challenge is to get the meaning across without text...because who knows who?ll be viewing your work and whether they read English or not.
4. There have been many parallels between the birth of the internet and the advent of film. Both were liberated by experimentation and self-expression. However much of film today falls into a restrictive Hollywood form. Would you say that commercialism may similarly suppress diversity in web design?
Not anytime soon...the beauty of the web is it?s freedom. You don?t really need those archaic infrastructures ? film studios, music industry, MTV ? to express yourselves, or to have your work viewed by a potentially large audience. So long as that freedom lasts there will always be an incredible amount of innovation. We?re extremely fortunate to have such a medium.
5. What kind of political or ideological power do you feel the internet has in today's society?
It?s huge. There seems to be some cynicism surrounding any type of political protest that resembles the protests of the 60?s...with the exception of the WTO protests. But I think the web allows for a different and almost more subversive type of political protest; from info-sites, to email campaigns. I?m not saying that it?s better than taking to the streets, just that it?s an equally, if not more, effective way to spread a message in our times.
6. As you mention in MTIV, you have discovered that technological limitations can be liberating as they force designers to strip away all but the essential elements of a design and focus on the core message involved. Would you say the same of limitations imposed by a brand? How do you approach creative space as a commercial artist?
I think of an ad as a big bucket... A certain percent of that ad should be concerned with the marketing speak..the other is for the invisible. Every product or brand has a theme and these products and brands exist because of their ability to tap into recognizable themes...and make people feel something. So I focus on the theme...on telling a story. If you look at that title ?Commercial Artist? and deconstruct it, you can look at it this way; you have a responsibility to your client and their brand...which is the ?commercial? part of the title...but you also have a responsibility as an artist...and artists have always responded, reflected upon, and hopefully influenced the world.
7. I believe that you are an enthusiastic DVD collector? When DVDs first entered the market, certain directors, including Stephen Spielberg, refused to allow their movies to be produced in the new DVD format because the deleted scenes and alternative endings allowed audiences to view films in a manner unintended by the director, which they claimed breached upon the director's artistic control and therefore damaged the movie's artistic value. What are your thoughts on these special features? Do they deteriorate the artistic value of a movie?s final cut?
Some directors just refuse to have out takes or even a menu. David Lynch?s Mulholland Drive has nothing but the movie...you can?t skip ahead...you have to watch the film as it was released. That?s cool...but I also love to watch scenes over and over...looking at the lighting, the edits and the performances. I hate alt-endings and deleted scenes...with the exception of the deleted scenes from ?This Is Spinal Tap?.
8. Your career has been quite a journey, beginning in the world of Rock and Roll and finding its way into the world of interface design. I am sure there have been many ups and downs. Does any particular moment stand out in your mind as being your greatest achievement?
The Adobe site was great while it lasted...they?ve changed it quite a bit recently and that hurts...but at the time the design reflected everything I believed in design-wise. I?m also very happy with the way MTIV turned out...
9. How was the BD4D London event last October?
Unbelievable. It stands as one of the two or three best talks I have ever given...not from a stand point of my performance, but from the stand point of the energy of the gathering. It was a beautiful space that looked over the river, but the star of the gathering was the gathering itself. I loved it.
10. And of course, what was the last great movie you have seen and what was the last great book you have read?
Adaptation. I wasn?t as crazy about Being John Malcovich as everyone else was...but Adaptation was great. The last great book would have to be ?A Movable Feast?...which is actually a collection of short stories by Hemmingway all about Paris in the 20?s and about his discovery of his craft.
Thank-you Hillman, your work has made many people want to try harder!
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