Interview - Hillman Curtis of HillmanCurtis.com

The New Media Industry

SP: The leap from guitarist to Creative Director at Macromedia is no mean feat. Prior to landing a job at Macromedia you had some freelance new media design experience, and 7 months later you were a Creative Director. Were you surprised at your meteoric rise through the ranks at Macromedia?

I spent a good two years plugging away at various freelance jobs and even had a small company that produced CD-Roms for a year or so. But when I got hired at Macromedia it was for a three week contract position as a project manager. At the time I had no idea how to use email, nor what a server was, and I was so nervous in meetings I would stay silent even when I knew I had something to offer. But I bluffed my way through the first week there and did everything I could to make sure my contract would be renewed.

I was hired after a few months and seven or eight months later I was made Art Director. Macromedia was, at the time, a place that I was right for and that was right for me. It was one of the most valuable job experiences I have had. I learned on my feet from some of the smartest people in the industry. So the transition was exciting.

SP: HillmanCurtis.com is just a few years old. How difficult was it to go out on your own and start the business in what must have been a pretty shaky .com environment? Given your own experiences, what advice would you give to someone who was considering launching their own new media design business?

Actually we're coming up on five years in the spring. I started the company in 98 when the .com thing was just getting started up. So it was a good time for me to start the company. Still, I remember doing Flash jobs for 300 dollars and running through my savings that first year. As far as advice goes, I don't consider myself to be the best businessman. I have no business plan per se. I can only offer what I did and still do, which is to work very, very hard, respect my co-workers, and follow my intuition as best as I can.

SP: You once said: "The reason for designing new media is simple: to subtly and quietly change the world." How does this apply to today's professional new media designer, who's now attempting to find at least vaguely gratifying work in the lean and mean, ultra-jumpy job market?

I think that that statement is something I like to keep in mind. It's definitely not always running through my head as I chase a deadline or deal with a frustrating design, but I do believe it. I believe the in the Web as a vehicle for, if not social change, then cross-cultural communication. It's both a relevant commercial and corporate medium as well as a free, unlicensed and unrestricted medium that can reach anywhere around the world. How it applies to designers banging against an impossibly hard job market is something I'm not sure I can answer.

Flash and Online Advertising

SP: You have previously commented "I do believe in the power of motion graphics. I do believe in it as a way to communicate emotion." Why is motion graphics so powerful? Do you feel that motion graphics has more potential to communicate in the online environment, than in the world of television?

I mentioned the Web reaching around the world and that means that perhaps there's an opportunity to develop or nurture a way in which to present information that doesn't rely on the English (or any other) language. And I think motion is a universal language (along with color and layout, etc.) that maybe can be used to present information anywhere. Television is regional and has the bandwidth to incorporate audio/spoken language at all times, so while motion graphics are powerful on television, I think there's an opportunity on the Web that is pretty amazing when you think about it.

SP: With the end of the .com heyday, we saw the wheels fall off the online advertising bandwagon. Before and during that time, HillmanCurits.com won numerous One Show awards -- the traditional advertising establishment's most coveted prize. What do you think lies ahead for the online advertising industry?

Well... the wheels fell off of all the channels of advertising in general. I'm very hopeful where the Web is concerned. I think it is the most important tool a company has right now to reach an audience.

SP: For many online designers, the creation of effective online ads is about good graphics and a strong message. How do the strategy and processes behind the development of effective online advertising differ from those used to develop ads for traditional media (if at all)?

The best ads still come from advertising people. The challenge is to work with the folks at Olgilvy, or DSW, or FCB, or Goodby, or Burnett and help steer their ideas in a direction that will respect the possibilities and limitations of the Web.

At the core is a quote from Charles Eames where he says "Design is a call to action" ...in other words design isn't about making something look better, it's about moving someone into action. Whether that is a commercial action, social, what have you. I believe you do that by drawing attention to a theme, and I think it's the same regardless of the medium.

SP: You once said of online advertising "You've got to get your message across in 10 seconds-15 to 20 at most." Many television commercials are of a similar length - and both media use imagery, sound and motion to convey a message. But how do the two differ?

TV is passive for the most part. The Web, by its nature, is interactive. Two very different mediums. Online you're usually looking for something, searching through links and pages, while with TV you're usually watching one program for a half hour. So while both use motion, images, and sound, there's a very different mindset going on on the viewer’s end. A good example of this is that you may not get annoyed at a TV show intro, but you get super annoyed at Flash Intros.

SP: A flash promotion of yours communicated that "The motion is the message". Readers of your first book might expect to see more Flash and motion graphics on your site, on which the homepage is the only place where they’re used. Why the "motion-minimalist" approach?

I love motion. But again, I think my company and the work is broader. I wanted to present a site that is quick, easy to navigate, and shows the diversity of design work. So I opted out of a big Flash site. But I'm currently in the first stages of a re-design, so you never know...