Christopher Lennartz
www.flavorpixel.com CL: I'm 26, grew up, and still live in Suburban Chicago. Ever since I can remember I have been into art and drawing. I had never really touched a computer besides a few games until after graduating High School. A friend of mine was going the Art Institute and showed me Photoshop. From then on I was hooked. Besides design, I have always been into loud music, sports, fashion and fancy girls that have brains. Right know I am working with a multimedia company called Culture 22.
Where are you from?Suburban Chicago.
Design education:I went to the Illinois Institute of Art for my B.F.A. in multimedia and web design.
What inspires you to create?Other artists would have to be my biggest inspiration. When I see great design in any media it always get me motivated to create new work. Music also plays a huge role in my inspiration. I would say that 99% of the time that I am designing, I am listening to music. I love music with layers. Bands like the Deftones, Dredge and Radiohead have a big impact on my work.
What programs do you currently use to create your work?For web sites, I mainly use Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Flash. Then I always do a lot of tweaking to the html code built from Dreamweaver. For any type of print work, I am always on either Photoshop or Illustrator.
Do you think flash is cool or overused?I think that when Flash is used right, it can be very cool. It seems that there are fewer tacky "look what I can do" Flash sites on the web now than two years ago. One thing I really hate is flash intros. I am always going straight to the skip button.
If design and art did not exist what and where would you be today?If there were no art, I would have probably tried to be a stock trader. At least it stills has a form of excitement to it until I would stress out and jump off a building.
Describe your workstation?I have a Dell Dimension Pentium 4 system with a 21" monitor, 512 ram, 60 gig hard drive and HK speaker system. My desk is glass with a bunch of shit usually laying all over the place on it.
With broadband a household necessity do you still think it's important to cater to dial-up and 56k users?Not unless a client specifically asks me to cater to 56k. I'm just not willing to sacrifice my ideas and work for slow computers.
PDC:My thoughts, exactly.
How would compare today's Graphic Art Industry from 40 years ago?Computers have obviously taken Graphic Art to a new level since then. There are really no limits with what you can do now compared to 40 years ago. Overall graphic design was a lot more basic then compared to the mayhem that can be created now.
How would you explain a print spread that is over designed?To me it's a piece of work that has so much going on that you no longer understand the purpose of the piece, or a piece that has been completely overdone with all of the latest trends.
Do you prefer technologically advanced sites or sites with simple but good design?I really have no preference. If it's using a bunch of crazy flash scripting, it better look good too. Or else it's just annoying to me. If it's a simple site with good design, the design will easily keep me there.
What is your all time favorite non-PC game?Splinter Cell. That game is beyond anything I have ever played. I love the attention to detail. That's what makes a game great instead of just good. I have been playing Tony Hawk Underground like crazy lately though. That game is very addicting.
What do you think is more important in today's Graphic Design industry, design education or artistic qualities? Choose one then explain:You definitely need an education. It's important to learn the business aspect of the industry or you can easily get screwed. School also gives you a nice grasp of the programs. But from what I have seen, if you don't have artistic qualities, it will show in your work. And even10 years of school will not teach you them.
How would you describe your work?I would say the majority of my work has a polished grunge look. I love the clean aspect of design, but I also really love to make things that look old and dirty.
How would you like to be remembered?I would like to be remembered as good news.
Any new projects coming up that you can tell us about?The project I am most excited about is the new version of my website. I'm working on a version that is much more experimental that will cater to only other designers. Anyone else who sees it will probably think its garbage. I love working on it because I have no one telling me what he or she are looking for with it.
Everyone has bad "design" habits, what's yours?I never organize my Photoshop layers. I will end up with over 100 unlabeled layers with no folders. Very messy and annoying.
Favorite quote:"You come before you" - Poison the Well
Final comments:Don't get into web and graphic design for the money. It's not 1995 anymore. If you don't have a passion for it, it will show. Try being a lawyer or something.
PDC: Great advice!
