mcville: Jared Christensen Interview

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Jared Christensen Interview

Dec 10, 06:54 PM by Marko

Interivew with Jared Christensen at jaredigital.com

Marko: Heya Jared!
Jared: Whassup, Marko!

Marko: For our readers, could you tell something about yourself (years old and
other stuff)?
Jared: You betcha. I’m a crusty 33 years old, and I’ve been married to my wife
Jessica for almost 3 years now. I have 2 pet rats, Speedy and Butters, and
they’re the coolest. I’m a huge music buff and I also enjoy good movies. I
also like to complain a lot.

Marko: How are you doing these days?
Jared: I can’t complain. There seems to be plenty of work out there right now.
Hopefully that is not only the sign of a healthy economy, but also an
indicator that business at large is realizing the long-term value of good
design.

Marko: When did you first encounter a keyboard or computer?
Jared: A friend of mine in high school had an Amiga hooked up to his TV. We’d go
to his house after school and play around with really primitive photo
manipulation software.

Marko: What is your favorite art work /website!?
Jared: I love oriental art, especially Japanese woodblock. My favorite
contemporary artist is Charles Dwyer, whose work is classical, dense and
architectural. It’s beautiful stuff (hopefully one day I’ll be able to
afford it!).

Marko: When you launched jaredigital.com were you happy with the result of the site?
Jared: How happy is any designer with his own site? I’ve redesigned it over 10
times since it launced back in the day, but I’m at least currently
satisfied with the current incarnation. It seems to have hit upon
something good.

Marko: What do you do in your spare time (I do realize that spare time, in this
context, is pretty relative)?
Jared: Pretty normal stuff. I go to movies, play video games, watch TV, go out
and try to experience some culture, and make an effort to get outside for
some sun every once in a while.

Marko: Do you have a favorite drink? How much of it do you drink?
Jared: I like Coke, that saucy devil of a drink! I know it’s terrible for your
body, but it tastes so good! And I drink it as little as possible.

Marko: Would you care to give us a brief overview of what a typical day is like
for Jared Christensen?
Jared: Sure. Wake up, hit snooze, wake up, hit snooze, wake up, hit snooze, take
shower, get dressed, drive to work(link: http://www.brightcorner.com),
check email, check Basecamp, check Bloglines, read blogs, check email,
check stats, check comments, work on projects, check comments, check
Bloglines, keep working, check comments, eat, check Bloglines, comments,
and stats another 10 times, finish work on time and with total panache,
drive home, play games/watch TV/spend time with my wife and sleep.

Marko: I am always wondering how people such as yourself go about getting work?
How do you do it?
Jared: I don’t seek out freelance work. Anything I do aside from my day job at
Bright Corner(http://www.brightcorner.com) is work that I choose to take
on because I think it will be challenging or fun. Selfish, I know. 100% of
that work comes through my website contact form, and I assume clients find
my site through CSS galleries or tarot cards.

Marko: Who are some of your biggest influences?
Jared: My high school advertising design teacher, Mr. Cook. He was the one who
taught me to have confidence in my abilities.

My co-workers at Bright Corner, who have given me a new perspective on

the role of design.

Musicians, who, like designers, turn abstract concepts into something

more familiar.

Marko: Is your background in design? What was the progression into web
development and design like?
Jared: Woah, compadre, them’s some big questions! As for background, I graduated
from college with a degree in Electronic Graphics/3D Animation. That was
the culmination of a lifetime of design and art studies. I discovered web
design sometime in 1998 and basically taught myself the ropes. And by
ropes, I mean tables. Lots of tables, even quadruple-nested ones! I picked
up a bit of Flash skills on the job and stuck with HTML/Flash as my
primary tools until 2004, when I stumbled upon web standards. Since then,
my entire career has changed for the better, ultimately bringing me to
where I am now.

Marko: If you where not a designer/programmer what would you be?
Jared: I’d love to be a carpenter, actually.

Marko: How do you like our site mcville.net?
Jared: It’s loquatious!!!

Marko: If you could change something on the site what would it be?
Jared: More cowbell! I keed, I keed…

Marko: What kind of music do you fancy?
Jared: I like music with heart, soul and integrity. That usually ends up being
indie pop/rock, but I definitely don’t limit myself to that.

Marko: What’s your favorite food?
Jared: Stuff with sugar in it.

Marko: Where do you get out on Saturday’s?
Jared: The movies, grocery shopping, errands. Nothing terribly exciting most of
the time.

Some relaxing question to follow:

Marko: Chinese or Thai (food)?
Jared: Chinese.

Marko: Coke or Pepsi?
Jared: Coke, that scarlet wench!

Marko: HTML or CSS?
CSS.

Marko: Do you watch television? If so, do you have a favorite show?
Jared: I’m hooked on “Lost.” Can’t get enough of it.

Marko: What would we find in your favorites bookmarks-bar?
Jared: A multiplying file tree of death!!! I bookmark a fair amount of stuff, and
I keep it all at del.icio.us/jaredigital.

Marko: What inspires you? This doesn’t have to be design related.
Jared: I like magazines like HOW and promotional materials like Veer’s Image
Showcases. Art, sculpture and photography are also good mediums to learn
more about composition, form, and aesthetics.

Marko: Thank again for having this interview Jared ,Cheers!
Jared: No, thank you!

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Jared Christensen Interview

Dec 10, 06:54 PM by Marko