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Bogdan Vartolomei
age: 27
country: Romania
website: www.redstudio.ro
exposed: September 2006
webdesignhosted by sylconia
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mugshot Bogdan Vartolomei
Please introduce yourself and tell us something about yourself and your background.
Hello! My background contains a white wall and some cabinets. :D I'm a desktop publisher from Iasi (Romania). I work in a red studio, called “redstudio”, which I own partially. I listen to all types of drums and basses all day. I’m a freelance DJ, it is my hobby and I produce phat sounds like crazy.. I practice snowboarding and grinding my USD skates on any rail I can find.. hmm .. that's all?!? I must do some other stuff, but I can’t remember right now. ah yes! I hate summer and the sun in particular.

What makes a good website in your eyes?
Hmm.. tough question .. I think the answer is great design and functionality, but design in particular. your site design must stand out even if u use minimalist or heavy graphics. if you create a website from scratch why “try” to make it look like it's made from a template? Ok! customers request it, but us, the designers, have tools and tricks to make the sites look good (fabulous :P) and templateish .. don’t we? Functionality can be bent also and if it’s done properly, then the “user experience” can be enriched and the site will attract even more traffic.

Could you tell us something about your work process? How do you start? How long do you work on it? What mediums do you work in and which one do you enjoy the most?
My work in particular begins with an idea and, in most cases, the final result represents the road to that point, not the goal itself. I often work on something for months, by making it evolve until I can no longer add or substract anything to it and, at the end, it shows exactly what I wanted it to show. Emotions and state of mind play a very important role in my creation process even commercial works influence me quite a bit. I am surrounded by good and bad design and I gather my weapons and I start bombing both sides to make peace with myself. I have worked in ink, spray, graphite., but what I enjoy the most is the mouse ‘cause it's very customizable. I remember dirtying all my room with graphite just to finish an A3 work. The computer is a tool just like any other. If u practice and study enough you will get around making art. Not always though (laughter my colleagues are pointing at each other)

To what extend do you allow clients to influence your work?
It depends if a client has “THE” idea. If so I let him launch me in and then I work my way to the extent of my knowledge. On the other hand, if he tries to make me chew a half eaten idea I will bomb him with my knowledge and various samples of my work until he agrees. Otherwise .. I will not work with that guy (depending on the money he is ready to throw @ me) (evil laughter my colleagues again) but most times they request my opinion. I never had a client that forced me to do an UGLY design.

What key feature are you missing in the application you most work with?
Oh well I have in my right hand Photoshop and in my right hand Illustrator.. not to mention in my right hand Flash and they are all FULL OF BUGS.. god damn it! god damn it! god damn it! Imagine yourself working on for 13 hours straight on a print and all of the sudden PUFF!!! illustrator is gone, photoshop too .. not even a bye bye sign, nothing! u can imagine that the next day I bought myself a new keyboard and a new mouse… don’t laugh! it's contagious.. >:)

In what way do you use the Internet? What role does the computer play in your work?
Every way possible. I’m a fanatic “internaut” really, I have an addiction, not related to mIRC or YM, but I need to know stuff. Lots of it! Stuff like what Pixel Ranger said in his last interview, what will the next mobile phone look like and what is the latest trend in Japanese fetishes. Therefore my computers are my link to this sea/ocean of knowledge :D so the Internet and my computer are pretty important for me, as u can easily imagine.

Computer or Ink?
Both. I have seen stuff created on both mediums that took my breath away. These two combined are invincible.

Concept or Intuition?
Always both of them! it's like a web: all things tightly sawed together. if you try to illustrate just a concept without any intuition, it will be dry, impersonal and without “texture free” try to leave out the concept and you have just blobs of ink in related and that cannot transmit your spirit in your work. In my opinion concept and intuition blossom in creativity, linking all loose parts in a tight composition.

The thin line between art & design is sometimes hard to define. Do you consider your work to be art or design? Why?
I can’t say I thought about this. I guess “art is in the eye of the beholder” so I can see art in things you could not imagine and deny Giger’s role in art. My creation is hard to define and I guess what all the other people have to say, matters, in defining it.

If you had an unlimited budget and all the time you needed. What would you do?
Hoaaa BRING IT ONNNN.... I would make the greatest community ever. In my opinion great things have come from brainstorming and chewing together with a lot of people on the same piece of paper. I would create a country where everything would be beautiful, well placed and replaceable with another thing, equal, but different by its nature. It’s hard to imagine what I would do with a lot of money and time to kill. I guess I would seek all those Indian, Chines, Russian.. artists worldwide, that deserve a piece of heaven and I would give them the opportunity to Xpose. And I would buy me an island and populate it with beautiful “she” designers :D

What inspires you?
Everything. And I really do mean it! my desk, my printer, ads, trees, sunsets, children, other designers, artist, but I tend to be more underground, not to engorge to much existing design. I don’t quite like eating other people's design if I did not participate in their concept or at least at the main idea. The technology is another thing: it evolves. Everyone who has the same tech does not create exactly the same, so it's like a lightning. it's all about permeability and looks.

How do to you keep your knowledge up to date? Do you spread your knowledge at universities, conferences or workshops and so on?
Lot of research in all the ways! I like reading-watching-smelling-tasting stuff: art in particular! I’m always seeking for more. Yeah, I like teaching other people about beauty and what should be avoided on forums or live. I always try to give them a kick in the butt in order for them to explore and try to imagine stuff for themselves, to build creativity and train it. In my opinion training is very important even for creative persons.

Who is your favorite artist/designer? Why?
Oho lots and lots of them
Let’s start with Stark, the one that I could first relate to, Neostream that fueled my web creation-desires, Panacea for music arrangement, early works of Picasso's i, modern prints Grosh www.gmunk.com, and many many more

Which project or website would you like to have made, or make?
I would like to create sites like Nike.com and adidas.com. I think that those sites need to be trend setters, they have the brand power and the money to experiment and to support art. I can’t say they are not doing it but not on the dot com.

Final words?
Yeah! Feel free to drop me an e-mail @ bogdan.vartolomei@redstudio.ro
And be sure to see our commercial portfolio @ www.redstudio.ro
Cheers! ?>