Responsive Web design Awards

The Developer Spotlight is an interview session with many of the top designers and developers of interactive media from around the world. This edition will be an interview with Dylan Tran, Robert Weitz, and Jim Thoburn of Fahrenheit Studio.

HIA: Dylan, Bob, Jim—thank you for taking the time to be interviewed. I am hoping that by sharing stories and interviews of developers all over the world, we may begin to build a sort of camaraderie amongst all of the Horizon Interactive Awards participants. In addition, this is an opportunity for us to discuss topics that are relevant to the industry and I hope that by exploring these topics, we will somehow elevate the web design world and provide additional value through our competition.

HIA: First off, tell us a little about your background: (where you are from, experience, how you got started, etc.)

BOB: I’ve spent a lot of time in my life creating things that take some effort to make them work. I started designing and making musical instruments when I was 17 years old, and then evolved into a fine craftsman, architect, digital artist guy who loves crafting brands. While Dylan and I are known for our playful and visually delicious user interfaces, some of our best cues came from tactile disciplines like architecture, furniture design, product and packaging design. We like making objects and experiences that delight and work well, whether they are virtual or worldly.

DYLAN: I come from fine arts, painting. I worked as the managing editor & art director at High Performance magazine, a cutting-edge arts quarterly, before starting my own design firm to do music packaging for Warner Bros. Records, Sony Music, among others. I strongly believe that having a well-rounded background, whether in the arts, music, literature or science, contributes to a healthy ability to think creatively outside the box, and that’s what we look for in our team, who are all very smart and diverse in their talents. Technologies may come and go, but its your creative process and flexible approach that will always allow you to adapt and grow.

JIM: When I was a teenager, I was creating advertisements and page layouts for my high school newspaper, and I fell in love with graphic design. I started making simple animations with BASIC, and realized I had an aptitude for programming too. I was naturally drawn to creating websites, which are, in my mind, a near-perfect collision of design and coding. It’s very gratifying—going back and forth between the two during projects. I feel like I have the best job in the world.