When media9.ro appeared in Internet Vibes Directory I've been just impressed and decided this is a country portrait of Romanian design. Just entrance to the place where you must stay for some period of time and take a look around.
Then I've decided to meet closer this people. And now I'n pleased to present interview with media9 - one step closer to Catalin ILINCA.

> Say your Name and nickname please (maybe title?)
Name: Catalin,
Nickname: Sadegh (from Sadegh Hedayat, an iranian writer – I like him a lot, especially a book of his “the blind owl”…I have been using this nickname for the past 4 yrs and I have grown used to it .
Title: designer + director (we are a small design studio after all)




> Your Age (if not TOP secret)
why would it be, I am not a women … - 29 yrs. Old.

> Your Home URL (where do you live in the Web)?
http://www.media9.ro/

> Your other works (maybe you want us to see them)
You will soon be able to see them on my other site "Luna9.net" which is not launched yet.

> When first time you are appeared in the Web (Your first work!) and does it still affect your life?
In autumn of 99. Late enough in comparison with other web designers. My first site was "hai.ro" (lets meet on site Saturday night), it was more of an experiment done in collaboration with a Romanian poet, Mircea Cipariu. I am still very nostalgic about those times, as I was living the discoveries of new solutions of webdesign.
When I was successful in finding a script I was jumping off my chair with joy. The upload on the server was always done with a lot of emotion. With "hai.ro" I also won my first recognition by winning the prize for the best uncommercial site in 99, prize given by "Planeta Net" review.
If it affects me, still? Yes, I sometimes feel frustrated because the project is no loner active.
As other projects, it has been dropped on a dead line. Prior to this experience I was working as an animator 2d+3d.low-poly modeling, at Ubisoft Romania. However in my last period at Ubisoft, the animation was no longer necessary, given that we were creating 3d race models-that is when I realized I can no longer keep at designing textures on a conveyer belt.. After a year and a half of employment as art director for ITC Romania I decided to go on my own, along with Adina Badulescu we have given life to the "Media9 creative studio"



> Do you like things you are doing?
Not exactly, I wish for more creativity and more challenging projects, larger projects that involve more skills and imagination, as it was when I have created the CD-ROM Eminescu where I experienced true freedom of creation. By education I am a visual artist and obviously that my desire to be creative doesn't always meet the commercial demand of the market.



> From where are you taking your inspiration?
Design communities are important sours of inspiration for me; once Carole Guevin, the owner of netdiver was raising the issue of charging a fee for site visitors.I think that such creative effort should be rewarded (for those who deserve it).I appreciate a lot your own effort.

The other source is our own photo database and the design reviews such as Novum. I like to report constructively to other people's work and of course we cannot forget the classics of visual arts. You can always learn something from those who have preceded us. In short, I am a big consumer of image and visual arts, I feed with drawings and color. If I were to be born again I would choose the same path, maybe more methodical and better organized, but I would do the same.

> Give some web sites you are respect and think they could be true inspirations!
I respect the Russian designers. (factory512.com, gdscb.com) or from other areas : melia.com, the portal artandculture.com, Carlos Segura's with segura-inc.com is one of the best, or loop-land.co.uk. The Spaniards from doubleyou.com, + canadian Carole Guevin with soulmedia.com, or the artist Auriea Harvey with entropy8.com, those are sites that I highly recommend to be discovered.

> What hardware and software do you use?
We use Intel and Amd systems all together but I've never been in a rush to invest in the last generation of procs on the market. For the pleasure and comfort at work, the most important for me are the capacity and speed of hard disks and the quality and dimensions of the monitors - larger they are, better it gets.

The Wacom digitizer A4+ is a precious companion. the mouse must be a Logitech. I don't like white keyboards.

My computer is an Athlon 1600+, 768 Mb ram, 120 GB HDD, Samsung SyncMaster monitor, 1000p, of 21", video board ATI Radeon VE but I think I'll get a more recent one, the Matrox Parhelia.

As about the software, obviously Adobe Photoshop. (6.0) which is .the most precious. Macromedia Dreamweaver MX, (the MX has offered a lot of peasant surprises), then After Effects 5.5, Adobe Premiere 6.0. ACDSee, of course but not the last version (4.0) which is a big kitsch as interface.. I stopped at 2.4 version which is clean and stable .

For the architecture projects we use 3DSMax 4.0 and Autocad 2000. (at UBISOFT I started in 1995 with 3DS4, under DOS. but that's another story. then I used 3DSMax-ul from version 1.0. I can say that I followed almost all it's evolution.

> Say something about Your Life and hobbies not related to Web?
We don't go out much, but we have a lot of friends that activate in various fields (visual arts, medicine, communication, film, advertising) and there is a special communication, common projects. One of my passions is film and I hope to activate in a professional manner in this area. We try to go to most of the film festivals in the area and to the new movies. Every thursday night we organize movie projections with a small group of friends. We analyze the good and bad points, the story, the performance quality.. I was a film student for one year.for now I gave it a break because time doesn't allow me, yet I have not given up the idea of filmmaking.

I also have to mention the theory books, journals, memories, essays, the IT magazines, design, architecture that fill my spare time. It may be interesting to mention my dreams diary. I have spectacular dreams and, from time to time I record them in my diary. Maybe one day those notes will turn into something, maybe illustrated or maybe a book.



> Do you like pizza? (or something other delicious you like most!)
I am not a food specialist yet I have a lot of cravings. I crave all sorts of junk food that you usually encounter on the streets. Otherwise, I enjoy the Chinese and Hungarian food. In the studio we consume al lot of fruits throughout the day and a lot of white chocolate. and of course washed down with far too much coffee. The flavored cigarettes are my weakness, especially those from Indonesia (Djarum).

> Favorite music, style, color, forms, objects, cars, airplane, whatever?
Olive:
Music has an important place for us: Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Test Department, Transglobal Underground, Bjork, Zoviet France, Snog, Coil, Einsturzende Neubauten, Siouxsie&Banshees, Swans, Beastie Boys. and more others. The film directors: Stanley Kubrick, Jim Jarmusch, Carlos Saura, Derek Jarman, Terry Gillian, Liv Ulmann, Jean Pierre Jeunet, Nick Park. Colors: I think that orange, bleu, silver, grey.

Cars: Saab and sport cars of the '70. Architecture: Dutch and Scandinavian. Forms: sphere, spiral, industrial structure, engines, wheels, cables, organic structures, microscopic ones, fractal structures obsess me. I'd love to make a mood movie, to bring together scenes form the cells movement, a visual abstract and random movement.

> Future plans in the Web?
A better interactivity of media9 site, more up-dates and the launch of luna9.net, a personal project that is waiting on stand by.

> Do you mind you are talented enough?
I am not ashamed by my capabilities. Ever since I can remember I've worked in a single direction: visual expression. I sometimes go back to traditional painting tools, to colors, brushes and easel, and I feel the lack of exercise constantly. I don't have the hand anymore; I guess I need time for practice. Now I'm exploring a new domain, video editing, which I will further develop.

> Drop some notes about the way of the Web today. Do you mind it is becoming less attractive?
I would like to think that the web is creatively growing, positively interacting with the clients. Locally, things are moving slowly. The clients need to be educated. There are projects where I can impose a certain design level to the client but it doesn't always happen. Yet, as long as there are so many worthwhile sites, I have the confidence that good things can be done and a lot of clients evaluate correctly the importance of creativity in finding the right solution.

>Thanks for your interview! Please write some words to whom it may concern, just for our readers and wish something to Internet Vibes!
Learn, learn . J. As a piece of advice for the ones that activate in the field of design, I recommend not to limit their inspiration source to the trendy sites on the net. To be in a permanent challenge with other designers, this way they can better evaluate and improve. To be open minded, to respect and learn from the masters, to constantly relate to the elites in design. Not to underestimate the importance of communication (with the clients). Not to limit to clichйs, even though sometimes they are inevitable.Talent is not sufficient. Flexibility and understanding the client needs are important. To respect themselves and the others. To be in a permanent search for ideas.

To internetvibes I wish to be a reference portal in the design portals elite, to cumulate a rich reference portfolio and, not last, to earn the sympathy and respect of the sponsors.

Interview was taken by: Lord Time, http://lordtime.com/