Interview

> > Here are the 26 brainstormed questions:
 * (Add into PDF) - First page**
 * In our initial thinking, we had brainstormed a list of questions that we thought were suitable to ask Francois
 * We asked everything from why he became a designer, design processes, any movements he was associated with, education, business relationships, the Canadian identity. bad clients, bad designers?
 * However, we felt it necessary to cut it down to a few main strong ones
 * 1) How can you describe your work?
 * 2) How did you become a designer?
 * 3) Why do you call yourself a designer?
 * 4) Do you consider yourself Canadian, or Quebecois?
 * 5) What kind of design "movement"(s) do you see yourself associated with (ex. modernism, post-modernism, desconstrucivism)?
 * 6) What do think of appropriation in design?
 * 7) How does Canada (or Montreal) influence your artwork?
 * 8) What differentiates Canadian design in general from the rest of the world?
 * 9) What are some Characteristics typical of Canadian design? If any? (ex. german design utilizes blackletters, swiss with red and lines, etc.)
 * 10) What would you suggest to young Canadian designers to help them firmly establish their design in Canada, and internationally?
 * 11) What steps do you take in creating a new design (process, influences)?
 * 12) How do you approach the relationship between your firm and your clients (narrow this question)?
 * 13) Have you ever had to compromise your integrity for your clients' sake? (Do you try to please your clients to the fullest even when you know what they want is not "good" design?)
 * 14) What is inspirational and motivatesyou to sustain your creativity?
 * 15) Your education was very technical. Do you think you developed more as a designer from formal or informal education.
 * 16) You are a designer, yet your website is as bland as dry flour. Why is that?
 * 17) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Do you have an ultimate goal as a designer? A Canadian designer?
 * 18) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Do you believe that there is no such thing as "bad clients", only "bad designers"? (12 Paradoxes of Graphic Design - Tobias Bergdahl)
 * 19) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Where do you see Canada in terms of this new "green" or "sustainable design" movement that has sparked in the last 5 years
 * 20) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">How important is aesthetics vs functionality to you in design?
 * 21) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Do you involve yourself and your design work with social issues (<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; font-size: small; line-height: normal;">environmental problems, human relations, media, sexuality, violence, information technology, education, design, art, government, poverty, health)
 * 22) <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Geneva,Arial,SunSans-Regular,sans-serif; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">What do you consider as "good design" and is there such a thing as "bad design"?
 * 23) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">What do you think of spec work?
 * 24) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Where do you see the print industry in terms of survival in the next two decades?
 * 25) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">As a seasoned, veteran designer, do you still find yourself dabbling and experimenting with new technologies made available to the industry?


 * Page 2 - No interview :(**

Don't put this section into the pdf, it's only for my reference.

(Unfortunately we did not get to interview Francois. We had sent out an email stating our position as students in the York University/Sheridan College Design program and that we were taking a class with Brian Donnelly called Graphic Design in Canada. We explained to him that we were learning the history of graphic design in Canada and we currently had a project that focused on an individual designer that contributed to this industry’s history.  We were interested in his story and wanted to ask him four main questions over email and afterwards if he was interested, if we could conduct a phone interview with him.)

(Put the rest of this into the pdf :) vvvv)
 * We did not get the interview with francois
 * We made sure to mention that we were students in the York University/Sheridan College Design program
 * We had emailed him 4 main questions and requested a phone interview if he had the time

The four questions we asked him were: 1) How did you become a designer? 2) Why do you call yourself a designer? 3) What is inspirational and motivates you to sustain your creativity? 4) Were you consciously influenced by the idea of post-modernism?

- Information about his bio/companies - Information about his specific style, the messages he likes to portray in his work, his specific influences/motivations - These questions are also directly relatable to us (the students) as it provides useful information in the formation of a company and the thought process behind the many decisions
 * We felt that these questions were important because they would open up the main categories in our presentation
 * As well as relate to our course


 * Page 3 - The phone interview**


 * Afterwards, we had a a list of 9 questions that we would have asked him over the phone interview
 * These ones went more in depth into his thought processes, what he thought about his Canadian identity, etc.

The nine questions were:

>
 * 1) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">How did you become a designer?
 * 2) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Why do you call yourself a designer?
 * 3) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">What do think of appropriation in design?
 * 4) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">What kind of design "movement"(s) do you see yourself associated with (ex. modernism, post-modernism, desconstrucivism)? Were you consciously influenced by the idea of post-modernism?
 * 5) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">What differentiates Canadian design in general from the rest of the world?What are some Characteristics typical of Canadian design? If any? (ex. german design utilizes blackletters, swiss with red and lines, etc.)
 * 6) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Do you consider yourself Canadian, or Quebecois? How does Canada (or Montreal) influence your artwork?
 * 7) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">What is inspirational and motivates you to sustain your creativity?
 * 8) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">As a seasoned, veteran designer, do you still find yourself dabbling and experimenting with new technologies made available to the industry? Where do you see the print industry in terms of survival in the next two decades?
 * 9) <span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 3em; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">What would you suggest to young Canadian designers to help them firmly establish their design in Canada, and internationally?


 * These of course related directly to the history of Canadian design as it focused on specific design movements as well as specific Canadian characteristics and the notion of a true Canadian identity. (as well as a french canadian one)