Philippe Andraos is an account manager and Web strategist at Bluesponge, a Montreal-based interactive agency. Having started what looked like a very promising career in the banking industry, a quick series of improbable decisions led him to start a career managing Web projects. He has managed dozens of projects, several of which have earned international awards and recognition.
01.05.10
A Love Affair with Numbers
If you have a degree in what field is it? I have a B.A. in economics and history and an M.A. in history.
What’s the best site you've seen lately? What’s so great about it? I’d rather not answer. Whatever site I name will seem like a horrible choice six months from now. However, I can say that what I find great these days are sites that succeed at creating immersive experiences without losing users in a Web of over-analyzed navigation structures.
If you were to change professions, what would you choose to do? Data analyst. I have a love affair with numbers. People see a bunch of stats and freak out but I feel like numbers talk to me. Luckily, geeks are in.
Design or technology? Which is more important? Why? They are both equally important. Many sites and interactive projects either have great design or solid technology, but what makes a successful project is one that has both. I feel extremely frustrated when I go to a beautiful Web site that takes too long to load or when I try out an amazing interactive installation that doesn't work.
From where do your best ideas originate? Sleeping. When I sleep, my brain doesn’t really ever stop working and I’ve awakened many times in the middle of the night with a solution to a problem that I’d been stuck with for days.
How do you overcome a creative block? I make inappropriate jokes.
In one word describe how you feel when beginning a new project? Optimistic.
What well-known site is most desperately in need of a redesign? Wikipedia. Everyone gets on the case of Craigslist, but Wikipedia also looks like it was designed in 1995.
Do you have creative outlets other than Web design? Talking to numbers (see above); making inappropriate jokes (see above); sleeping (see above).
What music are you listening to right now? Whatever the creatives at the office decide; they have an ideological monopoly over the sound system.
What product/gadget can you not live without? My glasses. I’m almost legally blind. They don’t even have lenses for me. One day they should invent computers that you can enter your prescription into so that the image reflects how your eyes see things.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve bought online? A train ticket with the Serbian national train system for a 26-hour ride between Belgrade and Istanbul. Legendary.
What's your favorite quote? “Make my logo bigger!” When I hear this from clients, it basically tells me that they don’t know anything about Web design and don’t pretend to—at that point, I know I can sell anything we come up with as long as the logo is bigger.
Do you have any advice for people just entering the profession? If you’re starting a career managing Web projects, make sure you’re emotionally stable. Clients will come to you when they are freaking out because the project is late, designers will have nervous breakdowns when their concepts are rejected, developers will need constant reassurance in order to continue working. Half the job of managing a project lies in keeping everyone confident—even when you're not.
What’s one thing you wish you knew when you started your career? That it’s normal for a project to appear doomed at some point. Things always work out.