Ned Cannon is the creative director at Seattle-based Cypress Consulting where he manages creative through all phases of design and development. He has over a decade of product development, design management and creative strategy experience. His design career was born with the Internet boom, where he helped define the look, feel and user experience for such brands as Amazon and Gear.com. Cannon also spent several years at Microsoft as a product designer and art director where he drove design and branding initiatives, helped create new interactive media programs and led in the design development of innovative e-learning products.

03.19.08

There's No Good Answer to A Trick Question

If you have a degree in what field is it? BA in fine art and a BA in English from University of Oregon.

What’s the best site you've seen lately and what’s so great about it? The Onion. Still my all-time favorite for content; I visit it every morning to get my day started off right. The brand of satire transcends time and technology. That said, they also do an excellent job of keeping on top of technology with video content and interactive Flash features.

If you were to change professions, what would you choose to do? Architecture (the Modernist school).

Design or technology? Which is more important? Why? Seems like a trick question.

From where do your best ideas originate? From watching my two-year-old daughter interact and learn from her surroundings.

How do you overcome a creative block? Get back to basics, focus on simplicity and essence.

In one word describe how you feel when beginning a new project? One word? Depends (on the project).

What well-known site is most desperately in need of a redesign? Pass.

Do you have creative outlets other than Web design? Endless home remodeling.

What music are you listening to right now? Ryan Adams’s “Demolition.”

What product/gadget can you not live without? The Garmin GPS/Fish Finder on my boat.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve bought online? Flowers. I know the act of buying flowers online isn’t strange, but conceptually it’s weird.

What’s your favorite quote? “The heart is the chief feature of a functioning mind.” —Frank Lloyd Wright

Do you have any advice for people just entering the profession? No matter how talented you are, if you can’t collaborate you’re on your own.

What’s one thing you wish you knew when you started your career? Would have been nice to know about the Dot Bomb of 2001.