The following post is the second part of an ongoing conversation between guest authors Rick Bennett and Andy Polaine, friends and partners in Omnium – a research group of academics, designers, artists, programmers and writers who work collaboratively (and from different countries) to explore the potential the Internet allows for what they term – online collaborative creativity (OCC). We asked Rick and Andy to explore the topic of online collaboration through a collaborative online conversation. Stay tuned over the next few weeks (or months?) as this unique meeting of minds unfolds:

ANDY: Rick, I hope my mocking hasn’t wounded you too deeply! I think you probably underestimate how au fait you are with new technologies and I think this brings us onto a couple of points that refer back to what you asked me about in your final questions. (more…)

The following post is the first part of an ongoing conversation between guest authors Rick Bennett and Andy Polaine, friends and partners in Omnium – a research group of academics, designers, artists, programmers and writers who work collaboratively (and from different countries) to explore the potential the Internet allows for what they term – online collaborative creativity (OCC). We asked Rick and Andy to explore the topic of online collaboration through a collaborative online conversation. Stay tuned over the next few weeks (or months?) as this unique meeting of minds unfolds:

In 1998, on a grey autumn afternoon in London’s Soho, Omnium’s founder, Rick Bennett, came to visit me at Antirom’s studios to tell me about a project he was developing called Omnium - The Virtual Design Studio. Antirom was a new media collective that I co-founded along with several other designers, developers and artists and was based on the collaborative, non-hierarchical structure used by the über-creative collective Tomato, our friends and landlords. (more…)

Steven Heller and David Womack (more or less)

Steven Heller and David Womack are two of the most important and knowledgeable writers, thinkers and talkers on design today. They recently collaborated on the book “Becoming a Digital Designer: A Guide to Careers in Web, Video, Broadcast, Game and Animation Design”, which offer an insightful overview of the contemporary digital design industry, as well as interviews with top designers. We thought it would be interesting to get their take on the good, the bad and the ugly in digital design today. So we gathered one afternoon in Steven’s office, as they unleashed their opinions and expertise (along with some friendly banter). (more…)

Hjalti Karlsson and Vera Yuan at home with their son Dagur

Married couple Vera Yuan and Hjalti Karlsson live together in New York with their one-and-a-half-year old son Dagur. They are both designers and, as with all creative people, their work is an important part of their lives. Which also makes it an important part of their relationship (“It IS the relationship,” Vera jokes before the interview). We thought the marriage of love and design was an interesting topic and sat down with them on a hot and humid June morning to explore it further. (more…)