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Today WebM.ag is speaking with Rob Morris, Rob is Product Designer at HiiDef Inc. and is a well respected graphic designer in his own right.

WebMa.g: So Rob, Tell our readers a little about yourself and what you do?
RM: Up until recently I’ve been a freelance designer working mainly on interactive projects. I’m now a full-time product designer at HiiDef Inc., which is responsible for superkix.com, flavors.me and soon goodsie.com

WebMa.g: What would you say where the best and worse experiences of your career?
RM: The best experiences are when you nervously send a design off and get a single-word response from a client: “Perfect!”. That’s pretty rewarding. One of the worst experiences I’ve had was missing a tight deadline for a big job while I was on a flight back to Japan — a miscommunication which was ultimately my fault. All was forgiven, but I probably squeezed out 3 or 4 grey hairs when I touched down.

WebMa.g: Some great designers are coming out of Australia, what’s the design scene like there?
RM: I don’t know if I’d really call it a ’scene’ as such. But there are certainly cultural aspects that come through in Australian design. Australia (as it is today) is a very young and diverse country, so the design work seems to follow many other countries stylistically rather than have a definitive style itself. This lack a clear identity leads to a very interesting style in itself.

WebMa.g: A typical day in the life of Rob Morris?
RM: Get up at 8.
Zazen.
Answer emails.
Breakfast.
Work on most urgent.
Lunch.
Work on second most urgent.
Some sort of exercise.
Dinner.

WebMa.g: Some clients are hard work, without naming names what’s been your most difficult client?
RM: I’ll happily name names. My hardest client by far is myself. Any project that I’ve got a personal stake in is always much harder to be objective about. It’s no surprise so many design agencies outsource their own ID stuff when they’re starting out.

WebMa.g: If you had to pick a favourite site you have designed, which one and why?
RM: To entirely contradict my last answer, digitalmash.com because it’s the only one I get full control over.

WebMa.g: In web design is there anything that really excites you at present?
RM: 2010 is going to be the year of type on the web. Up until now we’ve been playing with like 6 instruments. It’s only now we’re getting the whole orchestra. As a designer that’s a pretty exciting.

WebMa.g: Who are your design role models?
RM: Some names off the top of my head — Michael Bierut, Wim Crowel, Josef Muller-Brockmann, Tibor Kalman, Stefan Sagmeister. All gutsy designers.

WebMa.g: Outside of design, what you you do in your free time?
RM: Photography, read books, play shakuhachi, squash, movies. Kick ass and take names….the usual.

WebMa.g: What advice would you give to a newbie starting out in design?
RM: Don’t be a decorator. Be a problem solver.

WebMa.g: Tell us something about you that you haven’t mentioned in an interview before?
RM: I am a seriously badass tetris player.

WebMa.g: So what can we expect from you going into 2010 and beyond?
RM: HiiDef Inc. will be making a major step toward world-domination in 2010. Lots of exciting stuff in the pipeline.

Quickfire!

Music Of Choice? Electro
What are you reading? 100 Years of Solitude
IE6, love or hate? ……
PC or MAC? MAC
Facebook or Twitter? Twitter

A Big Thank You To Rob!

Thank you for taking time out to chat with WebM.ag, if you wish to read more about Rob or HiiDef Inc and what they do you can visit HiiDef Inc. here: hiidef.com or you can keep up to date with or speak to Rob via Twitter: @digitalmash

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