Hello David, could you please decribe how did you get into the web design? How did you start FI company?
As a kid and especially as a teenager, I have always been into making things look good and neat. Keeping my room extremely clean with the attitude that it could be in a living magazine. I was always criticizing ads and thinking about how companies could make things better and more efficient. Then at 20 years, I saw the internet; it was absolutely crap and terribly ugly. I was sitting in my girlfriend’s house in Sweden, her father had a PC and an internet connection, so as I looked for jobs on cruise ships to fill my spare time, I found a cool web site builder called “Homestead”. With this I was able to channel my energy and passion for design in order to make the internet a better place. I never designed before; I can’t even draw.

What are the current situation in FI? What are the goals for future? We would love to hear more about Fantasy-Interactive.
FI has become a whole different thing from back in the days when we were known for cool Flash sites and winning awards for them. Today, FI is a company. I never up until recently thought of FI as a company. We employ over 50 people from all over the world; Russia, Poland, Estonia, USA, Sweden, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, Korea, India, Canada. We have been very careful growing in the past 6 months. We have hired extremely talented, passionate people that drive and shape FI and love to keep us at the leading edge.
Before, we sometimes never got paid and clients were very difficult to work with. Today, we get to pick our clients, as we have a waiting list. Our clients also let FI decide what to work on rather than the client coming up with the task. We have enormous freedom, more than any other company I know, because we have worked so hard and our FI brand is well trusted by our clients.

FI as a company and our staff have matured quite fast in the interactive industry. We see design and technology going hand in hand. Our people love to work with projects that millions of people use daily rather than a campaign site for a shoe. Today we get the time to put that quality, that extra touch, into our work. It’s a requirement actually.
Our goals are simple. To become or maintain our position as (depends on your opinion) the best interactive company and the best employer in the industry. We want to keep attracting the best talent in the world and work with projects that really evolve us and keep us challenged. We are planning a new office in the UK & Ireland in the near future and our goal is to open that successfully as the leading Interactive firm in that area.

What is your opinion about flash?
We of course love Flash. It has come pretty far from the older days of flash 4. We see Adobe doing interesting things that help our teams become more efficient in the work process. However, these days there are some serious competitors to Flash emerging. We feel Flash has a bad name; we know it does. The majority of Flash applications and sites out there are not done well enough to get the trust from the public. The internet is not done well enough. Flash is a great tool to deliver a fantastic experience. Unfortunately not too many get it right.

By looking at FI portfolio, which project do you like best and why?
The past 8 months, FI have not launched anything new, but this summer, expect a whole new portfolio of work and launches from us. Of the older work, my favorite is Road Runner. Road Runner made FI what it is today; they gave us unbelievable opportunities and I loved designing that portal. My ambition was for it to win Site of the Year again with it, and it did! I also loved designing our own website site, fantasy-interactive.com, but right now I’m ready to design the brand-new FI.

Where do you think web design is going? How do you see that in 10 years?
Hopefully, it’s going in a mature direction. It is so hard to say as one company can’t make a difference over-night. To be honest, I strongly feel FI are going in the right direction; one of maturity and designing extremely well-executed applications that enhance usability. In 10 years from now, I don’t think overall there will be a huge difference in how it works but I truly hope we can have an impact on the execution and standards of work.

I heard you are looking for people to join your team. Tell us, what kind of people you are looking for and what you can offer them?
FI is looking for talented, good humored, professional people who are passionate about interactivity and who excel at what they do.We are looking for people who will add value, personally and professionally, to the quality-focused, youthful and dynamic environment. We recruit some of the best people from around the world, which gives our offices inspiring multinational vibes. Our core values are quality and teamwork and we are committed to being the best employer in the interactive industry. Our teams enjoy creative freedom, collaborative and flexible project formats and expert companionship, as well as regular company outings, office treats and game/relaxation time.

Do you have enough time for rest? How do you rest? Any offline hobbies?
I do have some time these days. I get to work at 8:40 and home by 7 mostly. I live a nice 10 minute walk from the office. What I love to do is riding snow mobiles, go-karting, driving my car around, freestyle skiing, body-boarding and drinking red wine. I’m not the book-reader type.

Freelance or full-time employment? Why?
Full-time, without a doubt. It’s easy for me to say; a full-time job in FI of course but in today’s companies, or at least in FI, you as a designer get to work with other designers, whom either push you or motivate you. You develop a lot better in the long run. As a freelancer, you will probably make a little more money but your work hours could be doubled. In FI, our designers are very protected from a client, in regards to that the client lets and trusts FI to do whatever we please, so FI has the strongest and last say, where that is not typically the case as a freelancer or even as a company, for that matter.

Design education, is that important for you? Why?
As a designer it’s not super important. Your work speaks for itself. Talent cannot be taught.

You are based in Sweden, right? Do you think the country and city fits to your needs? Quite inspirational city?
FI will be launching our new brand shortly, “think Swedish”. Sweden has very loyal and insanely talented people. Stockholm is very pure in its design. It has a beautiful hint of royalty but with a modern passion. We are located in the very heart of Stockholm, in the middle of the most luxurious street. The vibe there is great for our office. We are also located in the heart of Tribeca in Manhattan, New York. Both offices are different from each other but say a lot about FI.

If not web design, what would you do?
Probably a SWAT or special forces member.


What would you recommend to young designers what want to grow and want to join your team?
In late May, we will be launching our new design blog, which focuses on education and giving young designers inspiration. We feel that a lot of the design applicants we receive do not have the correct type of portfolio approach and their work often lacks simple details which can make a huge difference. This blog will be run by the designers at FI, giving feedback and sharing as much knowledge as possible.


Any final comments?
FI has come a long way since 1999, but at the end of the day, Design is where we came from; Design is pushing our work; it’s keeping all of us pushing towards a better interactive experience. It’s very important to stick by what made you successful and no matter how much you grow, always maintain the quality over quantity.
Thanks for having us here!