Jürgen Genser
I'm a self taught graphic designer & web developer living in Graz, Austria. I focus on frontend development and l could mess around with CSS all day long. In 2010, I co-founded the creative network Les Avignons, along with Tobias van Schneider, where I work with some awesome fellows covering various creative disciplines.
10 questions for Jürgen Genser:
What did you do before becoming a designer?
I actually studied Humanities, English and Media Studies to be precise. Despite that, I was always more interested in design, and would read architecture and design magazines in my spare time. Eventually I tried teaching myself what I saw and though I did get that degree, I guess I always tried to end up in a creative field in the end. I spent some time at an advertising agency, but I was always the “web guy”.
Where do you turn for inspiration?
I like hanging around in one of the coffee shops here in Graz, still flipping through fashion and design magazines and watching people as they come and go. Of course, surfing the web provides inspiration, too. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t regularly visit Siteinspire, Designer News and the like. I’m also very much into drawing inspiration from the fashion world. I like the intersection where the practical, the experimental and the beautiful meet.
Is your city a good place for designers?
I would say yes. For its relatively small size, Graz has a considerably diverse design scene with some internationally renowned agencies among them. More and more coworking spaces are being opened due to popular demand from young freelancers trying to carve a niche for themselves. Hailing from Austria, you’ve got to work harder to get international recognition.
Which technologies are you excited about in 2015?
I love the possibilities of SVG, so I suspect it will play an even bigger role in 2015.I’m also looking forward to seeing wearables and TV entertainment platforms evolve. Both have yet to really mature and I’m excited to see what this will mean for development in the future.
Do you listen to music while you work? Describe your playlist.
Yes, most of the time even. I have a very diverse range of musical styles in my playlists, but I do have to single out 80s music. Maybe it’s something about my age or the drums, that stuff always gets my fists pumping in the air. The only thing you definitely won’t find in my playlist is Hip Hop.
Have you got an academic background or are you self taught?
I have no academic background design-wise. As mentioned before I studied English and American Studies as well as Media Sciences before going into the web and design business full time.
While the university didn't specifically train my creative skills it left me enough spare time to dig into graphic and web design and work on freelance projects etc. And I guess it helped me figure out what I didn’t want to do.
What do you do in your free time?
Free time? ;) Funnily enough, most of me activities are related around the web. I am perfectly fine with that, though. This year I’ve planned to travel more to get away from the computer a little bit.
Where do you see the industry in 5 years?
Tough question. Our industry will be getting even more diverse as it is now. The term “web designer” may be entirely replaced by more specific job descriptions. We’re already seeing this fragmentation happen.
Are you working on any personal projects?
Yeah, I’m running a Tumblr focusing on preloader animations which has become quite popular: ilovepreloaders.tumblr.com
Together with some colleagues we are also working on some software projects. you should take a look at Pagelanes, a social media management tool.
If you could give one piece of advice to newbie designers, what would it be?
Just do things you really believe in and try to learn from the best. Worked for me
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