- Do you practice any sports or have you practiced some? What is your fave sport?

Damn! We´re starting with my weak point!  Nope! I´m not a sportive guy at all. Though I love to play Frisbee in the summer or riding my bike in an easygoing way, I’m more a viewer than actor.
I´ll possibly never grow fat, so that´s why you won´t see me punishing myself by running or weight lifting. In the past I loved to play X-Golf (Crossgolf) but this was more fun than a sport, because we drank beer while searching for astrayed balls.

- What kind of music do you listen to?

The more I get older, the more I do like jazz in any form. But before judging me, this is only a flavor in  a mixture of ingredients like Dub, Roots Reggae, Postrock, Punkrock and electronic music in common.

- Do you go to the disco or to concerts?

Corresponding to my taste in music I´m more a fan of concerts than discos. Disco is something you´re going to if you´re a single and want to be seen, while dancing to music played from a laptop. Concerts are often more energetic and touching than an evening in a club.  As Bob Marley said: “When the music hits you, you feel no pain.” But you will definitely feel the music when dancing to a live band or good SoundSystem.

- What kind of films do you like? What is the last film you’ve seen (Cinema or TV)?
I´m very interested in the way films are made from its technical or directory point of view, and that´s why independent productions and short films are my favorites. It takes a lot to produce a short story which is catchy and not predictable.  As my last movie was a total disgrace for every cineaste (It’s been“Movie 43”)  I`ll proclaim: my last movie was “Dicke Mädchen”  A german € 500,- low budget production which earned lots of prices. A funny and surprising film about two men who discover bit by bit, that they are falling in love with each other. This was quite a fun.

- What kind of books do you read? Is there a book you would recommend?

Similar to my love for short film, I love short books or better to say: Short stories. I´m only reading books while traveling or in my holidays.   I´m not quite sure if one of my favorite writers were translated into French but I´d recommend stories from “Ephraim Kishon” to everyone who loves sarcastic and Jewish humor.

- Do you cook and what is your favorite dish?

Hm… Cooking is special… If you´d ask some of my flat mates: I´m not cooking. But yes! I love cooking, when there´s enough time and I have a nice recipe. My favorite dish is always something with pasta in any way. But this is not a must.

- What are your top 3 favorite clothing/shoe brands?

Oh! Advertising! But without my Skechers “ZINGERS MEANDER 2” I´m nothing. I´ve bought my 4^th pair of them since I ruined my first pair and I`ll always return, as they aren´t too expensive but suitable and good looking . My second choice is the good old Doc Marten’s boot. But I´m not a big fan of a special brand in common.

- Is there anything you haven’t done yet and you would like to try?

Of course! Living an easy life without working for a company but for myself is always a goal.. But don´t tell this our bosses ;)

- Is there anything particular we should know about you like you like knitting for ex? Or any lifestyle stuff or secret that no one knows about (yet)?

I´ll never grow up!

- Do you have animals?

Hopefully not!  But I had a lot of hamsters when I was a kid and sold their babies to pet shops which possibly fed their snakes with them. But they made good prices in the end.

- Are you engaged into a political, animal protection, children association?

I´m politically interested but not engaged yet. I´m supporting alternative energies even if it´s a bit more expensive, I´m doing a own broadcast at a local radio station association and I´ve always been a friend of benefiz concerts, when I was playing in bands. Hopefully this is enough to keep me away from hell.

- Any interest into graphic design / Photography / Street-art or any other art (Sculpture  …)

As I said, I´m a fan of camera stuff… This includes being a big fan of Lomography and taking pictures in the old fashioned way with my old Practica BCA / B100

- What do you like at laFraise and why do you enjoy working there?

At first I love seeing those many creative designs and ideas, also from the past. This is a huge pool of creativity. Secondly I love the product itself and that people from different countries love it, that´s a big factor. And in the end, I do like the challenge which I took over, nearly a year ago and it´s not going to get boring within the next months, as far as I can see.

- What is your role/job at laFraise?

Currently I´m full responsible for everything around our contest and our shop which is linked directly to a product.  I start from curating the contest, doing the contract stuff, answering to questions from our designers, planning the releases and being  up to date with everything around our product range. For some I´m the a non impregnable doorman, for some a bearer of glad tidings. For some the German dude and for only a few, hopefully a nice colleague.

- Do you do any sports, or have you done any before?  What’s your favourite sport?

Yes, I like doing sports. I also used to play tennis for many years, and I tried out other types of sports like rollerblading and hockey. During my time at university, I played in the football team for a semester. On realising how terribly exhausting this actually was, I took to observing the action from the safety of a pub stool ;-) I also like dancing, like hip-hop and street dance. At the moment I work out quite a lot in the gym, and I try my hands at boxing and spinning. But I still like sports involving a ball best, particularly because those played in a team. And when it’s played outdoors, all the better!

- What kind of music do you listen to?

I would say that l like listening to hip-hop most. Less new stuff, though, more the classics. In more relaxing moments or when slouching on the couch, I listen to singer-songwriter stuff. More elecro-based music is cool for dancing, but I always appreciate melodies and good singing supported by a phat beat.

- Do you go to clubs or rather to concerts?

These days I prefer going to clubs. When you live in Berlin, you just HAVE TO turn night into day – otherwise you miss out on too much. I also like going to concerts, but I don’t really like these massive events involving heaps of people. I like smaller and more intimate gigs much better.

- What kind of films do you like? What is the last film you’ve seen (cinema or TV)?

I like historical films that hold you in suspense, movies that are based on true stories on true stories or autobiographical stuff. The last film I saw in the cinema was ‘Django Unchained’, and on TV? Hang on… Well, on TV I rather watch series like ‘Homeland’, ‘Boardwalk Empire’ und ‘Dexter’. Phew, and the last film I saw was a German whodunit… Tatort.

- What kind of books do you read? And is there a book you would recommend?

Any type of crime story and well-narrated story depicting everyday life. It doesn’t need to be something completely out of the ordinary, just well narrated. At the moment I’m reading The Plot Against America by Philip Roth. It describes Jewish life in America in 1938. But I find it a bit hard to get into it. I would recommend Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada or The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

- Do you like cooking, and what is your favorite dish?

I like cooking, but it hasn’t always bee like that. These days I put some thought to my diet. And before I start thinking about the actual meal, I think about the ingredients first. I have quite a few favourite meals, like for example the all-time classic Spaghetti Bolognese. But the meal I probably like most are wraps with couscous. Oh yes, and ratatouille with goats’ cheese and basil cream! It tastes fantastic, and diferent.

- What are your top 3 favourite clothing/shoe brands?

Usually I like wearing Adidas, and sometimes Nike. But Adidas is a firm favourite. And when I feel like dressing up, I like wearing COS clothes. I also like trying out smaller shops to find something out of the ordinary.

- Is there anything you haven’t done yet and you would like to try?

Definitely, there is quite a lot that I haven’t tried and still want to give a go. There is a host of countries I still want to see. Traveling is something that I really enjoy doing. No matter whether it’s a weekend out rambling or traveling Cambodia. I would also see what it feels like to walk onto the pitch of a filled-to-capacity football arena.  And I’ve been wanting to work for MTV all my life, but whether that will still work…

- Is there anything particular that we should know about you?  And is there any lifestyle stuff or secret that no one knows about (yet)?

I’m not sure whether I should tell… Some people find it amusing that I once was with the volunteer fire brigade. And a member of a gospel choir.J What’s more, I occasionally watch my football teams’ games, sitting in front of the TV all by myself with a can of beer and wearing my team’s jersey. Maybe that’s something about me that not everybody knows. Call it a multi-faceted approach ;-)

- Do you have any pets?

I had a cat for many years, and when I was a little girl I had a bunny rabbit, a hamster, a goldfish (which I won at a fair) and budgies.  Now I don’t have any pets anymore. It would have to stay at home by itself most of the time, and that wouldn’t be good.

- Are you engaged in any political movement or organisation? And do you care for animal protection and child-welfare associations?

For a while I was a member of an association for animal protection. And since I studied children’s rights, my focus is mainly on human rights and children’s rights. I am a member of a child-welfare association, and I want to get engaged in a children’s project in Berlin-Wedding.  The plan is to do a children’s workshop for primary school kids. I am very much interested in global issues as well, and I wish I could get engaged in many more things. But time and money don’t usually permit.

- Any interest in graphic design / photography / street art or any other art (modelling sculptures…)?

I really like photography, and I think it is a lot of fun to use a good camera to go outside and shoot random pictures of anything. Unfortunately, I’m not really talented in this department. I take an interest in art history, and I like going to museums and exhibitions. My first contact with graphic design was with laFraise.

- What do you like about laFraise, and why do you enjoy working there?

I like working for laFraise as it provides the grounds for getting in touch with a young and creative audience, and my colleagues are quite young as well. The atmosphere at work is very relaxed, and that’s quite important. Not having to wear high heals and a suit is a clear bonus as well. Actually, I can wear whatever I feel like wearing, and that’s great!

- What exactly do you do for laFraise?

My position at laFraise is called Content/SEO Manager. So I am responsible for anything related to content management for the homepage, and also for the newsletter that you get twice a week. I write it for you :-) And ‘content’ also means that every translation needs to be ready in time, and they need to be available in three languages. SEO is part of my responsibility, so I look into placing laFraise keywords in a fitting way, I write landing pages and improve Google rankings etc. Dominating Google would be nice! All joking aside, I want to make sure that anybody looking for a brilliant online t-shirt contest will find laFraise. That’s it!

We’ve recently met up with Norbert and Jan. Both of them have been printing designs for laFraise for years. Next to Screen Print Direct, there has been a growing tendency to use Screen Print Transfer as of late.

So we have seized the opportunity to quiz the two of them over a cup of coffee. See what they have to say about those ‘new’ printing techniques.

For designers, this interview should make for a particularly good read.

Enjoy!

- How did you enter the world of t-shirt printing?

We started printing our own t-shirts around 1990 – ourselves. Back then we did that in a small garage. We used to print t-shirts for ourselves or our friends, and back then we used very basic means. There was a lot of demand back then, but hardly any supply. This is how we went into business for ourselves.

- What exactly is Screen Print Transfer? ( SPT )

These days, SPT is almost as good as direct printing. The manufacturing method is carried out with the same colours as used with digital direct printing. Here, the colours are only slightly modified by adding driblet admixtures to improve viscosity in order to facilitate printing on transfer paper. Mixing colours with SPT is identical to digital direct print.

Colours are printed reversely, starting with the darkest and ending with the lightest.

The final (and invisible) printing procedure is carried out by applying flexible glue, which covers the printed design with a 0.15mm layer invisibly. This glue safeguard both the design’s water resistance as well as a high degree of flexibility that allows for stretching the design to a degree of 20 – 30 per cent, even on fabrics that differ in quality due to fashioning.

- What are the advantages compared to direct print (silk screening)? Are there any?

SPT has clear advantages. It meets modern market demands as it is particularly suited to produce garment ordered by customers over a long period of time, while production takes place swiftly so that delivery can follow in quick succession. And like I said, SPT is almost just as durable in terms of wash cycles and longevity as direct print, and its high-quality processing makes it almost equivalent.

Another advantage is a significantly less effort needed for storage space.

- Are there any technical probrems that keep occurring?

Technical issues are less marked when compared to direct print. The technique’s advantage lies within its capability to not having to directly print on the fabrics, and that optimised printing can be carried out on difficult surfaces and with difficult backgrounds before the actual printing procedure takes place. In doing so, consistent and complaint-free order processing can be guaranteed. With direct print this method is not possible.

- Is there anything that a designer should bear in mind when creating a design meant for SPT print?

With SPT – anolagous to direct print – there are technological limitations due to the screen’s threads. Print designs of an SPT prints can be a bit more detailed than those meant for direct print. There are, however, the same limitations for halftones, fine lines, gaps, number of colours as well as colour effects. As a rule of thumb, the following parameters should be adhered to when creating a design:

-       Line thickness and gaps bigger than 0.3 mm

-       No more than eight to twelve colours max, less is more

-       Choose halftones in a range of 15 – 85 per cent

-       Halftones per cm no bigger than 5 per cent

-       Clear outlines

-       please design small hidden details in a printable way with high contrast, or avoiud these all together

-       Choose a 32 screen at the maximum

-       have a keen eye on the base colour of the fabrics in relation to the printing colour

-       Limit the number of effect colours to 1

-       Set screen dot diameter no smaller than 0.2 mm

(Please note: screens are also called ‘halftones’. This technique helps create images and areas by means of individual dots. Roy Lichtenstein used a similar technique for his pop art.

Halftones describe a colour gradient (i.e. red to green, or colour to transparent) which is shown by means of a screen.

You can be sure that most t-shirt designs are looked at for no longer than 3-5 seconds from a great distance. As opposed to paper prints, t-shirt prints do not really require detailed depictions down to the millimetre.

- Are there colours that are not as ‘stable’ in terms of washing cycles or general wear?

Since we use the same colours for SPT as in direct print, the criteria for stability are basically the same. It should be pointed out that most washing liquids should be avoided as these tend to contain bleach in order to ‘clean’ the fabrics better. This unfortunately damages the print colours. My best recommendation for washing is to use a regular washing powder, to turn the t-shirt inside-out and to wash at 40° Celsius. This way, longevity is guaranteed. Do not tumble dry, never. The reason for this is that the colours used for SPT are fixated onto the t-shirt by applying heat. And this is why dry heat can be destabilising for the colours as well. You don’t see the result immediately, but only a few washing cycles later. Using a dryer reduces the colours’ lonlivety by about 50%. And finally: ironing – a complete no-go area. Ironing it just once can destroy it forever. When covered with baking paper, however, you could iron over the design.  But it is still more advisable to turn the item inside out.

Are there any special colours on offer?

Most common special colours are silver, gold and neon colours as well as glitter effects, phosphor colours and black light colours.

- What type of issues do you encounter when printing?

As mentioned before, there are a few: thin lines, too detailed halftones and gradients, border areas or contrast areas that are in a very close proximity as well as unfavourable gaps on the underlying fabrics. There are also problems occurring from mal-adjusted screen calibrations in RGB/HKS or pantonality in relation to digital prints as well as occasionally in relation to the actual SPT print.

- A final question: what’s your favourite design so far?

Without a doubt: Vador Clope.

Thank you, both of you!

Visit their website.

Last week we have received a mail from Nerdywithchildren since they featured two shirts of us (Free bugs and Gimme your brain). So we sneaked around their website to get to know more and we thought it was a cool site and we should introduce it to the laFraise’s community.

Nerdy With Children is the premiere site for alternative parents who want their children to inherit the same awesomely nerdy ways. Our goal is to feature cool products, publish nerd-worthy stories and advice, and create a community where like-minded parents can interact to share thoughts, ideas, and experiences with one another.

Nick and David are definitively cool people with lots of fun ideas. Check out the interview, it’s just some much fun!

Hi guys,

- Thanks for the interview, could you please introduce you and Nerdy with children? Where do you come from, what is your background?

David Gorcey : I am California-raised with stints living in London, Finland, and now NYC.  I have professional experience in traditional advertising, & online advertising/monetization technology, most recently on the executive team at the Google Ventures-backed VigLink before starting Nerdywithchildren.

Nick Veneris : I was born and raised in Virginia. I attended college in North Florida. I’m now located in NYC. Nerdy With Children is my second business. I launched a successful writing website back in 2006 called Xomba.com. Having been an entrepreneur for most of my professional career, I’m seasoned in most aspects of the business. Currently, I’m focusing mainly on content strategy.

- How did you come up with the idea of creating “nerdy with children”?

Nick: My wife and I came up with the concept. We saw a lack of web content aimed at parents looking for products and ideas that were hip and less mainstream, so we wanted to start a site that would cater to some of the things that nerdy/geeky/alternative parents would be interested in. We try to stay indie focused, while keeping our coverage of mainstream brands down to a minimum.

- How do you choose the products you feature on your website?

We have a couple people who curate items from across the web looking for cool products for kids under 12 that are nerdy/artsy in overall nature. There are some sites we feature products from on a more regular basis, but we try to mix it up and we definitely focus on finding independent merchants/artists from various places including RedBubble, Etsy, and of course, LaFraise. We also have been fortunate enough to have merchants seek us out about featuring their products and have discovered some very cool things that way.

- What are your top 3 nerd/geek must have things?

Tablet computer. We use iPads for work/fun pretty much every day, and unfortunately would probably have some sort of withdrawl without one.

Raspberry Pi, mini computer. Check it out here

French Press. We (mostly David) drink a lot of coffee, and we take it seriously. A French Press does it right, and keeps David from turning into a monster.

- What is your clothing style? Classic, B-Boy, casual, fashion, geek ?

David: I would probably like to consider my style somewhere between fashion and classic. I’m pretty much always in jeans though, and definitely a fan of t-shirts as well, especially when I sleep in later than I should have.

Nick: David is the more fashionable one out of the two of us. Having spent 10 years in the sweltering heat of Florida, you get accustomed to jeans and t-shirts. I’m a big fan of using thrift stores to find cool smoking jackets, flannels and other random apparel for the cold months. Lately, I’ve been trending more toward a rockabilly closet.

- What are your hobbies?

David: I like to stay active, and I enjoy things like running & martial arts. I also love to travel and go for good meals and drinks with friends. You’ll frequently find me reading about current events, technology, or my favorite magazine, Monocle, in coffee shops. But if there is some sort of science programming on TV about the evolution of man, I’m probably staying in.

Nick: As of late, I’ve found myself being less interested in video games and more into nerdy board/card games. I love exploring NYC, collecting vinyl and reading. I’m a big fan of 1950’s rockabilly music. If I had more free time I would write fiction. For relaxation I love assembling LEGOs. I do enjoy catching an occasional game of what you call football, or what we call soccer.

- What are your expectations for this year (in private and job lives)?

David: Professionally, I’m really looking forward to seeing us grow Nerdywithchildren.com this year and we are launching nerdywithpets.com in the next month or two which will also be exciting. Personally, I hope I can balance the responsibilities of working on a bootstrapped startup like ours without compromising the time I can spend with the people important to me and doing the things that make me happy.

Nick: I’m hoping by the end of 2013 we’ll have several websites launched, including Nerdywithpets.com. I think by the end of the year we’ll be rocking and rolling and our traffic should be going viral. On top of all that, my wife and I should be planning to start a family.

Thanks for the nice interview and good luck with Nerdy With Children!

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Hi Randyotter,

- Please introduce yourself in a few words, tell us who you are and where you come from. How and why did you become a graphic designer?

My Name is Aaron Jay working under the name Randyotter and I come from Southampton England. I have always loved drawing since I was a little boy at age seven I decided I would go to university to study animation, I actually ended up studying illustration but I still followed the same goal of drawing for a living. I graduated university and have been working as a freelance illustrator ever since.

- How did you conceive your design “Otter meditation” and how did you get the idea? What inspired you and what is the story behind it?

I usually spend a lot of time trying to think of new ideas, usually more time than I spend drawing them however otter meditation was an exception, this was a day where I just decided to draw weird detailed things without thinking too much about the concept or what I wanted to achieve as a final product .

- Your designs are very simple, efficient and have a simple approach of humour? Do you do it on purpose or is it wanted because you think it catches the attention more?

I try and simplify my ideas so that people from anywhere in the world can understand the idea, usually my best concepts are ones which anyone can understand regardless of what language they speak or what culture they are from so that is my general goal when I brainstorm ideas for an illustration.

- How long have you known laFraise and how did you find us

I have know of La fraise since about 2009 when I was looking for other sites to get my designs printed however I did not submit for a long time as my work seems to do quite badly here, I eventually earned my first win however I have not really been very successful since then so I will probably be leaving to find other sites quite soon.

- If you would recommend us, what would you say?
If you have a style that La fraise customers like you can be very successful so try them out!

- Do you have hobbies other than drawing? What are they?

Apart from drawing I play computer games but really I spend most of my time drawing or just watching tv, most of the things I do to have fun tend to link back to drawing or work.

- What are your expectations for this year and the one to come?

For the year to come I am planning to expand my body of work into different media and to try and gain a larger following as I try to do every year, I have been looking into traditional animation and working on another book project to keep me busy.

- Could you please draw us your interpretation of strawberries with Chantilly cream? Thanks for the interview and the drawing!

Visit his website

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Hi Tony Centeno,

- Please introduce yourself in a few words, tell us who you are and where you come from. How and why did you become a graphic designer?

Hi all! My name is Tony Centeno and I am a Spanish illustrator and graphic designer who lives in Madrid. For me, drawing was always a hobby, until I lost my old job (worked in construction as a carpenter) and then I decided to turn my hobby into my profession. Since that day I have tried to learn how to improve my concepts and designs.

- How did you conceive your design “Mr Doodles Inc” and how did you get the idea? What inspired you and what is the story behind it?
“Mr. Doodles Inc.” is the brainchild of my good friend https://www.facebook.com/ibyes AKA Ibyes. It all started with an idea that Ian threw me to do a collab together. Since then we started working on this concept, adding both design ideas, taking care of every detail and trying to do the best job possible. Finally, after many hours of work, “Mr. Doodles Inc” was born.

- Do you have a tattoo? Do you like tattoos?

Yes! I love tattoos. If I had more money and less domestic obligations, my body would be decorated with more ink. Currently I have two tattoos, one on my leg in Chinese kanji, with the name of my wife, and another on my arm in Elvish letters with the name of my son.

- How long have you known laFraise and how did you find us?

Actually the first time I heard about laFraise was in early 2011, shortly after I signed up and started submitting my first designs.

- If you would recommend us, what would you say?

Designers say it’s a great place, where everyone shows respect for the community and there’s good atmosphere among designers. From the perspective of a customer, the shirts are great, both the design and printing on textiles

- Do you have hobbies other than drawing? What are they?

I have many hobbies but little time to enjoy them. What I like most is watching movies, reading and music. I also play video games with my son, but less than we would like. I also love painting warhammer figures.

- What are your expectations for this year and the one to come?

This year I hope to have more success than in 2012, which wasn’t as successful as I would have liked. So here this year I will redouble my efforts to keep bringing good stuff.

- Could you please draw us your interpretation of strawberries with Chantilly cream? Thanks for the interview and the drawing!

Here I leave my interpretation. Thank you very much to all the staff for giving me the honour of this interview, and laFraise community, both designers and users, and wish you all well in 2013!

Thank you very much Nathalie! :D

All the best,

Tony Centeno

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Hi Zerobug,

- Please introduce yourself in a few words, tell us who you are and where you come from. How and why did you became a graphic designer?

Hi, my name is Loh Jun Yeap (Lawrence Loh) aka zerobug. I’m a ordinary graphic designer that is always working hard to create some unordinary designs. I’m currently working as a graphic designer in a international advertising agency in Malaysia. Since I was young, I’ve loved to doodle. After my high school graduation, I didn’t want to go to business accounting school like most of my friends did, as my biggest interest was in design, and so I decided to enroll in art and design school to become a graphic designer.

- How did you conceive your design “Run T-Rex, run” and how did you get the idea? What inspired you and what is the story behind it?
The idea was inspired by the movie called “Night at the museum”. In the movie there’s a scene when the skeleton of the T-Rex dinosaur came alive every night and moved around in the museum. I was wondering what would happened if the skeleton of the dinosaur T-Rex was being chasing out by a pack of bone eating dogs? I’m sure it will be very funny to see that happened!

- What is your favourite dinosaur und why?

I don’t have any preferences on any kind of dinosaur, but I do remember the very scary T-Rex scene from the “Jurassic Park” movie.

- How long have you known laFraise and how did you find us?
About 2 years plus, I got to know about laFraise from some graphic artist who also submitted their designs to other t-shirt design contests.

- If you would recommend us, what would you say?
Hey, here’s a t-shirt design company that sells all kinds of cool and awesome unique graphic t-shirts!

- Do you have hobbies other than drawing? What are they?

I’m currently keen on shooting video using my DSLR camera, and learn to edit and compile into a short movie clip. Whenever I’m travelling, I will shoot all kinds of things, people that I come across, and edit it into a travel log kind of video.

- What are your expectations for this year and the one to come?
I hope to create some creative work and submit it to the local and international advertising award show and to execute and take part in a TVC shooting. Beside work, there are so many places that I haven’t visited, and I will keep travelling whenever I can, hopefully could tour around Europe.

- Could you please draw us your interpretation of strawberries with Chantilly cream? Thanks for the interview and the drawing!
Awesome! I really appreciate and thank laFraise for printing my design! Million thanks!

Hello Michael,

Tell us a little about yourself – where are you from, who are you, where do you live and what do you do at laFraise?

My name is Michael Johannes and I’ve been at laFraise for about 6 months as its Business Unit Manager. I’m from Germany and am currently living in Leipzig. My responsibilities at laFraise are quite varied – but my main role is to support the team in their planning and organization, as well as to serve as the Product Manager and develop the laFraise platform.

Can you tell us why you landed at laFraise? What attracted you to the company?

Landing at laFraise was more of a coincidence, as I found out about the company indirectly when they were looking for a project manager. Before I joined at laFraise, I worked as a Project Manager at Unister Holding on a number of projects and also ran the portal management for the real estate porta myimmo.de. Unfortunately, most of the projects there relied on assertiveness rather than creativity. It’s much different at laFraise because laFraise lives from creativity itself. I actually wasn’t looking for a new company, but it was more like laFraise found me (with a little help from a former colleague). The more I found out about the company, the more I realized that I absolutely wanted in on it.

What is your vision for laFraise and can you tell the community what your expectations and projects are for 2013?

Helmut Schmidt once said: “Those who have visions should go to a doctor.” Now, you should necessarily take this quote literally. Rather, it should remind you that the best idea doesn’t really have value if you can’t actually implement it. For me, 2013 is about one thing – namely, concentrating everything on laFraise finding itself once again. Over the last few months we’ve been working on moving external and internal obstacles out of the way. Now, just before the new year, we are at a point where we can concentrate on development. I don’t want to say too much about the upcoming projects, I want them to be something like a nice surprise ;)

What do you want to create with laFraise?

My idea for laFraise is as simple as it is demanding: it’s supposed to become the coolest international platform for graphic designers!

What are your three favourite designs at laFraise and why?

I have no idea why I like it, but somehow I love this kind of morbid humour.

Simply a cool retro design, and with a message to boot!

A cool one

At this point I’d like to invite you all to contact me via Facebook and exchange ideas.