"On the Couch with...", has the honor to present the third interview with one of the most successful Designers of our Community, Jan Van Lysebettens aka ¢mindfuckx. Let's get the party started.

First of all Jan, thanks a lot for giving us this opportunity. You probably are busy so I will be quick… Tell us a little about how your life was before you decided to study design? And now, what has changed?

Well, I graduated from High School when I was 18 and I studied Mathematics and Economics. As most 18-year olds, I wasn't very sure about what to study after that, there wasn't really anything that I absolutely loved to do.

I was, however, interested in computers, so I decided to study MCT (multimedia and communication technology), which is something like ICT, but with a strong focus on multimedia.

It was interesting as I was introduced to photoshop, illustrator, flash, webdesign and more, but it was not really what I was looking for. I learned a lot, I learned all the basics and I learned to code, but in the end it was too technical, so after 2 years I stopped.

But by then I had discovered what I wanted to do with my life, I found something I was truly passionate about: webdesign. So that's why I went to study Graphics and webdesign, and I'll be graduating this year.
So, what changed is that now I know what to do and know there's something I'm good at, which is great for my confidence and self-esteem.

How was your first experience on Deviant Art? What made you stay in the Community?

I discovered deviantART some time early in 2003 and I just used it to download some cool wallpapers. When I started studying MCT in September 2003, I met a few guys who just joined deviantART so I discovered you could actually sign up to the site and make those amazing artworks yourself.

But of course we all know that's not as simple as it sounds, but that's exactly what convinced me to stay: the drive to do better, to become a better artist. And deviantART acted as a huge motivation, thanks to the wonderful community.

Actually, you are one of the members of deviant ART's Creative Team. Tells us why and how did you become one? And, what exactly do you do in this position?

How I became a Creative Team member was pretty simple, $Heidi asked me if I wanted to join the Team and I quickly said yes.

“Why” is slightly a longer story: at that time they just launched the new news system with the ability to use custom CSS on official articles, so they needed someone to design and code those articles. It was also around that time that only staff was able to use CSS in their journals and there had been quite a few (unofficial) contests where members of the staff asked the community to design and code a journalskin for them. I've won a few of those and got to know $chix0r. I made a journalskin for her, she loved it and introduced me to $Heidi. So I was just the right guy at the right time.

Which also answers what I do for the Creative Team: I design and code news articles and journals.

If you could change something or add something in the Designs & Interfaces Gallery, what would you do?

To the gallery itself, not much.. I like the structure and it's a very clean and well-organised gallery. What I would like to see however, is the ability to sell your webdesigns.

Because as of now, there's not really a way for webdesigners to make a profit from their work, it's not like anybody is going to buy a print of a webdesign. So the ability to create and share webdesigns as skins (for wordpress, joomla, drupal, etc) would be a great addition.

Do you feel that being an assiduous member of the Community, you've evolved at a practical level?

Yeah, like I said before, deviantART was my motivation, it was what drove me. It was thanks to deviantART I challenged (and keep challenging) myself.

Design encompasses several categories. Which category are you most comfortable with?

Without any doubt this would be webdesign. I like advertising, corporate, logo and editorial design, but I absolutely love webdesign.

Tell us a little about your creative process. What are your influences?

My creative process differs from project to project, but I always start out with a few quick sketches. This really helps me to visualize ideas and quickly spot what works and what not.

After that I start looking around for inspiration, I just look at other beautiful websites I find across the internet and of course on deviantART. I don't copy ideas or websites, I just do this to get into the mood, seeing beautiful designs fuels me, it also helps me decide what colours I want, which structure/composition will work, etc etc.

And then I open photoshop and get started. I begin by laying down the overall structure and picking my main colours, after that I often start with the header, because that's often a very defining part of the design. And then I just keep adding content and details.

Which artists can you refer to as your main influences? Someone from the community?

Well, everyone whose work I favourited is an influence. So just take a look at my favourites. If I have to highlight a few artists it would be =AlxDesign, =sinthux, ¢elusive and of course $liquisoft.

Outside deviantART I can't really think of a name, there are quite a few portfolios and blogs of talented designers I watch though, but there are just too many to pick a few

From all your work, have you had some that are special to you? Tell us a little about it.

Not really no, there's not really anything I love. I have the pretty annoying habit of growing tired of my own work shortly after I posted it.

I know it's a decent piece of work, but I keep spotting little flaws and details I don't like, or I just grew tired of the work because I spent so much time on it. Pity.

Many deviants know you are finishing your Master's. Tell us a little about your thesis or the project you are developing. When do you finish? What are you thinking to do after that?

The project I'm developing is a web2.0 equivalent of a party, in other words: a platform that allows people to listen to and vote for music, the most popular tracks are being send to an electronic DJ who mixes and plays the tracks automatically.

I'll (hopefully) finish in June and after that I'll be looking for a job and a place to stay. So, exciting times ahead..

With all you have to do, you stopped making freelancing works. But, how was your relationship with clients? Tell us how do you lead with this relationship?

That really depends on the client, each client is a different story and a different relationship. In some cases it goes very smoothly and without a glitch, in other cases you just want to kick them in the nuts

For me, the hardest part of working with clients was figuring out what they want, what they're looking for. Once you know what's in their heads, what style they like and which direction they want to go, it's a piece of cake.

Have you ever regretted following the uncertain life of a designer? What was the worst moment you had as a designer?

Nope, not really, then again I'm still a student, so ask me again in 2 years

Were you ever a target of theft? If yes, how did you lead the situation?

Yep, a few years ago a sneaky little shit called Thomas Markey (watch out for this guy ) contacted me to make him a website for his hosting company. I designed and coded something for him, he liked it, used it, but never bothered to pay.

There wasn't much I could do, I was still inexperienced and didn't have a contract or anything, so I never got the money. But after all it was a good lesson, now I always ask clients to pay half of the price after they approve the design and the other half after I finished coding. And if anything smells fishy, I ask a starting fee, which always scares off those with bad intentions.

Well Jan, I know you are busy, so for our last question, can you give us some advice for those who are now starting this profession?

Simple: practice, learn and always try to improve yourself.

Thanks Jan for your kindness and availability and being on the couch with us.

“On the Couch with…” had the honor to present you the third interview with Jan Van Lysebettens. We hope this project continues and does not end here. We are open to new suggestions and proposals to give continuity to the project.

Thanks for everyone who read it and a very special thanks to ¢mindfuckx.