Interview with Designer/Musician Ray Mancini

“Sometimes, I wonder myself”, reminisces Ray Mancini (raymancini.com) “how I got into web design. As a young teenager who loved to draw, I always thought I would end up as an animator at Disney, or a comic book artist. But when I realized that I could combine my drawing and creative eye with my other love of computers, I knew that I had found the perfect match for me.”

Ray and I meet up at one of New York’s trendy lounges, brimming with people ready to party, though I am surprised that I got him out here. “I don’t go out too much,” admits Ray, who rarely goes club-hopping nowadays. “I prefer to spend some quality time at home working or with the people I care about.”

The wafting music is typically SoHo Grand, which Ray enjoys commenting on to no end, before our discussion turns to Ray’s recent work - from producing his brother’s first hip-hop CD to freelance web design. And very casually, the discussion turns to the beginnings and how he got into web design.

“I attended the University of Syracuse Computer Graphics Program ,” says Ray with a mischievous smile “where I studied everything from figure drawing and photography to Photoshop, Macromedia Director and Alias 3-D. And with the first emergence of the Internet in my sophomore year (1994-1995), it was a whole new ballgame.”

“Still, I was never completely sold on web design. Sure, I loved the fact that the computer could bring all of my interests together, like animation, music, and drawing, and the web could offer me a showcase of my work to the world. But at that time in 1997, I was heavily into 3-D animation (Alias/Wavefront), and thought that I would be running off to California to work on the next Star Wars.” While chuckling to himself, Ray professes that “Yes, many of my classmates had similar delusions!” He further admits, though, that after seeing the first two new episodes of Star Wars, “maybe good things happen for a reason, ha, ha!”

Ray’s First Major Gig

When I ask Ray how he got his first gig, I had to push him to tell me about the awards and about school in general (by every measure, he did very, very well). After going on winning some dignified academic awards his senior year, Ray’s distinguished performance caught the Dean’s attention at the Syracuse College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“His office had recently been contacted by a former alumni, who was working at an advertising/web agency called DVCI (www.dvc.com) in Morristown, New Jersey. This alumni was looking for a good computer graphics artist, and the Dean thought of me. So, my first job right out of college was as a web designer/interactive artist at DVCI, doing work for clients like AT&T, Lucent, and Coca-Cola.”

“Though I still harbored dreams of doing 3-D, sadly, none of the big time 3-D interviews I had applied for were coming through. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that DVCI was offering me VERY nice salary.”

Working in the Real World

Obviously, the academic and the professional world operate vastly different, and it took Ray only a few months to figure out that the advertising world and corporate America were not entirely his thing.

“I moved on to NYC’s Organic Online (www.organic.com) as a freelancer. I worked there about 2.5 years (from 1998-2001). Though I never considered myself a web designer at that time (more of an all-around freelancer!), I was working heavily in the web, and really learning the ins-and-outs at one of the top agencies at that time.

“Organic was a great company, with talented people,” says Ray. “I learned so much there. But again, I also saw the good and the bad, and realized how hard the staff designers had to work when dealing with clients… clients who didn’t know what they wanted, clients who weren’t web-savvy.” Chugging down the rest of his first drink, which ironically was a Coca-cola (Ray doesn’t drink much alcohol), he distilled his thinking into “Do I really want to design in this atmosphere? Do I want to design for clients at all?”

However, one day Ray woke up and realized that he was a designer. “I had left Organic, and moved on to freelancing fulltime. I had an eye for design, and the web was what I was the most heavily involved in. I guess for me, it was finally admitting it!”

So the 3-D artist just didn’t love 3-D as much as he used to… now all he wanted to do was design.

The Journey from Bethlehem to the Big Apple

Ray grew up in the quiet, suburban town of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, about 90 minutes away from New York City. Naturally, I was interested to hear from him how he managed the transition from sleepy little Bethlehem, via Syracuse to the scary streets of New York.

“New York has always been an interesting place to me,” Ray say admiringly, “one filled with so many diverse people, cultures, and most importantly, opportunities.” His eyes wonder around the bar, studying the myriad of New Yorkers in the bar, swirling around, animatedly laughing, carrying-on and having a grand time.

As Ray continues to talk, I asked him if there would have been any job opportunities back home, in Bethlehem. Ray shakes his head, then goes on to stress that only Northern New Jersey and NYC would hold the job opportunities for an artistic person like himself.

“I love Bethlehem… the open spaces, the nice places to go running, the atmosphere of home… but in terms of my career, I have always wanted to be where the action is, and where it was all happening. I knew of nowhere greater in the world than New York City. A lot of the music I loved originated from that town… and a lot of the art and design that I was fond of.”

“There is [also] an inherent pride, I guess, in being able to say that I work and see success in New York City. And being anywhere else, say Philadelphia or even California, would feel to me like selling myself short, and I mean no insults by it. It’s just that I wanted to work in a place and an atmosphere where everything was happening, a place that was first and foremost on everyone’s mind.”

He reluctantly quotes the cliché that if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere but ends with “that’s how I have always felt about it. I really can’t see myself involved with any other city at this point.”

The Other Side of Ray

Ray has always been into many things, not only web design. He seems to have plutonium-powered endless energy, and he dispenses a lot of it on flash animation and writing. But his true love lies elsewhere.

“My first and foremost love is music, which has always been my hobby and will continue to be. From playing the drums as a young kid, to singing in high school and college in a variety of bands, to finally composing a lot of my own music, it’s always been there. And as you know, my hip-hop group The BCP (www.raymancini.com/bcp) has been going strong for about 8 years now (and seven albums).”

Truly enough, Ray has been producing CDs for a number of people, and they all seem to be part of an extended posse, what I call the Boston-New York complex. Guest artists appear on each others albums, and it is amazing to read the list of contributors to each master work. Ray reminds me that he “also compose[s] classical, orchestral, and dance/club,” and that he has been singing in a variety of rock and funk bands throughout the years. “Through technology and the computer, I’ve been able to use keyboards and MIDI sequencing to compose almost all of my recent music, and have the ability to record vocals and [churn out] CDs on a professional level.”

“And because of my links to the web, I have gotten the opportunity to compose music for some professional clients over the years, like Tommy Hilfiger and Bloomingdales. It really is the culmination of a hobby that started out when I was very young.”

How the Design Process Has Changed

From my own experience, web design has evolved at a rapid pace, yet the field has split into two large groups: People that know enough HTML to assemble web sites, and designers that use HTML to strengthen the message that they want to get across. In the initial rush, novices go all out and put every little gadget onto their sites. Definitely, they seem to think louder is better.

Ray doesn’t think so. “If there is one thing that I’ve learned through the years with my design, it’s becoming minimal. As someone who once wanted to put everything I could on a web page, from complex, gaudy graphics to the loudest and brightest colors I could find, I realize that I’m more subtle and focused now than ever before. You learn to look at the smallest aspects of design… to create something elaborate and then destroy it, breaking it down until there are only the essential ingredients left.”

He goes on to say that he has also learned to not be so married to his creations. “Things change, and sometimes I will have to give up my favorite elements of my work in order to make something slightly better. But I’ve become more humble and have allowed myself to learn more. I listen to those who may have good ideas, and never feel that I’m the authority on anything… unless I know I’m right!”

Sources for Inspiration - With A Little Help from my Friends

“For the most part, I look at the work of others, especially my friends and colleagues in the field. Hands-down, this is the biggest help in expanding and inspiring what I want to do. I am not a design junkie, nor can I quote many names and stars of the industry (or their work). But I will look at other sites every so often, in order to find interesting ways of reaching some design goal. Almost everything has been done before in some form or another, and the more you can learn about what has been done, the better you can enhance your own ideas.”

Truly spoken. Yet I challenge Ray to name some other sources for his inspiration. After a few moments of staring around, he comes up with other ideas. “Mmmh, unorthodox sources like patterns on rugs, buildings, clothing, et cetera. The habit of seeing how basic shapes and colors can be used to create things. I also look at books, movies, and video games for new ideas and innovative solutions to common design problems, like interfaces and information arrangement.”

“But a lot of my inspiration really comes from the client itself… see what they are looking for, and what they want, and go from there…I can sense when to push something, and when to just give in. Many designers will try to work their client into a current, hot design style… force a certain style or aesthetic that they like upon a client… when it’s the worst possible solution for the project.”

“Many of the clients I work for, like Estee Lauder, already have strong imagery and branding, and it becomes a case of “how far can I work within the brand”. Obviously, I have to stay within their overall look-and-feel, but within those parameters, I find inspiration through their existing work and take it from there.”

And with that comment, our discussion diverts to the much more mundane task of ordering another round of drinks and discussing New York’s Fashion Week. As a bodacious blonde sambas past us with her martini, Ray starts commenting on the pattern of her purse.

I guess, designers never sleep… .