Barcinski & Jeanjean

Q: Introduce us to yourself and your company.
We are Barcinski & Jeanjean a two man gang based in Amsterdam. We specialize in cutting edge experiences. That includes websites, installations, games. Anything goes, as long it's cutting edge and there is something to experience.

Q: Interactive Producers come from all walks of life, they are a hybrid of talents, tell us about your background and how you got interested in digital production?
we both started as HTML coders/designers then we moved to hard core backend coding for a while until we discovered Flash. That opened up a lot of new creative worlds for us. We started experimenting with design, interaction and motion, and use our coding skills to create the impossible.

Q: How do you stay on top of emerging technologies and keep your team informed and motivated?
We don't want to do anything twice. In order to keep us motivated we are always looking for something new. Emerging technologies or traditional techniques from other disciplines such as film and animation are great sources of inspiration and fun. We spend a lot of time looking for new challenges and when we can't find them we simply create them ourselves. Look at Vectorvision, we created this one because we wanted our text to look good in 3D.

Q: What does your ideal client/project look like?
Most of our ideas and solutions come during the creation process. The ideal client, therefore, would be one that can accept not knowing exactly what the end result will be. That requires a lot of confidence on both sides. The client needs to be confident that what we do is right and we need to be confident that the client will be able to understand what we are trying to achieve.

Q: How do you educate your clients and set realistic expectations for a project?
We try to be very clear about what can and can't be done. We believe anything is possible, one way or the other, given sufficient time and budget. So it usually comes down to how much a project is worth to the client.

Q: What was the best project you have ever worked on?
Our own website. We were totally free to do whatever we felt was right. And since there was no deadline we could spend as much time as needed on finding the best solutions and giving attention to detail. And we feel that really shows in our website. But there's also a downside to not having a deadline. As we are both perfectionists we had to draw a line at one point and say "Now it's finished", otherwise we would still be working on it today.

Q: How many projects are you comfortable producing at one given time?
Many, but we usually try to do only one at a time. That allows you to really focus on a particular project and give it enough thought to maximize it's potential in all aspects.

Q: What does your dream production team look like?
The dream production team consists of wide range professionals that are both specialized and "broad". In other words each of the team members is not only a genius in his own discipline but is also genuinely interested and inspired by the talents of others. Team members should work together more in an "artists collaboration" style rather than in factory style processes.

Q: How do you ensure that your client's best interests are met?
We are not trying to sell our clients anything, we work with clients that come to us because they like our style. We will do everything not to disappoint them and be honest about what they want. For example, sometimes clients express the explicit wish for a 3D website while in some cases it's far from being the best solution. As much as we love doing 3D websites, it's important then to convince the client to let it go.

Q: What is your vision of what the next phase of our industry is going to look like?
It's a very interesting time right now, just when we though that our industry had matured we got caught by surprise. The economic crisis, the exponential growth in mobile markets, the growing casual gaming market. It all forced us to reconsider our priorities and focus. We see many opportunities along the way.

Q: Please share a snippet of wisdom that you would like to impart on our readers.
"Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible" - M.C. Escher