David Hillman Curtis’ career can’t be pinned down to just one field. The celebrated author, designer and filmmaker is the creative brain behind hillmancurtis.com, inc., a digital design firm and the ‘Artist Series’ documentaries that take a behind-the-scenes look at prolific designers like Milton Glaser and Stefan Sagmeister.



His film work and love for music has led Curtis to direct the Ride, Rise, Roar feature documentary on ex-Talking Heads frontman David Byrne, which premiered in 2009. Besides documentaries, the multi-disciplined designer has also tried his hand in narrative shorts, two of which picked up “Best Dramatic Short” Webby Awards.

Curtis, who also counts being Macromedia’s design director as another feather in his cap, has designed sites for Yahoo, Adobe and Paramount, to name a few, and has published three books on design and film. Currently, Curtis divides his time between giving lectures and talks all around the world and his studio in New York City.

TAXI You’re a filmmaker, designer, author, and musician all rolled into one, and have done work for big clients like Adobe, BMW and Rolling Stone, to name a few. Currently, you run your own studio, HillmanCurtis.com. How would you introduce yourself and the work you put out?

Hillman Curtis I'm a filmmaker these days, with a strong history in design and web design.

TAXI From being a creative writing major with a minor in film studies, was the jump to being a renowned web designer a logical one? How much did you bring over from your collegiate years into your professional life?

Hillman Curtis I had dropped out of college to tour the UK in a band. When I came back, the band broke up and after forming and disbanding another group I realised I needed to start thinking about some sort of career since the music one wasn't working out.

I was always good at art and I had a love for posters, so I taught myself Photoshop and I think, Freehand - which eventually got folded into Illustrator - and later Macromedia Director, and then I declared myself a designer. The creative writing was good because from early on I knew that the goal with design was to point to a theme, which is what you learn to do in writing. The film minor came in handy later when I got into Flash and motion graphics.

TAXI Your love for the moving image is also well documented. What elements of film are you particularly inspired by?

Hillman Curtis I like a beautiful image. It's funny because when you start filming you can point to Cassavetes or some other really indie filmmaker who tell compelling stories with a very raw camera style and convince yourself that a beautiful image isn't really necessary.

The early Artist Series shorts I shot myself leaned heavily on this since I had no idea how to shoot. But after doing this for awhile, I am aware that one of my main goals now is certainly to tell a good story, but to shoot beautiful images as well. It's a huge part of why I've made this transition from designer to filmmaker.

TAXI As someone who has cut his teeth on digital media and design, how would you say this creative culture has changed since you started out?

Hillman Curtis It hasn't that much. It's still driven by technology and the innovators who find the possibilities in the technology. It's maybe a little more constrained by the technology these days. There might have been more attention on design a few years back in relation to functionality, maybe that's what has changed.

Design should always serve functionality, but my recent experience was that functionality was everything and design perhaps not as integral a part of the process as it once was.

TAXI How did you come up with the idea for the “Artist Series”? And if you could pick any one creative personality to film for the series, who would that be?

Hillman Curtis I had bought a camera and didn't know how to use it or what to do with it, so I asked my friend Stefan Sagmeister if I could interview him on camera. And that was the first Artist Series film.

Since I was/am a web guy I knew the films needed to be short to play online, so I edited them that way. It was always about online delivery and that was really liberating. Once I made the Sagmeister film I could show it to other designers, like Paula Scher, and she'd see that I wasn't making crap and would agree to be interviewed. It just grew from there.



I think I'd want to interview Luc Delahaye, the photographer, at this moment.

TAXI In addition to the commercials and documentary-style features you have shot, you do fictional narrative shorts as well. Would you say you’re more inclined toward one style over the other?

Hillman Curtis I'd like to be better at the narrative. I'm really comfortable making documentaries, but my heart races when working with a script and actors; it's everything I've ever wanted.

TAXI In a previous interview, you mentioned you’re a proponent and fan of Adobe’s Flash. With much talk going around about the future of Flash, how much do you think a shift in platforms will affect the design and creative industries at a practical level?

Hillman Curtis Good designers always find bits of gold in any technology. Flash is great. I was the art director at Macromedia when they acquired it. It's not a part of my world as much now, but design will always be a part of who I am, and I will always greet new technologies with the open arms of possibility.

TAXI You’ll be speaking at the upcoming OFFF Festival in Paris. What can spectators expect from your presentation?

Hillman Curtis Beautiful images and the inspirations that led me to them.

TAXI What is the word you think will reside in a reverberate through the creative world over the next 10 years?

Hillman Curtis Communication. Same as always.

TAXI Thank you Hillman, it’s been a pleasure.