We see that you have worked at kioken and huge, which are internationally well known design companies. What made you get involved in this web industry originally?
Futaba Hayashi: Clubing and raving originally. I'm not kidding! You have no idea where you meet people!
Compared to the last cute interface that used white as the base, we feel that redesigned Futabita became much less girly. What kind of points did you pay attention to when you were redesigning?
Futaba Hayashi: I think I was just being true to what I like this time. My inspiration doesn't really come from art and I'm more inspired from real life and what' I'm exposed to.
We always feel that we cannot voice our opinions fully at work due to our language barrier. Do you have any inconvenience due to working in English environment?
Futaba Hayashi: Not really. Depends on how hard you try and how much you want them to understand your point.
By working with Americans, do you feel the differences between web projects done by Japanese and by Americans?
Futaba Hayashi: No. Being in NYC, you work with people from all over the world with different background.
We are sure that New York City has received major impact by the 911 terrorism. We saw that lots of opinions were discussed on site. Is your work still affected by that impact even now?
Futaba Hayashi: No. It was shocking but it didn't influence my work. I was at work when it happened and I was back to work the day after. My eyes are exposed to too much white/red/blue, it became sort of an inspiration, I guess.
Do you have any recommendation on activities that we must do if we visit New York?
Futaba Hayashi: I love hanging in Queens and Brooklyn. You can experience more real / raw life compare to Manhattan. Activities.. I really don'w know how to answer this. depends on what you are into.
Do you wish to work in web industry in Japan in the future? Could you let us know why or why not?
Futaba Hayashi: Yes. Because I have no experience working in japan or getting in touch with designers out there. I would love to meet some cool people!
Do you have particular Japanese sites or International sites that inspired you?
Futaba Hayashi: dhky.com, volumeone.com, praystation.com..... so many.
Could you please tell us the episode that made you very happy after you have become involved in this industry?
Futaba Hayashi: Getting many feedbacks from all over the world. Sometimes from someone you would never think of. The fact you always have to be in search of what's up. Both in design and technology.