Name:
Ryan Holsten

Location:
localle = los angeles aka city of angels aka all bark no bite aka large city no spirit aka i'm moving to san francisco soon =)

Age:
age = 10 + 12 aka born in 77 when elvis and hendrix dies aka i'm 22 going on 30

Sites:
faceLIFT,
inVERTEBRAE
Spinal Chord.

also consulting on brodia.com. my role is to make what they have now look better. i'm doing ok so far. they like it. i'm also working with juxtinteractive.com as a consultant art director on a gen x magazine (online and all flash) called Shorn. that's all i can say about that for now haha. also, i'm building collateral (identity, biz cards, biz plan, etc) for the company i am founding with 2 partners called spinalchord.

so what is happening with INvertebrae and where is it going in the future?
good question. welllllll.....invertebrae made the famed attempt at a collective design portal with content form top notch designers. well when you assemble an all start cast, you have to assume that it will be hard to keep this project atop their priority list. right?

well, i sat down and rethought this. do i want to dictate people i respect? no, no way. instead, i came up with another idea (thanks to mark of flavoredthunder.com). here's the scoop:

01.) it's educational
02.) anyone can apply
03.) there's gonna be workshops
04.) famous people will be mentors
05.) can't say names *coughs david carson*
06.) if accepted, you are free to take courses and accrue points. which advance oyu as a uh, student? i don't like that word. as a pupil, or as an apprentice, yea that's it.
07.) the ultimate goal is learning online through project-based workshops.
08.) the workshops can range in content from related readings, chats with the mentors, a listserv for idea sharing, etc.
09.) then there's content. it's subconsciousely created for the workshops, but now turn invertebrae into a gallery of braoad work and flowing content.
10.) finally, we will seek alliances with other sites that are lacking content (eyedropper.org is location 01), and provide a gallery setup for them to place into their domains. spreading the wealth of work created within the invert compound.

So when do you see this all happening:
well, i'm sending invitations to working professionals with mentor status to alot of us. whether it's petry or motion graphics *cought attik* there will be some fame happening worthy of mention (hopefully). that's happening now, and i've got "yes" or "let's see what we can do" from several. which is good.

at the same time, vinny toms (my professional hacker affiliate =) is working with me to create the backend stuff (workshop logins, applications, voting on submissions, etc) we are shooting for the asap deadline, but sometimes that stretches. it's in progress and in the making right now though i assure you.

So will this be open to all levels of designers:
absolutely. we are not striving to be an elitest group at all. we prefer to get young designers trying to learn, inspired by their peers. we want to get them together making cool shit. with cool mentors at the helm giving them projects. that's the goal. that's what invert wants to see.

On the 'elitist' subject what do you think about the way this is happening on the net...or do you think it's happening:
hmm, touchy subject. i have a couple cents on the matter. i'll say this, it's DEFINITELY happening, but without good reason. the state of the web (even within the "fine design" realm) is so far from complete to me. i think that we overlook alot of things, partly because we aren't educated about them, partly because they aren't so easily implemented in a bandwidth constrained environment. it's to the point where i've seen what is out there. i know the sites, i know the people behind them. i know what inspires them. and i don't think any of us are elite yet. it's to infantile to classify us like that. not alot of us spent 4-6 years learning the history of web design, and the movements it underwent (like graphic designers are able to experience). alot of it carries over, but it's not the same. there's rules, there's constraints, etc. we just aren't in a position to try and call ourselves elite yet. that's how i feel.

But I was more thinking in terms of certain people or sites thinking that they are special....and these site seeming to bunch into groups and helping each other out and excluding others....do you think this is true or am I just being a moron:
ok, the 2 examples i know are in your mind when you say this are hell.com and vtwinlabs.com (not really uploading.com but i could see that). what do i think of this? i think there's a collection of people who strive for secrecy to the masses. they like to keep their work under wraps, maybe because it's special to tem and they like the "wow" factor of unleashing a beast on the public eye. not sure. i don't think it's elitism though. and noone's being excluded. it's just the outside eye wondering, "what the fuck's up with all these coming soon/we are dead/long live us splash pages? why can't they finish this shit? and why does that make me all eager to see more?" am i close to the point of what you're saying?

Hmmm...sort of....although I wasn't thinking off those two sites...on another subject, what do you know/think of Australian designers and design:
ok. again, i can't make a true statement about "Australian Designers" because for every design firm over there, there's a handful of designers i'll never hear about. but for the ones that are active on the web (you, justin fox, matthew willis, etc.) i think that you all have style. that's true in all cases. maybe it's being segregated from america that gives you an eye for things. in all of your work there's a sense of ethnicity, if that's the right term. i think that there's freshness you don't typically see in us work. it's interesting to see something personable to each culture. whether it's japanese design, uk work, or good ole aussie stuff. all have their characteristics. i like that.

Any final comments?
Thank you Andrew, and all reading need to visit inVERTEBRAE to see what your host here at DiK has accomplished. Enough said.

Thanks Ryan