2005 | EXPERIMENTS IN THE MEASUREMENT OF TIME | IMAGE TIMELINES PRO- DUCED BY THE DESIGN FIRM LUST FOR A 2005 EXHIBITION ON TEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE, “TUSSENTIJD,” AT THE STROOM GALLERY IN THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS | CREDITS: THOMAS CASTRO, JEROEN BARENDSE, DIMITRI NIEUWENHUIZEN AND RENDA MORTON

Renda Morton is a designer who figures out the core experience of a thing, then translates this essence into online and physical spaces. “My experience as a designer has been designing interac­tive, visual and physical projects,” she explains. “I’m lucky to find and get projects which are challenging and clients who are intelli­gent, interesting and trusting.” Consequently, Morton’s websites often feel like real spaces, and when she designs real spaces, they suggest the order and feel of a website.

Many interactive designers shy away from the seemingly impenetrable maze of codes and protocols behind the web’s func­tionality. Not Morton. “I think designing websites and interfaces would be almost impossible without having an intimate under­standing of the medium,” she explains. “I do all of my own pro­gramming, production and development work.” The alternative, it seems, is not optimal. “The work requires a lot of testing, not just for technical bugs or deficiencies, but for design considerations as well. Not being able to make immediate changes or develop varia­tions to the work myself is unimaginable.”

The results of this level of integration between form and function have been impressive. “Since she came back to New York, she’s become one of the truly unique voices in interaction design in the U.S.,” says John Sueda (cofounder of Stripe), who met Renda through her work with LUST, the Dutch design studio. “In a time when I’m rarely surprised by websites I see every day, Renda’s work is always context-specific, thoughtful, unpredictable ... extraordinary!”

Morton holds a BFA in Interactive Design from Minneapo­lis College of Art and Design (MCAD). Before starting her own studio, she worked for a variety of top interactive firms, includ­ing Flat, Honest and Local Projects, as well as for The Walker Art Center. She has been a guest critic at Yale School of Art, Parsons The New School for Design and Columbia Graduate School of Architecture. Her work has won numerous awards and accolades, and her sites are often noted for being pared down to the essence, yet functional. Mostly, she’s known for stretching the boundaries of technology in unusual and unpredictable ways. To achieve this, Morton takes the time to think things through.

“When I begin a new project, I work with the client to figure out what they want, what is most important and how feasible it all is,” Morton says of her process. “I’ll spend a lot of time research­ing and developing ideas on organizational and structural direc­tions before any visual design work is started.” When all is said and done, however, Morton describes herself, simply, as a designer. “I don’t think I’m any more creative than the average person,” she explains. “I don’t see the profession I’m in as [one where] only a few can express their creativity ... I think to be good at any profession requires one to be inherently creative.”

www.renda.store2007.com