Platt College San Diego

Robert McFarlane

• Graduation Date: 1996
• Program: A.A.S. Degree in Multimedia / Animation Design
• Company: Pint, Inc. (www.pint.com)
• Company Type: Web Development Firm
• Title: Creative Director / Partner

How did you end up in your current position?
Back in 1995, while still attending PCSD, I was hired by Thomas Powell (Founder of Pint, Inc.) to do some design and illustration work. Over time my roll at Pint, Inc. grew from a Graphic Designer to Creative Director and now I am a Partner.

Who is your most visible client?
For over six years, PINT, Inc. has been fortunate enough to work with the Central Garden & Pet Company (www.central.com). Central Garden & Pet have multiple consumer brands on the pet and garden side including Nylabone, TFH, Kaytee, Super Pet, Pennington Seed, and many more. Their products are found in stores such as Petco, PetSmart, True Value, and Home Depot.

Anything particularly “cool” about the Central Garden & Pet web site?
One of the coolest parts of this project is that there are so many sites. While the corporate site gets to remain, well, corporate, the different brands can take on their own personalities. Super Pet (www.superpetusa.com) is primarily for kids and uses a lot of bright colors with green-screened video of animals interacting with the layout. Zilla used some animal animation as well but was much more reptilian with snakes slithering across the page. When you are talking about everything from cats and dogs, to tropical fish and reptiles, to birds and small animals, it gives you a lot of different things to try out. I think my dog just liked the fact that she got a bunch of free toys and treats!

What was the biggest challenge with the Central Garden & Pet project?
It’s probably the same thing that made the project so much fun, the number of different sites. Trying to give all of the different brands their own unique style, content and layout, while having them all tied to the same back-end systems with the same functionality. Meeting the business goals while giving all the different brand managers what they wanted visually is always a challenge.

Any advise for students of PCSD?
While the students are still in school they should visit their career services department. They can help the student find internships, freelance work or a job. Even if the internship or freelance work does not pay, it will pay them back two-fold. All employers have seen the same class projects before. Professional projects in a student’s portfolio are invaluable. It shows dedication and the ability to work outside the school environment. Besides, some internships or freelance work turn into a job position for the student. It is their foot-in-the-door. That is what happened to me.