"Pär is a rare beast in the marketing jungle: a real strategist as well as a top-notch executor. He doesn't just come up with ideas, he gets them done. Above all, Pär is a pleasure to work with and for. His enthusiasm is contagious and he inspires everyone on the team to aim high. He's been on both sides of the client/agency divide and understands what makes both tick."
Doug Kessler
Founder, Velocity Partners
http://www.velocitypartners.co.uk/
I've known Pär Almqvist for several years, and consider him to be a creatively prolific and highly-skilled professional across several web disciplines. He is as comfortable with JavaScript and related web languages as he is with Flash and graphic design. He is also a composer and producer, and has created soundtracks for corporate web projects in his native Sweden. But his skills roster does not begin to tell the full story.
Pär immersed himself in the budding web scene in 1994, and has developed into one of those rare professionals who grasps the communicative as well as the technical aspects of web design and development.
Pär is an articulate presenter, thinker, and writer. In Stockholm, I had the pleasure of watching him address a group of web designers and developers from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland. He spoke for well over 60 minutes and never lost the audience's interest or attention.
Pär has also written for my web design magazine, A List Apart, read by 100,000 designers and developers each month. His article, "Fragments of Time" (http://www.alistapart.com/stories/fragments/), is one of the most thoughtful pieces I've seen on IT methodology and processes.
Pär's talents seem innately geared toward enhancing the user experience. He never designs or programs merely to show off his abilities -- a trap too many young artists and programmers fall into. His graphic design style is sophisticated and understated. He designs to communicate.
On a personal note, I've spent time with Pär in Stockholm and New York City, and we've communicated by phone and email for years. He is immensely likable and charming, and unusually honest and sincere. Though I consider myself a web evangelist, Pär's enthusiasm sometimes makes me feel cynical by comparison. He genuinely loves what he does. On top of all that, he is fluent in Swedish, English, and French.
I consider Pär among the best of the young web designers and developers, and can recommend him for a web design or development position without the slightest hesitation. I'd be happy to discuss him with you (USA phone# available at request), and of course I recommend that you check his resume at www.stroft.com.
Jeffrey Zeldman
http://www.zeldman.com/
Founder, Happy Cog Productions
Web Design, Consulting & Publishing
http://www.happycog.com/