Julien Dargelos and Bastien Robert co-founders and technical directors of plutot.cool

Julien Dargelos and Bastien Robert graduated respectively from GOBELINS Paris in 2020 and 2021, having both completed the Bachelor's degree in Interactive Development and the Master's degree in Interactive Innovation Design and Management - Development Option, and opened their own web development agency, plutot.cool in 2022. They have designed visual and interactive web experiences for Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and Lacoste.

Bastien: We met at the IUT Métiers du Multimédia et de l'Internet (MMI) in Bordeaux. Julien was in the class of 2017 and I was in the class of 2018. Julien left to follow the Bachelor Interactive Developer program at GOBELINS and I joined him a year later. At the end of his master's degree, we started to wonder about what to do next.

I first had the idea of setting up a collective, which then turned into a company when I graduated.

Julien: I worked freelance for a year while our project matured. Our business really took off in 2022, when Bastien finished his studies.

Julien: There are three of us in all, and Charles Prévôt, whom we also met at the IUT in Bordeaux, completes our team. We think of plutot.cool as a studio, given our small scale, but we work on the same subjects as a web agency.

We mainly develop websites. In most cases, we work in collaboration with an art director to produce a concept. We then test it technically and develop it further.

Our projects are very similar to those we've done at GOBELINS. We work a lot on interactive or immersive experiences, on 3D, on gamified media... The interactive aspect is really our added value.

A number of our customers come from the world of fashion and cosmetics. Bastien also works on e-commerce. We've also worked with influencer agencies and an architecture studio. Our business is quite diversified.

Bastien: To sum up, we make websites that move in all directions!

We haven't yet had the opportunity to develop this type of project, but we also have the skills to offer mobile applications and physical installations.

Website created by plutot.cool for the agency "We are influence" .

Julien: Part of our course was a work-study program, so we were able to experience working in an agency on a salaried basis. I learned a lot during those years, but I prefer the freedom that our structure gives me: I can choose the projects that interest me and control the organization of my work.

Bastien: I've always been interested in setting up my own business. Being self-employed allows me to touch on a whole range of other areas, such as accounting, management, etc. These are subjects that have interested me for a long time.

Bastien: We analyze the project from a brief to anticipate technical needs. It' s something we tend to forget, but it's good to keep abreast of developments.

We're now working with work-study students and freelance developers, so we have to make sure that the code remains maintainable so that we can add new developments. It also has to comply with our quality and technical standards.

Julien: Our missions are a bit like those of an artistic director. He or she guarantees the artistic vision of the project, and we guarantee the quality and performance of the code. We have to ensure the technical viability of the project.

Website designed by plutot.cool for Lacoste

Bastien: We've taken on two GOBELINS students on work-study contracts. Since last year, we've been working with Antoine, who is currently in his 1st year of the Master in Interactive Design and Innovation Management, and we've expanded the team with a second person who will arrive in September.

Surprisingly, they've also both completed the MMI course at the Bordeaux IUT, so all the people we've worked with so far have backgrounds strictly similar to ours.

Julien: I really enjoyed the two work-study experiences I had during my studies at GOBELINS. Each time I worked in good conditions and was well supervised.

I wanted to get involved and take my turn as a mentor. We also turned to GOBELINS for the quality of its highly creative profiles. We knew the collaboration would go well.

Bastien: We created a promotional site for Dior for Mother's Day. It was the first tender we won. In a way, it was the project that launched us. It allowed us to solidify our ties with Dior.

The world of fashion and luxury is pretty hard to get into, so this contract gave us good word-of-mouth and a chance to sign with other customers afterwards.

Website created by plutot.cool for Dior on the occasion of Mother's Day.

Julien: We have several ideas in mind. We're planning to develop products linked to our activity, such as authoring tools or contribution tools for creating content on websites.

We'd also like to move towards more graphic and artistic projects, and why not work with artists on installations or even music events.

Bastien: We use a lot of open source code and libraries in our work, and we'd also like to contribute more to the community.

Julien: What I really appreciated most at the school was all the pair work with the designers.

It was very enriching for both parties. This exchange really enabled us to understand the constraints of our respective professions and to work on creative and accomplished projects.

I think it's a really valuable experience for the future, whether you're working in an agency, freelancing or setting up your own business.

The school also enabled us to develop our network, thanks to the other students, teachers and companies we worked for on work-study contracts. A year after leaving the school, we were able to measure the support we had in Paris and Bordeaux.

Bastien: We've kept a lot of friends from GOBELINS with whom we work on a regular basis.

Julien: It's not always easy, but you have to surround yourself with people and not work alone. The network you build up at school is what's going to make the difference later on. You have to be able to rely on the people you meet during your training, help each other out and work together.

Bastien: Yes, we owe a lot to our classmates!

Interview by Sophie Jean