Work

I love what I do.

I’m not only blessed to be able to do something that I enjoy for a living but also to be pretty dang good at it.

My skill set covers the entire scope of web development. I’ve been creating web sites for nearly ten years and my methods and understanding of the technologies involved has developed as the industry has evolved.

I have an expert knowledge of all things involved with front end web development. One of most fulfilling things for me is taking an immensely complex Photoshop document and producing clean, beautiful XHTML/CSS code. Of course, I advocate using web standards so my front end code will not only easily readable by others but future–proof as browsers evolve.

It’s also extremely important for me to be usability conscious when working in front end development. I’m usability minded not only in the design, layout and wording of a website, but also in implementing the functionality and behavior of the page. When using Javascript to enhance the functionality and I try to use best practice methods, like Hijax, so paranoid and less fortunate users aren’t left out.

My degree in computer science helps out when diving knee’deep into server side code. I’ve been using Ruby on Rails for about 3 years now and I love that it helps me fulfill my subconscious desire for übber–organized code. (Sometimes I wonder if my desk is so messy because I spend my time making sure my code is organized.) I’ve also been doing a lot of my personal projects (you know the, the kind that never seem to get done?) with Merb and Datamapper and have been messing with other languages like Erlang and Lua. When it’s time get down and dirty and something needs to be done quick (and not necessarily clean) I often look to PHP/MySQL to fill the need.

After all that geek talk, you maybe surprised to know that while my brain thinks in 1’s and 0’s I have creative blood running through my veins. Many websites that I have designed have been recognized by my peers on various website design galleries. Sometimes, I think I know my way around Adobe Photoshop better than I know my way through town.

My understanding of the entire process of making a website makes me great for collaboration on projects. Designers can feel safe handing me their designs because they know I that they might have spent a couple of days deciding border widths, that they chose that shade of blue for a reason and that Arial is not the same as Helvetica. On the other hand, developers feel safe giving me code knowing that I won’t accidently write something that deletes important files or displays users passwords to the Internet. (I know someone who did that!)