I've been at this for a while, starting out in new media technologies and design software education while in college. Since then I've had the opportunity to work in all areas of web application and site development. By focusing on quality, simple user experience design I've successfully delivered projects for high-profile clients across the globe. I make the most of my roots - the son of a sign painter I was learning about typography, color theory and style years before I purchased my first Mac. Since then I've used my coursework in design and sociology as well as my Human Factors International Usability Certification to round out my skill-set. From wireframes to click-able comps, I've created assets for all phases of product development.
Big and small clients pepper my portfolio and I've had a healthy dose of great projects over the years. Being diversified and open to learning new things has helped me to not only deliver what's been asked but to also bring new and timely approaches to the table.
Life is about more than work and I'm remarkably fortunate to have a wonderful family to offer their support and balance out the days. Pixels are up for a tough fight for my attention against a rowdy 18 month old son and precocious 4 year old daughter. At the end of the day it's all about balance and I'm lucky to have happy clients and a happy family, which makes me a happy guy.
I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at the inaugural WordCamp Orlando and spoke about some lesser known, great web experiences. The conference was a big success and I look forward to participating again in the future.
Presented on a design panel along with Brian Warren and Kevin Menzie discussing web user experience. You can check out the video at WordPress.tv
My second appearance at BlogOrlando had me pulling double duty with my first session focused on basic WordPress theming. That presentation invited some lively discussiona dn got a few folks off and running into the WordPress world. My second presentation covered entry-level web standards.
BlogOrlando 2007 marked my first year presenting to the blog-focused conference. My presentation about quick and easy designs tips to add pop to new or exisiting design went over well. The overflowing room was eager to poke and prod and walked away with few goodies as well.
2009-present
Overview: Within weeks of my first day as a web designer I was already assuming usability and experience improvements tasks. By the end of that first year I was a leader in product usability and working to promote and improve usability through an unwilling organization. Along that journey I've lead a team, managed leadership hiring and been a apart of several dozen product releases. Today I am a senior developer working to promote designs I championed years ago into our existing thin client product and strategy.
Duties and Skills: Visual & Icon Design, User Experience, Front-end Development, Enterprise Software Development, Usability Testing, User & Task Analysis
2000-2007, 2008-2009
Overview: Partnering with WordPress superstar and talented developer Alex King was one of the best career decisions I've made. For nearly two years I collaborated with the team at Crowd Favorite to design, develop and release sites and applications. Much of our work together was designing sophisticated websites using WordPress as a custom CMS and publishing platform. In addition to that work, I was also able to provide detailed user experience and interface design consulting services to several Crowd Favorite clients.
Duties and Skills: Visual & Icon Design, User Experience, Front-end Development, User Interface & Application Design, User Analysis, Wireframing
August 2007 - July 2009
Overview: I served as a senior developer for hobby publication company, August Home Publishing, located in Des Moines, Iowa. August Home differentiates itself from its competitors by providing amazing publications without advertising. I worked on a talented and dedicated team of professionals providing all areas of web and core technical insight to the entire business. We were proud to serve the needs of our internal customers using the latest tools and methods.
Duties and Skills: User Experience, Front-end Development, User Interface & Application Design, WordPress Development, Mac and Workflow Expertise, Marketing Email Development
January 2007 - June 2008