Skills

Skills… what kind of skills do I have? I've never confined myself to one of those job-title positions. I’m not a designer. I’m not a programmer. I’m not a copywriter. I just make stuff.

Above each section is an outline of my skillset – darker colors represent increased proficiency.

Front-End Development

My primary speciality is front-end development on the web. You know, that whole (X)HTML, CSS, and Javascript bit. I’ve had experience creating professional designs for IE5, IE6, IE7, Firefox, Safari, and Opera since mid 2004.

Around mid 2006 I became infatuated with Javascript and decided to take it seriously. Since then, I’ve played with Prototype, moo.fx, MooTools, Script.aculo.us, YUI, jQuery, and a whole lotta home-baked code. I've got a firm grasp on object-oriented design patterns as well as the intricacies and patience required for developing Javascript for the web.

My most recent interest has landed on Adobe’s Flex framework. I've still got a lot of work to go, but I've got a general handle on Actionscript 3 and the basics of Flex development.

Back-End Development

My secondary speciality has always been back-end development. Starting off in the glory days of ASP 3.0, and moving through PHP, and on to Ruby – I've had a good exposure to different coding styles and paradigms. I have a good handle on basic object-oriented and functional programming as well as the Model-View-Controller design pattern.

I first found true enjoyment out of back-end development when I found the Ruby on Rails framework in the summer of 2005. Since then I’ve become a bit of a Rails nut. I’ve built a handful of custom applications from the ground up and enjoyed every second of it. Now I don’t know how I ever lived without has_many :through.

As a result, I’ve learned a lot about modular programming, sane database design, and building applications that others can maintain.

Visual Design

Another one of my passions is visual design. I'd like to think I'm a pretty good designer, but I also know I’m no rockstar at it. My designs are obsessively symmetrical and balanced. I’m obsessed with whitespace, typography and making sure every element on the page has it's place.