About Me

I got my first taste of programming way back in the first half of the 1980's when my dad, a computer nut himself, brought home a brand new Sinclair Spectrum 48K. Back then, when you turned these computers on, you were presented with a simple prompt and if you wanted that little box to do anything, you had to learn basic programming. Which I did.

We upgraded to an Amstrad 664 (that's 64K now!) a couple of years later and I actually did my final G.C.S.E (high school level to my US visitors) computer science project on that machine. It was cool. I created an art program which used both of the two 17K sections of screen memory to cut back and forth between the canvas screen, and the controls to all the different tools. It got me an A, but sadly I ended up with a B for the entire course due to the exam. I don't enjoy tests.

After my G.C.S.E's I completed and passed my A Level in computer science, but at this point in my life, I started to burn out on computers. I had been so focused on being a programmer, I ignored my creative talents, and without that balance I started to lose interest in technology and programming.

If only the web and all its programming languages had been around then, because I believe they would have been the perfect fit for my creative and technical talents. As it was I stayed away from technology for quite a few years and passed courses in fine art, and film/tv production. I even took to writing and completed a couple of screenplays. Sadly I wasn't to be the next Steven Spielberg, and it wasn't until I my lady agreed to be my wife, that I returned to technology and a career mind set.

This lead to six crazy years working at one of the largest RE/MAX franchises in the US. It was during my frantic climb up from lowly technical support making 25K a year, to the company’s information technology manager making 75K a year, that I started programming again and this time for the web. I taught myself HTML, PHP and MYSQL at first, and created a web based time clock system to track employees hours for payroll. Turning a 2 day bi-weekly nightmare process for my supervisor into a 2 hour breeze. I built the server the site was hosted on, installed Windows 2000, Apache, PHP and MYSQL. It ran for years, and is still being used by the new owners.

Now that the programming bug was back, I decided to make web development my focus, and signed up to take on a Bachelors degree in IT & Web Development. I also needed to move away from support and network admin, and I found a job as a web developer for The Hill Corporation. A family owned company that sells clothing and accessories to the dance industry. I was initially hired on a three month contract, but after a month I had proven my worth, and they decided to keep me on permanently. I've been there ever since, three years and counting.

Web Development I believe was something I was always supposed to do, because it appeals to both sides of my brain, the creative, and the analytical. Over the years it has become clear to me that I must have that balance in my work life in order to really excel.

Latest Design Project

When I have the time, I like to visit CrowdSpring.com and have a go at one or two of the hundreds of design projects they have posted there. Above is an recent example of a home page design I submitted. Sadly they chose another design, but I got some decent remarks from this submission.

Here are some other project examples I've produced for various companies that needed logo designs.

TheatricalsUSA

The Hill Corporation purchased a small company called Theatricals USA. This company focused on designing and making footwear for dancers. At the time, the site tey had was just a single page with very little information about the company or it's products, and a single link to an out of date catalog in PDF format. I was asked to redesign the site so that it would showcase the company’s products, and lead traffic back to DiscountDance.com and hopefully extra sales.

I am actually quite proud of this site. I kept the design very clean, and made good use of jQuery and Ajax to keep the entire site down to just a few pages of code. Product information is called using javascript, and displayed on the screen without reloading the page. I also used jQzoom to allow visitors to zoom in on any of the product photos. An understanding PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS, Javascript, Ajax and jQuery were required to complete this project.

DDS, AAD and DD

That's how we refer to the three sites we maintain at The Hill Corporation. DDS, Discount Dance Supply, AAD, All About Dance and DD, Dance Distributors.

A good understanding of PHP, MySQL, HTML, CSS, Javascript, jQuery and Ajax are required to maintain and update these sites. My notable additions to the sites are the jQzoom feature on the product pages, and the quick look feature on the DDS thumbnail pages.