What I Do

I've been a freelance web designer since I was a kid. I learned HTML through an online tutorial when I was 12 and I have been hooked ever since - I am now 23 (as of Apr 2008). Since then, I have never published the idea that I was a web designer because that implies two things: I'm a designer and I know a ton about web site development. Since neither is true to this day, I simply don't consider myself a "web designer." I'm just another human being that happens to have an extra skill set in things that most people do not have the time to invest in to do themselves. To find out more about who I am, go to "About".

Let's face it, everyone wants a website today. Whether you're advertising a product or yourself, everyone would love to have their own online space. Take the extremely popular Myspace and Facebook sites as two primary examples. People love to have their five-minutes of fame on the web for no other reason than to just know that it is there to show to people if they ask.

Well my job is to help make that thought just like that and turn it into something tangible for yourself - something that you really can show someone, not just another "under construction" page. What I do is not out of the ordinary or profound but it represents a tremendous value in this day when everyone is trying to capitalize on the web. I help YOU build YOUR page WITHOUT costing you a fortune.

What I Don't Do

So this means there are things I don't do. I don't do "professional level" sites but I do "professional grade" sites. The difference is that I don't have time as a freelance/part-time web geek to produce a fail-proof, multi-portal, 1000 client-a-minute site. Yet, what I do is no joke either. It takes hours of development, planning, and hard work. However, as a one-man, part-time operation, I'm here to provide specific services to you efficiently which means customization is not completely unlimted but you aren't getting a cookie cutter site either. I'm strictly here to lend my development skills to those who want a decent site for not a lot of money. In other words, something to get them started. If this sounds like a good idea to you, contact me. I evaulate each client on a case-by-case basis. If you are confused by this, still drop me a message. I'm not here to rack up consultation fees (partly because I don't charge anything and also because I think it's ridiculous) so it's not like it hurts to find out more.

Portfolio

http://mariholden.com

Official site of Mari Holden - Olympic Silver Medalist in cycling and 5-time National Road Race Champion. Mari is also a professional cycling trainer in San Diego. Site includes all photo editing, icons, logo design, and theme modifications. More at the blog.

http://fretspot.com

Part-time dealer of fine guitars and amplifiers, Donovan Bankhead is the proprietor of Fretspot.com and needed a quick site to jumpstart his business. I initially approached Donovan with the idea of a Wordpress site, stating that it'd be quick and easy. Customization was a snap and the site was up and running in less than a few days of initial contact. Donovan now maintains the site himself, keeping overhead costs low for him and his small business.

http://theskincareboutique.com

The Skincare Boutique is a small beauty shop run by an esthetician named Kate. She approached me about creating a web site for her business. The concept was simple: she wanted it to look decent and she wanted it to be up and running soon. She needed to show her clients something (she had put the website on her business card before the website was up so I had to really get working!). Well, I told her to choose a Wordpress theme and give me some content and it'd be up in a week. So here it is, I can't take credit for the theme design as much of it is stock but a little knowledge of CSS and PHP goes a long way in making the site your own when it comes to Wordpress.

http://noc3effects.com

N.O.C.3 Effects is the maker of fine, handwired, guitar pedals. Owner Nick Colquitt had approached me about doing a simple site to give his old one a facelift. While asethically Nick wasn't a picky customer (he let me have a little free will with the design but is well suited to do graphics himself) but he did need one thing: usability. He wanted something he could update on his own. Within a day (perhaps less) of the site going live Nick was already busy updating the site and making it his own.

His pedals definitely seems like a winner so if you're into clean, crisp overdrives, you should check it out pronto! If you want a simple, clean site, with no frills check his site out too.

Here's what Nick said after showing him the initial prototype:

"Everything really looks great, easy to look at and I think once we are done it will be really easy to navigate. Just what I was looking for- simple, good, and cheap." - Nick

http://k-lineguitars.com

Chris Kroenline puts together some of the best guitars around. I personally own two so when he approached me about doing a website for him, I was all ears. He wanted a functional, snazzy looking website that he could edit himself. After a wireframe and some ideas, Chris commissioned me to do the project.

The main idea of Chris' site is to show off his guitars - his authentic nitrocellulose, aged finishes to be more specific. Thus, I used a Wordpress backend skinned by a heavily modified theme (to save time and money for Chris) in order to achieve a look that would accent the photos more. The pictures were then imported into a gallery (the popular NextGen Gallery, again saving time and money without sacrificing usability) and displayed via Lightbox: a cool and slick Javascript viewing platform that darkens the screen so that the image displays with absolute clarity (check out his gallery on the link above).

Working with Chris was a lot of fun. Though a self proclaimed "webiot" I think that Chris is too hard on himself and can definitely handle his own site with Wordpress' extremely intuitive interface.