The Now
At the moment I'm working for Blueprint Design Studio while attending classes at DePaul. I've had to find ways to manage my time for both work and school but am growing because of it. Looking ahead I plan to study abroad in France and Sweden my junior year through the Atlantis program.
Blueprint
I worked for Blueprint from the day I got out of school to the day I had to go back. I did plenty of backend and plugin work as well as plenty of PSD-to-HTML design work. Blueprint builds most of their sites on top of Wordpress. Here are some sites I built with them: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9
Leveling Up
After my first year of college, I decided to work full-time over the summer. I contacted many companies about internships before I found Blueprint Design Studio. I didn't think I fit the bill when I strolled in there but after I interned for two weeks they gave me a paid position as a developer.
Another Notch
The next contract job I had was through my mother for her network group. I used this as an opportunity to use and learn more about the MooTools library.
Boredom is Good
After I graduated High School, I had my head buried in the world of barbarians and magic. I built this and this during that time (which were an improvement over sites like this from 2007).
Take Two
Now that I'd honed my skills and built my confidence, I went for the bigger game. Scouring Craig's List once again, I met a client who wanted me to build a video website. With the wisdom I had learned from the last contract job, I charged an hourly wage and built it from the ground up with the help of Slide Show Pro, SSP Director, Codeigniter, and MooTools. I learned tons about M-V-C architecture.
My First Income
I found my first client on Craig's List. I prepared a presentation and met him in person to discuss the project. We agreed and I began development. I decided to use Drupal. I had to install plugins, create a custom theme, and make plenty of hair-pulling modifications. It was yet another learning experience. I quoted him a whopping $138.
Age of Conan
I found out about this MMORPG while it was still in development. I began planning a website that would use PHP and be dedicated to the game. I created an initial design but didn't like it and scrapped it for a better design. At one point the better design was set up so that recent posts from a phpBB install were being pulled and you could even log into the forum from any page!
The Server Side
I began to notice a peculiar difference between the static HTML websites I was creating and the forums I frequented. I began to dabble in forum software and soon discovered PHP and MySql. The first comprehensive site I built in PHP was for my friends band.
Standards!
My first big step in the direction of standards-based design was when I created a website for a family friend. I learned a lot. Around the same time I made a respectable WoW related site.
Onward & Upward
My skills were beginning to grow exponentially as I continued to experiment, read and design. I once again revamped the site I had started so long ago, resulting in a much more complex design. Soon after I made a website for my Japanese teacher.
My First Class
Sophomore year of High School I enrolled in a Web Design course. Around this time I built some really terrible websites (like this, this, and this) but was becoming more and more aware of a mystical beast called standards.
World of Warcraft
A gamer at heart, I wanted to use my passion for WoW to develop my web design skills. I began coding and designing a slew of WoW related websites: Exhibit A, B & C. This is when I began introducing myself to JavaScript and Flash.
For the Horde!
It was the summer before High School that I began adventuring in Blizzard's World of Warcraft. I was nuts for the game in all respects, especially it's website. I used HTTrack to study their source code and grow my understanding of how to build a professional quality website.
Still A Noobie
I continued to build upon my first production through tedious iteration and began to improve. I poured through mountains of example code until I found or hacked together what I needed.
My Frankenstein
Soon after discovering HTML, I created my first website. This was the beginning of not only a career but a lifelong passion.
Heurēka!
In 2004, when I was still only thirteen years old, I stumbled upon w3schools and soon became hooked—and I mean HOOKED!
