I’ve always been creative. Since the age of four, I was drawing and designing. By the 11th grade I knew I wanted to be a graphic designer. I later attended the College for Creative Studies where I studied graphic design and from there joined The Detroit Entrepreneurship Institute where I found a demand for my skills. I provided brochures, business cards, and logos for small businesses in Detroit.
From graphic to web design
When my clients started asking for websites, I learned web design and found a new passion. I taught myself through online courses and tutorials online. Since 2002, I’ve been developing websites for service-based businesses across America.
Today, in many web agencies, they split web design into two disciplines—graphic design and coding (a.k.a. front-end development). But I’m from the old-school where we did both. I still handle both today which creates continuity within a project.
Best practices
I take pride in building websites according to industry best practices. I stay up to date through sites like WordPress.org, Nielsen Norman Group and CSS-Tricks. I also follow usability studies and conversion rate optimization which help me launch websites that meet client goals. It’s not enough for a website to look handsome, it has to get visitors to click, call, and buy.
Working together
I’ve worked independently most of my career, but on occasion, I’ve partnered with companies and worked alongside their staff either remotely or in person. I prefer to work remotely.
While I work remotely, you’ll always be able to reach me. I answer my phone. If it’s during business hours, you’ll get me. And if not, either through email or phone, I’ll respond within the day or the hour.
My duties
Goal-oriented web design solutions don’t just stop at graphics, colors, and code, but much more. Depending on the nature of the project, many of the following tasks are included in my service:
- Problem assessment
- Information architecture
- “Concepting” & design
- Coding & debugging
- Cross-browser testing
- Customer testing
My tools of choice
- ACF — Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) is a WordPress plugin that gives WP web developers the power to extend the editor screen making WP easier to use.
- VS Code — Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code is my coding tool of choice. With so many features and extensions (like Git + Github), I think it’s the best coding software so far.
- Adobe XD — Photoshop used to be my weapon of choice but I now exclusively use Adobe XD for all my web design concepts. It has a great sharing feature.
Taking ownership
When it comes to web design, I ‘own’ my projects and consider them my babies and I will do the same with yours. However, I’m not married to them. At any point you don’t like the design direction, I can change it and I won’t be offended. At the end of the day, it’s about meeting your desired goals and making your users and clients happy.