Websites

I can't help but want each new website to be unique, an innovation in design or architecture which has never before been seen. Ok, so that's a bit ambitious! I've learned over the years that simplicity and appropriate choice of techniques is also very important for a website to be successful. I particularly like using photos as a basis for website designs.

My Skills

My Design & Planning Skills:

Website structure design, Planning websites for specific Content Management Systems, Database design & normalisation, Game design, Interface design.

My Website Building Skills:

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), ASP (Active Server Pages), Microsoft Access, Macromedia Flash, Actionscript, XML (Extensible Markup Language), Javascript.

My Secondary Skills:

VBScript, Visual Basic for Applications (MS Office Programming), SQL Server, MySQL, Perl, PHP, CGI, Macromedia Director, 3D Rendering and Animation.

The Jobs I'm Best Suited For

I'm not particuarly into pushy advertising or selling. If you can honestly say you're making a positive contribution to the world, I'm much more interested in working with you.

I've built a lot of online databases, which are great ways of sharing or collecting information.

I've designed and developed several internet Flash games.

If you need a website which you can update yourself, I can help you. I've built several websites this year which use Macromedia's "Contribute" Content Management System to allow clients to edit their finished website themselves, even to create new pages. This isn't as much of a shiny golden Holy Grail as it sounds, as there are always limitations to any CMS, and radical changes to the website or major new features will usually require some work from myself or a similar skilled web professional. In some cases I've built Content-Management tools to achieve more specialised tasks, such as adding model portfolios to the Urban Angels Agency website.

Design Portfolio:

Green Business Forum	This community website for North Devon's Green Business Forum is built on the Joomla! Open Source Content Management System, giving registered members the power to add news, events, links, upload files and discuss local green issues in a forum.
Giles Leisure	The mood is set for this website by a watery flash animation (it's actually a mathematical bubble simulation!) At 30kb, this intro animation loads almost instantaneously, and the watery bubbly theme continues into the website itself, which shows Giles Leisure's extensive range of pools, saunas and hot tubs.
Croyde Cycle	Designed using colours inspired by his local photographs, this website shows the many facets of local Green Party candidate, cyclist, campaigner and author Mike Harrison.
A Fly On The Wall	Animated using Flash, this music website grew from original designs by the artist which we developed together.
Maxim Property	I designed and constructed this site to be used with the Macromedia Contribute Content-Management-System. The site is integrated with a "Homes On View" property search database.
They Don't Sleep	This band website was built entirely in Flash, using artwork supplied by the band themselves as inspiration. I used a theme of focussing & blurring for animated transitions (they're very tired, remember!) The website also uses a simple threaded messageboard, which I also built in Flash.
Lewes Tyres	I designed an animated flash intro for Lewes Tyres, and also helped design a template for their eBay shop.
the storm of eighty three	I designed and built this band website, partly using artwork already designed by the band for their CD sleeve. The site is intended to be edited with a Content-Management-System.
Another View	Another View is a photo exhibition promoting the importance of landscapes in the South West. I built a unique "virtual gallery" of the exhibition in Flash.
Pilton Language College	My old school, Pilton College, asked me to design and build a website fitting to their new "Specialist Language College" status. The staff use a content-management system to add and update pages themselves.
Steve's Wheels	A simple business-card website for my Dad, with an animated title.
Forget-Me-Not-Design	A fun and psychedelic flash website for a local businesslady.
North Devon Green Party	Our local Green Party website has proved to be a useful communication tool, and saw hundreds of visitors during the recent elections. I designed the site to be open and friendly, giving people easy access to information on our policies and perspectives. The site also has a large archive of our news releases and newsletter articles.
3d rendered crystal ball animation	I was asked to produce an attention-grabbing animation for a psychic services website.

Website Construction Portfolio:

Hazlitt Theatre	Designed by Andy at Tentacle to reflect the style of the Hazlitt Theatre print brochure, this colourful website captures the excitement of the shows and events at Maidstone's Hazlitt Theatre & The Exchange.
Castle Concerts	A site to promote the summer Castle Concert events at Rochester Castle, built to a graphic design from by Andy at Tentacle, the site includes a search feature, a mailing list, rotating promotional banners, and a dynamic menu which makes it easy to add new pages as the site expands.
B & M Bijoux	A Simple and elegant site built to a design from Andy at Tentacle.
Mark Watson	A site designed by Andy at Tentacle, and built into a working website by myself.
Smallkandy	My first job for Smallkandy was to build their own website, from supplied photoshop designs.
PORT	This massive site was designed by Smallkandy, who gave me the lengthy task of actually building it.
Cooks Cornwall	This site was designed by Andy at Tentacle, who asked me to build his photoshop designs into a working website.
Centre for Reform	Another site designed by Andy at Tentacle, who asked me to build his photoshop designs into a working website.
Creative Element	I built this site from photoshop designs supplied by Smallkandy.
Dave's Stationery	Dave contacted me to help him build a new website, based on a design template he'd found on the internet.

Website & Database Development Portfolio:

Simon Richardson	A portfolio site for a talented portrait photographer. The site was designed by Andy at Tentacle with a simplicity which allows the visitor to focus on the photos themselves. Simon is able to update the site's photo galleries himself using my custom-built online content management system.
Wills and the Willing - Messageboard	A messageboard for the fans of rock/spoken-word band Wills and the Willing
Tentacle Design	A website for the design agency Tentacle - built to their exacting designs. Features include a dynamic portfolio area with custom content-management for the client to easily add new examples of their work.
Urban Angels Agency	This site was designed by Andy at Tentacle. Andy asked me to build the site from his photoshop designs, and to develop the database and scripting for the searchable archive of models and their photo portfolios. There is tight security, and only registered users may access the photos. I also developed a custom Content-Management-System for managing the users, models and photos. The site includes an optimised flash intro movie.
Minimee Models	Another modeling agency site designed by Andy at Tentacle. A flash intro sets the flavour of the site.
IRAP web database	This was an online database project for the North Devon Coast and Countryside Service.
South West Protected Landscape Forum	This website was masterminded by Dave Dixon, coordinator of the SWPLF, designed by Hillary Prosser, and built by myself. Dave uses Macromedia Contribute to keep the site regularly updated. The site has several dynamic features, such as the news & events lists, the Management Plans database, and the Project Bank.
ND-AONB online questionnaire	I was asked to make an online version of a questionnaire, for people who wished to fill it in online.
Hotmob	I worked for over a year developing this online competition/game. The design and animation work was done by Foreign Office. Music was supplied by several artists. I collaborated in planning the game concept, and built the website and game in Flash.
Christmas Chills	I helped integrate an online payments system with this site advertising a music CD.
Prodigy	I was asked to develop several sections of the old Prodigy site, including a competition section and a merchandise section.
Start2Kart	I created a restricted-access members section for this website.
NDCCS Contacts DB	The Northern Devon Coast and Countryside Service asked me to build them a contacts database in Access.
Marti Pellow Chatroom	For the old Marti Pellow site, I was asked to build a chatroom
Smoke27 guestbook	I was asked to integrate a guestbook into the old Smoke27 website.