my portfolio
The work shown here is by no means an exhaustive account of my skillset and ability. However, I hope it goes some way to demonstrating my aptness and enthusiasm as a developer. Unless otherwise stated, I am solely responsible for the planning, design and development of the following works.
A HTML5 Canvas Game Demo
Playing around with Canvas in JavaScript
After working with the vector-based RaphaelJS framework, I decided i'd play around with the Canvas element to see what I could concoct. The Canvas element is part of HTML5 and allows for scriptable creation of bitmap based drawings in the browser. Its use in the creation of browser-based games is growing quite popular. This game is not a fully-fledged Space Invaders or Super Mario Brothers, but it goes some way to emulating the early arcade games of the 80s. In similarly experimental fashion, I was able to further explore the workings of JavaScript's prototypal and inheritance capabilities.
Raphael JS Tutorial Published at NetTuts
A written tutorial published at NetTuts.com
I've been flirting with Raphael JS for a while now and, with its continued growth and popularity, decided to write an article for NetTuts to introduce some basics and show off the capabilities of the library. I cover paths, animation, DOM access and build a site widget to wrap things up. NetTuts are a part of the Envato group and a renowned firm in Web Development.
The Scoutin' Facebook App
A facebook application
The Scoutin' Facebook App is a Facebook application that asks users to answer questions based on their friends' interests and activities. Users have the option of including the app logo on their profiles and results from the quiz are published in users' news feeds. The app was built using PHP and the Facebook API, FBML and FBJS.
2 Screencasts in the NetTuts/Screenr Competition
5-minute screencasts created at Screenr.com
I decided to enter the NetTuts/Screenr screencasts competition and supplied them with 2 entries: the first covered 'Plotting Graphs with jQuery and the Flot plugin' and the second covered 'Retrieving Data from YQL using jQuery. Both these entries made it to the final 25 screencasts and generally received positive feedback from NetTuts commentators. Be sure to check out the screencasts feed in my sidebar to keep up with my screencast tutorials.
Radstock Churches Together
A front-end site redesign
I was asked by Radstock Churches Together to give their website a more modern look, whilst retaining the same basic structure as their existing website. The project was essentially a front-end one consisting in Photoshop design and some jQuery to display button tooltips, effect an equal-height column layout and show a simple slideshow. We are currently discussing some back-end possibilities, including giving each church member the ability to update and modify their profiles and pass message to other churches. This will depend on the desire to actively participate in such a system, so in the meantime this site only really exemplifies front-end application.
Mary Hughes' Blog
A Wordpress blog for Mary Hughes
Creating Mary's blog meant doing a couple of things: a) making it simple to update posts, and allowing for some level of flexibility in terms of content and b) designing a site that would likely appeal to Mary's target audience. I addressed the former by using Wordpress, which offers a tonne of flexibility, especially with its plugin architecture, and is very simple to use. The latter I addressed using some really cool brushes in Photoshop and working with a fairly restricted (bright) range of colours.
My Blog
Another Wordpress concoction
My blog is a custom build theme sat on the Wordpress framework. I decided to use Wordpress to build my blog since I wanted to be able to make updates regularly without too much hassle. I also wanted the backend to take care of multimedia uploads and to make use of the Wordpress plugin architecture. To find out more about the motivations behind my blog and the things I talk about, click the 'My Blog' at the top of this page.
Hill's Landscapes
A design-orientated brochure website
Hill's landscapes are a local firm who approached me needing something that would reinforce their existing methods of advertisement (mainly leafleting). The emphasis has been given to site design - it is bright and very much conveys the nature of the work Hill's Landscapes do. Since the site has been built, Hill's receive on average an extra 3 clients per 1000 leaflets distributed.
Kill A Song
A forum and photo gallery of Manchester karaoke singers
Kill A Song is a website run by a Manchester-based DJ and friend. Having made recordings of karaoke singers at his events, he set up a PHPBB forum to allow users to access them. My role was to: re-design the website and make it attractive, create a PHPBB theme for the forum and build a photo gallery. The gallery was very quickly knocked up and is to be updated (aesthetically and programatically) once the best avenues for photo publication are ascertained (e.g. do we publish to Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, etc.). We are still trying to gauge public demand for the site's features.
PNA World Group
An informational front-end website
PNA World Group a small, Manchester-based firm who do pretty much everything from software installation to house re-wires. I took this project on board some time ago in order to bring together a loosely ordered set of information pertaining to the company and add a more professional look and feel to the website. The site was really an exercise in web design and acts mainly to reinforce the business cards PNA World Group pass to prospective clients.
Cheers Mag Website
A nicer website with a CMS
Cheers Magazine is a magazine that is distributed to various pubs in the north-west of England. The Cheers Magazine website is a bright re-design of their previous website with a CMS that allows the magazine creator to upload a PDF version of the magazine to the site each month and write a monthly 'Around the Town' blog-esque entry to the website. The previous website made access to the PDF very difficult, so it was really my goal to improve accessibility in the context of a less bland-looking website.
