About me
My name's Matt and I'm a web developer. I specialise in Front-End, writing HTML, CSS, and Javascript, but my background is really in design (especially UI/UX). I love clever puns, Gill Sans, and one day aspire to have my own library... complete with sliding ladders.
Relevant Skills01
- UI / UX Design & Mock-ups
- Wireframing / Polished prototypes
- Asset creation (icons, illustrations, etc.)
- Branding identity, and marketing design
- Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite
- Testing (WCAG, responsiveness, etc.)
- HTML5 (Haml, Markdown)
- CSS3 (SASS, ITCSS)
- JavaScript (ES6, React, Coffeescript)
- Version Control (GitHub)
- Ruby (Rails framework)
- Rspec (Test-driven-development)
How I got started02
After studying Graphic Design at university, I began work as a young freelance designer and spent the better part of a year being asked if I “did websites”.
Eventually, I found myself saying “yes”.
I began to play around with Wordpress and started to write my own basic code. After that, I finished a web design course whilst working in tech support, and eventually decided to enrol in a coding bootcamp.
The bootcamp was Makers' Academy, so I moved to London in February of 2014 and started their full-time, three-month program. We covered seemingly everything from the command line, to Ruby and Rspec, but it was the front-end that interested me.
Immediately after that, I landed my first job as a junior web-developer. Meeting other developers for the first time really introduced me to the fast- paced world of modern web development. Since then, I've been lucky enough to work with a variety of talented teams in London.
About this website03
Built with Gatsby, I started designing this version of my website in 2016. The main goal was to build a site that is easy to update and modify over the years, regardless of the tech-stack I'm using.
My very first website (built sometime in 2011) was a monument to my own stubbornness, cobbled together using only a text editor and a free FTP client. This one is designed to be far less of a headache.
There were long periods of time inbetween the two when I didn't have a personal website, but the idea has always appealed to me. You can read more about this current website build here.