At 13, I designed my first Web site with Microsoft FrontPage and Ulead PhotoImpact. I never dreamed back in 1997 that messing with HTML in my
spare time would turn into a career track. I've designed several sites since then, including, obviously, this one in its many iterations.
I started out with HTML and finally jumped into CSS three years ago. I have a little knowledge of PHP and JavaScript, but not yet enough to write either from scratch.
I've worked with content management systems, blogging software and FTP servers. Though my mother originally taught me HTML, everything I've
learned since has been self-taught.
I enjoy making the Web as interactive as possible without being obnoxious. Flash is, of course, the most powerful interactive tool available.
I'm fairly new to Flash. I had just started to get accustomed to ActionScript 2 when ActionScript 3 came out and changed everything.
I still cheat and use AS2 for most of my projects. I have a feeling a book on AS3 is going to be in the budget soon.
Interactive Projects
From Flash to SoundSlides, I've dabbled in as many kinds of interactive media as I can get my hands on (and my head around). The following examples are all interactive projects I've been involved with at Fresno State's student newspaper, The Collegian. Unless otherwise noted, I did all design, information gathering and coding.(May 6, 2009) What you get for the money: A breakdown of where student fees go.
(April 15, 2009) Viva Las Vintage Days: Vintage Days is an annual fair-like festival held on campus. 2009's theme was Las Vegas. This was a guide to the events.
(Feb. 23, 2009) The envelope, please: Winners of the 2009 Oscars. I'm quite pleased with the design work on this one.
(Feb. 4, 2009) Discovering lacrosse: A guide for those unfamiliar with lacrosse, which started on campus in January of 2009.
(Nov. 12, 2008) Campus remembers veterans: I edited the audio and assisted with photo selection for this slideshow by Juan Villa and Joel Ede.
(Nov. 5, 2008) California speaks: proposition results: This interactive Flash map shows how many counties voted for and against propositions as well as the statistics for Fresno County. Fresno is indicated by the pawprint, as the mascot for Fresno State is a bulldog.
(Oct. 22, 2008) Know before you vote: Analysis of upcoming propositions.
(Sept. 15, 2008) Test your alcohol knowledge: College and alcohol have a sullied relationship. This quiz asks students questions about safe drinking habits.
(Sept. 12, 2008) Fresno State honors Sept. 11: A interactive timeline of major events of 9/11.
(Aug. 26, 2008) Construction on campus: Fresno State is currently undergoing a 20-year period of construction. This interactive map allows students to find out which areas of the campus are changing or off-limits.
(Aug. 25, 2008) Summer '08 at Fresno State: A recap of major university-related events that occurred over the summer. Flash and design by Brandon Ocegueda in consultation with me. I compiled all of the information and photos and inserted them.
(April 20, 2008) Collegian Idol: A takeoff of "American Idol," this karaoke contest allowed students to record a video which was uploaded to our site. Voting took place for one week, at which time four winners were announced and awarded prizes. The voting form, which is no longer up, was built using basic HTML forms.
Web Design and Development
This is a small sampling of Web sites that I've created over the last two or three years. All graphic design and coding done by me unless otherwise noted. Click on a logo to bring up a full-size image of the site.
WordPress-based site for the Fresno State student newspaper, replacing the old design, a variation of SmallPotatoes' Quadruple Blue theme. This is an adaptation of the Revolution News Theme by Brian Gardner. I did all customization of the theme, including creating custom PHP for section pages, implementing rotating ads, rearranging the placement of columns and adding a scrolling feature to the tabbed boxes.
Planned overhaul of Mountain Valley Growers, Inc. This is a large project which is projected to take upwards of six months. The site currently has 400 static pages, each of which must be individually revamped. The example shown here is a mockup of one of the plant pages. Designs for the index page, shopping cart and hard goods pages are under way.
Created for the newly formed association seeking to unite coaches of intercollegiate equestrian teams. This design is still undergoing transformation as the ECA's representative gives me feedback and helps me with content creation. This was my first experiment with creating a dynamically generated Web site from scratch. I also had to navigate IE6's issues with PNG transparency. Completely CSS-based.
This was a project done in 2006 for the local Boy Scouts of America council. Table-based design based on the necessity of editing with a WYSIWYG editor like Contribute. In addition to doing the design, I compiled all information and links that went into the site. Unfortunately, it is no longer maintained.
The previous version of the Bar B Brand, this CSS-based site was the second incarnation of my digital portfolio and either the fourth or fifth complete redesign of my personal site since I first went live with it in 1997. But though I designed it in 2007, the square corners and Spartan white soon looked dated to me, so I decided to update again to the current design.
A microsite developed in 2007 for Mountain Valley Growers, Inc.'s new line of organic strawberries. The site was later incorporated into the corporate site. This was my first experiment with CSS and tableless design. All information was taken from existing pages on Mountain Valley Growers' main site. It included implementation of a shopping cart and secure ordering.
Designed for the Golden Key International Honour Society at Fresno State and my first design done for a client. This table-based site was only in operation for a few weeks before the school ruled that all university organizations were required to use university-designed Dreamweaver site templates.