I am a Melbourne-based Interface and Web Designer, working in the field of Internet Design and Development for over eight years.
"I have a passion for elegant code and design, where everything you work on should make the next job easier. Balance between design, usability, accessibility and standards should lead to the best possible outcome."
My strong programming background gives me an edge when designing complex websites or Flash applications. I have a passion for innovation and creativity while maintaining standards and keeping with best practice. I believe in a strong focus on user centered design.
Foremost, I consider myself an Interface Designer; connecting people with machines in the easiest possible way. I like to code things from scratch rather than use someone else's work. I've worked with more programming languages than I can remember and am not afraid to learn a new language or technique to get a job done.
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Web DevelopmentHTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery Ajax, XML, XSL |
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Web DesignPhotoshop, Email design |
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FlashAnimation, Video(FLV), ActionScript 1, 2 & 3 |
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Server Side DevelopmentASP, PHP, SQL, Interworld |
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General ProgrammingLearning new languages, Object oriented programming, Abstraction, Re-use, Documentation, Version control |
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UsabilityUser centered design, Usability testing, Search engine optimization (SEO) |
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AccessibilityW3C guidelines, WCAG 2.0, Progressive enhancement, Websites for visually and physically impaired |
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Graphic DesignPrint design, 3D Graphics, Photography |
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Just Jeans is a site I have been working on intermittently for the past three years. In mid 2009, the site was rebuilt using techniques I had learnt during the development of previous websites. The entire build was completed in less than two months, well ahead of schedule (where previous equivalent sites took up to six months to build).
Peter Alexander is Australia's leading sleepwear, pyjama and leisure company. Starting out as a mail order business, the company now has stores across Australia and New Zealand, with online sales of more than a million dollars annually.
Homepage Peter's world Peter's RSPCA sponsorship Online interactive catalogue Online products Shopping checkout
In late 2008 while working at The Just Group, I was responsible for building a new website for Peter. The site had to capture the quirky feel of the brand while delivering a large cutting edge eCommerce platform making it easy for users to shop online.
Peter Alexander uses the same proprietary language (Interworld) as I used to build Smiggle. With this build, I was keen to push the design by making it as backwards compatible as possible. I had long thought that with a few tweaks it would be possible to run all the interfaces without JavaScript. While JavaScript these days is very common, our statistics showed that a full 1 per cent of users were still browsing without it (you would never knock back that many people walking into a real store). By sticking to my convictions, I managed to make every function fully usable without JavaScript - ranging from registration to the online checkout. This is a feat which few, if any, other online retailers have achieved.
The look and feel of Peter's new site was designed by the web agency Paper Stone Scissors and based upon a previous website for Peter's US expansion. While the design was theirs, all aspects of the build and animation were mine.
Ever since I was a child I have had a fascination with making games. Creating a new world and delivering excitement to someone else for me has always been as exciting as playing a game itself. For several years now I have been developing Flash games, both at work and at home.
Smiggle is an up-and-coming stationery store supplying colorful and fashionable stationary at a low cost. Smiggle is especially popular among the young teen market.
Smiggle homepage Smiggle catalogue Smiggle product Smiggle account
I designed and built Smiggle's website from scratch in early 2008. Working with the creators of the company I came up with a design which was clean and straightforward while still capturing Smiggle's colorful nature.
The Just Group uses a proprietary and rarely used eCommerce platform and server side language called Interworld. When I first started at The Just Group in 2006, the language was already eight years old and the HTML integrating the eCommerce platform to the website was written using antiquated table based layout and non object oriented principles that modern Web Designers have nightmares about. I took it upon myself to go through and clean up every front-end page to make the system something I was proud of. Less than one year later, the code has been used as the base of two other websites, cutting development time by more than 60 per cent.
With any eCommerce system, there are many instances of complex online forms. With Smiggle I decided to use the JavaScript language jQuery to enhance the validation and user experience of all online forms. I had not used the language before nor had anyone at The Just Group. It proved to be an immense success and allowed inline validation of input and global enhancements to usability that would have been extremely difficult using most other methods.
Smiggle's Store locator was created with the Google Map API, allowing users to see a live map location of any Smiggle store.
Dotti is a rapidly growing fashion store for young women. It takes the essence of upcoming fashion from around the world and makes affordable clothing for girls in Australia and New Zealand.
I created the Dotti site in 2007. The Dotti site does not sell online but does need to show upcoming products available in-store.
The challenge on this site was to create a full Flash built site which was still accessible and in which all content was still viewable by search engines. To archive this I took the basic principle of a Flash/XML driven site and stretched it to become a Flash/XHTML site. All Dotti content and basic images is driven by a XHTML version of the site which sits behind the Flash version. As soon as the HTML is updated, the Flash changes too. This technique is one that I invented independently and have never seen used on the web elsewhere. It solves almost all the issues with pure Flash sites and when combined with a Flash URL updater also solves the problem of deep linking and enabling the browser back button.
The second challenge with Dotti was to build a catalogue of products, which could not be done with a database due to restrictions. I started to investigate ways data could be stored in XML and discovered the XSL translation language. Learning this language allowed me to translate XML into HTML, this was also only possible on all browsers using ASP to combine them together (some of my most complicated ASP work). The final solution could be updated by the Marketing team with Excel, turned into HTML and in turn be displayed in Flash with minimal effort.
In mid 2008, I was asked to do some freelance work on a website for a traveling exhibition of machines designed by Leonardo Da Vinci. This was my first foray into PHP. It needed to be a dedicated website for prospective patrons wanting information on the exhibition and has since been modified for further exhibitions in different Australian states.
I worked at ANZ for more than five years and in that time had several jobs including Usability, Intranet programming support, Graphic Design and Web Design. I also worked in both graphics and programming across channels including the Intranet, Internet, Microsites, Flash Games and Promotions. In my final year, I developed the first technical Style guide for anz.com.
Intranet logo Development program logo Personal banking homepage Internal project graphics Fleet finance game intro Promotional banner game Flash product demonstration 3D ATM character
I was asked to produce a full Flash photo gallery for a well-known Melbourne-based photographer. This site was designed and coded from scratch with careful attention to the loading of images and ease of maintenance. A second version has since been commissioned to make the Flash site search engine friendly.
With another site development for The Just Group, Jacqui E's initial concept was to mimic a real store with video of a store sales clerk and store imagery. The online product catalogue for this site was also built with XML, XSL and ASP.
One of my first freelance websites, this is the official site of the best selling novel Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. The site captures the feel of his travels in India and delivers a large amount of content, including poetry to philosophy.
