Web design is a perfect pursuit for a nerdy person with creative tendencies. In my youth, I was the kid who volunteered to paint signs and fliers whenever they were needed. Indeed, art was really the only way I ever distinguished myself there, as I successfully kept a very low profile at all other times. I was always fascinated with letters and typefaces, color palettes and shapes, and the energy and emotion that can be conveyed with creative combinations of those elements.
Later I discovered computers and soon after, the internet. When I discovered websites, I immediately wanted one and I predicted that everyone would soon have a personal website. Of course, that hasn’t really happened the way I thought it would. I did not predict that Facebook and other social media would be the way many people would create their personal public personas. However, websites are still almost mandatory for commercial enterprises and information sharing, and millions of them need to be built and maintained. Here’s hoping that more websites are needed than there are people interested in making them. Cheers!
Although I’ve worked on many websites over the years, in 2018 I resolved to seriously get up to speed on the latest trends in web development. As it turns out, there is so much development going on in web development that the first thing I learned is that I’d have to pick my tools and later hope I’d chosen wisely. I’ve zeroed in on a few disciplines that have proven to be quite valuable — and have stretched my brain into positions it wasn’t used to. All that choosing, learning, and struggling is potentially overwhelming but I usually find it more fun than frustrating, and I now feel more confident in my skills than ever before. There are times, however, that I feel completely inadequate, but that feeling is a great little motivator.
In 1994, I began working with a San Diego e-6 film processing lab called Chrome. The owners made the wise decision back then to embrace digital technology when their competitors weren’t. It was there that I first got involved with creating websites, first to help build the company website and then building websites for the photographers we already worked with. Soon, we were building sites for other types of small businesses.
As years passed, my job became more focused on large format printing, scanning, and photo retouching. It was becoming more difficult to give web design the attention it required, and the day came when it was no longer practical to offer the service. I continued to maintain the websites I’d already designed but stopped accepting new website clients.
About ten years later I decided to start working part-time at Chrome Digital (the digital spin-off of Chrome) and try freelancing. I determined that website design is probably my most marketable skill and that at home, I could devote the time to it that it deserves. I also offer photo retouching, which was always my favorite type of work. It’s difficult for me to see a digital photo with problems and not fix them. Sometimes I also do a little graphic design. Since I have no formal training in the field I hesitate to proclaim myself a “graphic designer”, but I sometimes graphically design stuff anyway.
As mentioned, much about web design and development had changed while I was on a ten-year break from web design. Anyone who may be interested in the skills I’ve been working on, please see my appropriately titled blog post Why my brain hurts for a list of my recent learning projects.
I’m a San Diego / South Bay native, and a graduate of Bonita Vista High School. I have an Associate’s Degree from Southwestern College. I live in Chula Vista, California with my husband and two cats one cat. (RIP beloved Beanie.)
My assistant assisting
“Out of clutter, find simplicity.” ― Albert Einstein
