About
Me
- Degree in Software EngineeringAcquired from the University of Ottawa; minor in Management & Entrepreneurship.
- 8 years industry experienceInteraction Designer for Bridges Transitions, North America's leading provider of web applications for career planning & exploration.
- Founded ezilly Design in December '08Making the web nicer and easier to use, one site at a time.
- Fanatical about design & web standardsA well designed site generates interest without making the visitor think about how to achieve their goals. 'Web standards' are basically all about building sites the right way, using properly formatted HTML/CSS.
- Firm believer that less is always moreThe problem with the "information age" is that there's just too much information for the average person to process, which scares them off. I like to distill a site's content to its core components; people are much more likely to read a page if it's easily digestible.
- Outspoken critic of Flash websitesThis ties in with my appreciation of web standards. Flash is OK for movies and the occasional game, but Flash websites are a huge mistake. Google can't properly index them, they're bloated, they're terrible for accessibility, incompatible with the iPhone, and generally a lot harder to use. I could go on, but just trust me: Flash is bad, CSS is good.
- Web/tech/information mavenYou know that person you always go to with questions about technology or the Internet? That's me. If something interesting is happening on the web, there's a real good chance I know about it.
- Apple evangelistI've sold far too many Mac's, iPod's, and iPhones for someone that never actually worked for Apple. I just like the fact that Apple designs with regular people in mind. Most other tech companies seem to be designing for other geeks, or possibly robots.
- Toronto residentBorn in Toronto, raised in the Ottawa area, and now I'm right back to where I started!
My Services
- Web Design, focusing on ease of useEase of use is my number one goal when designing a website. Once all the elements are organized in a logical way that's easy to navigate, I go about making it attractive and memorable.
- Standards-compliant Web Development"Standards-compliant" means that I make sites that work in every browser, can be found and properly indexed by search engines, are optimized to separate content from presentation, and can be updated or tweaked easily in the future.
- Graphic DesignI'm no Rembrandt, but I do know how to make attractive & memorable websites. My style is generally minimalist, but I'm pretty flexible - as long as the artwork isn't detracting from the content.
- Site Evaluation & RedesignCompanies are finally starting to realize that it's not enough to simply have a website...these days you really need a good one. Whether its evaluating an existing site & providing suggestions to make it better, or just pulling all its content and designing something new, I can help. I'm quite willing to work with Marketing or Graphic Design teams to ensure that the appropriate branding is being represented.
- Search Engine OptimizationThis is a hot buzz-word that gets thrown around entirely too much, mostly by people who are no longer in touch with how search engines work. Google's formula is a closely-guarded secret, but basically it depends on your site's popularity, formatting, and content. If you've ever talked to an "SEO Expert" that guarantees a top spot in Google or obsesses over "meta tags", stay away! These snake-oil merchants are everywhere...
- Traffic AnalysisOnce you have a shiny new ezilly Designed website, you might be curious as to how it's being used. I can provide detailed statistics of where your visitors are coming from, how they're using your site, and more. All in plain english with lots of pretty graphs.
- ConsultingI've worked closely at every level of software development, both on-site and from several time zones away. I'm well versed in "best practices" for software development, and how to apply them to reality when deadlines start creeping up. If your organization is looking for help from an educated & experienced Interface specialist, drop me a line.
- CopyrightingWriting for the web is a different beast than writing for print. Your average Internet surfer is notorious for just skimming all of your carefully constructed content to find what they want. I have experience turning wordy content into something more scannable (and therefore, something that will actually get read).
- Advertising Design & OptimizationIf you're interested in driving traffic to your site using a service like Google Adwords, I can help you come up with a strategy. By running multiple versions of an ad, we can optimize the amount (and quality) of traffic that gets to your site.
- Domain Registration & HostingTotally new to the Internet game and not interested in dealing with the nitty gritty of registering a .com or hosting it yourself? No problem - I can take care of it.
- Myspace/Blog Design & DevelopmentWhether it's crafting a good-looking Myspace page for your band, or creating a well-designed blog, I can handle it.
- PhotographyIf you need some images for your site and stock photography just won't do, I can snap off some high-quality shots with my Digital SLR camera.