This is my story as a website artist + how I got to where I am now. I feel it is vital to acknowledge the antiquated but important websites that I made through the process of learning how to design + develop - as it is through creating these that I truly learned how to hone my craft. Here I offer an exclusive look, revealing never-before-seen portfolios. This is a brave but honest exposure of my sketchbook, + whilst many people would not have the confidence to do this, I am proud of my unique portfolio of work. I was once told by Graham Linehan - the writer of the IT crowd “Hide all the bullshit + only show the best pieces, they think you’re a genius!” Here I dare to do the opposite. Follow me down the rabbit hole as I lay bare each chapter of my story.
My first paid client came when I was on the way home from the train station the same day I returned home from Sweden, outside a hairdressers in Ipswich. I was helping an elderly lady who fell over in the street, + the owner of the salon waited with me until the ambulance came + mentioned she needed a website. The rest is history.
15/09/2015
The year was 2015 I was in my second year of Art School studying Graphic Communication + I needed to submit my projects so I chose the medium of a website instead of PDF. Before this course, I considered myself as a fine art painter with little interest in digital design + absolutely no knowledge or experience as a programmer. This inspired me to follow the unorthodox method of building this website out of the unlikely tool of Adobe Edge Animate from my cracked version of CS6.
The first web page on the internet went live on August 6, 1991 - 29 days after I was born. This meant throughout my life the idea of a website as being visually beautiful was unheard of - they were there simply to provide information in the most basic way possible. All websites used Times New Roman, white backgrounds, black text + blue hyperlinks. As a designer, the only influence really came from what has been created in print. Unsurprisingly the visual design of this “website” was inspired by artifacts in a book titled History of the poster that I was once recommended in a lecture.
24/11/2015
In order to go into my final year of university, I was required to resubmit a module as I was 1.3% off the passable grade required. Although this delayed my return to University for a year, I was fortunate that during this time a software developer friend of mine saw my website attempt + invited me to visit him in Sweden. Whilst there I learned how to develop + build my first real websites with students at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. This was the portfolio I built to demonstrate my skills ready to present to real clients back in the UK.
10/06/2016
In 2017 parallax scrolling (an image that is static and the page scrolls around it) was everywhere + at the time it seemed like the most cutting edge feature a website could contain. I now feel this effect looks passé + dated - which is reflective of how fast-paced + ever-changing web design is: the trends which are popular fall out of fashion fast.
03/01/2017
My university course was very broad, meaning that we were free to focus on any field of communication design we wanted. On my return, I surprised my lecturers not only with the new skills I picked up in Sweden but also the newfound passion I had for interface design + creative coding. Every project I did in my final year of university was presented in the medium of a website. A continuous theme throughout many of my portfolios is creating heros which are also menus that incorporate psychedelic visuals.
12/12/2017
I regularly update my websites + by 2017 I had 2 websites consistently - one creative portfolio + a professional client facing site under the brand: Maverick Media. This was to keep ahead of the trends, but more importantly, I was getting better at my craft + had a broader range of work to display.
01/01/2018
By this point, I began to acknowledge that I had many passions + that I was starting to get good at something I enjoyed. I couldn’t just be defined by just one thing, but many areas of creativity - I am a creative. I really challenged myself with the code of the website, as I wanted to bring all my skills together to present something fresh + exciting.
24/04/2018
There are continuous references to Swiss Style print in my website aesthetics, this is because it emphasizes clarity + readability. Hallmarks of the style are asymmetric layouts, use of a grid, sans-serif typefaces like Akzidenz Grotesk + flush left ragged right text. These techniques are all constant in the world of interface design + have a timeless feel, defined by intuitive rules necessary because of the vast amounts of text on webpages.
08/07/2018
With my creative portfolios, I made the conscious decision to completely remove any rules which most websites should abide by. This is okay because it was my place to experiment - utter freedom, with no boss or teacher telling me the “shoulds, oughts + musts” of how to design. Since I used Maverick Media to present work to my clients, I don’t think I ever even presented these websites to anyone - they were like a digital sketchbook.
01/01/2019
I had decided to make Maverick Media look contemporary + sophisticated, as after all, I needed clients + this is what they wanted. This website feels light, clean + the complete opposite to what I was making in my creative portfolio. I’ll be honest clients liked it, but I found it boring.
17/06/2019
2019 was an amazing year for me + this website shows some of its best bits. I had been working on multiple projects for one of the world’s famous DJ’s Seth Troxler + I had built a website for one of my heroes in Grime - P Money. I was also studying for my master’s + later moved to Berlin to work for one of Europes best agencies. This grid format of this website is inspired by an art gallery, carefully curated by me - my masterpieces displayed for a spectator to witness. The menu in itself is so compelling it could just be its own website. It is a great website + represents my success in my field + it will go down as one of the best websites I have ever built.
06/02/2020
2020 was a crazy year for everyone + it was contrasting in many ways to the year before. Regardless of this, my dream was to work for a design agency + live in a capital European city. Since I am living in Berlin + still working at Goldener Westen I feel both happy + lucky. I hope one day Mango Media will be as accomplished as GW + I am continuing to learn so much from the team here. I feel this is evident in this website as I have finally found a way to merge my professional + creative portfolio into 1 (meaning I only have to create 1 website a year now.)
From initial concept to actualisation, each website I have created has been made without pretence or artifice, with the simple aim of celebrating what is good + has always been good about design. By studying the rules at the foot of the giants, I was then able to learn how + when to bend or break these rules, finding the perfect equilibrium between old + new, good + bad, fiction + reality in order to create websites that captivate + inspire those who view them.
Experience + exploration has taught me the importance of knowing when to fiercely preserve tradition whilst also adapting to the new technologies, trends + styles that make and will always make this special, inescapably changing world we live in what it is. Changes will continue to come + I hope to embrace them with the confidence + determination that has made me into the designer I am today.