With business booming, I had more projects than I knew what to do with, so I brought on a couple of extra developers and expanded my operation. The agency is still growing, but I am trying to stay true to my roots and keep focussed on the Front End. I can still be found tapping away at my keyboard writing Angular code most of the time, but I'm back to doing a lot more team management as well, which fortunately I love!
A great new framework, super light-weight and easy to pick up, I had fun coding a little project for a client. I always love to learn new front end frameworks!
After producing a successful shopfront for them, the team at Mile high Paragliding asked me back to build their admin platform to manage their bookings. Work is already underway...
My first son was born on 9th November!
My old friends at ITG asked me back to fill in a few gaps while they looked to hire a new staff member. It was lovely to be back and see so many old faces!
After a long road to get these guys ready, the team at Mile High Paragliding launched their website, complete with a custom checkout and paypal integration.
I had been trying to get myself into React for a while, and I finally managed to do it. I did enjoy the learning process, but I am certainly an Angular developer, through and through! I can see how React has grown to be so popular, but I would still always recommend Angular to clients looking for a large-scale web app.
With the release of ng4, I felt it was finally time to move on to the next version of Angular. See my first ng4 project with it in my portfolio.
After undergoing rigorous testing and a 4 stage interview process, I have been accepted into the developer network at Toptal. Apparently this means I'm in the top 3% of developers!
I started work on an information portal for doctors and healthcare professionals, working as the front end lead in the team for a pharma giant. The website is in 4 languages, using Umbraco to its fullest extent and Angular for account admin, content filtering and search functionality.
Having worked with some cool technologies over the past year, I thought it was time for a revamp. The new website is running on Umbraco 7.3, and utilises all my own script libraries and the techniques I talk about in my resources section.
I was given the opportunity to run a workshop. I began creating course materials and exercises for the group to complete, and started brushing up on my theory.
I married my beautiful wife, after 9 years together.
Having worked with Umbraco in quite an advanced way already, I thought it was time to solidify my existing knowledge and go a bit deeper. I went on an Umbraco Training course with Percipient Studios to become an accredited Umbraco Developer.
I wrote my first Angular controller, and in so doing, fell in love with the library.
I received a promotion to the head of front end development, managing a team of 7 developers and projects both small and large, whilst continuing as a developer myself.
I was now extremely proficient with email, and about as fast as I could get at knocking them out. but it wasn't enough. I started teaching myself jQuery. In a short time, I was at a working level and started building websites. I refurbished the company website, and started to dabble with Umbraco.
I developed my own responsive framework for email. You are welcome to use it - its downloadable, and a tutorial version is in existence as well.
I was welcomed back to the 1990's, coding with tables, inline styles, and not much else. Email has been a staple for me ever since.
I made the move agency side, and started working as a front end developer for Creator, a London agency with clients world-wide.
I was working with a lot of agencies and realised that I wanted a a more hands on approach. I created and sent my first email campaign for MSD. I continued learning and stretching my HTML skills from here on.
Started my first 'real' job with Merck Sharpe & Dohme Ltd (MSD) as a marketing associate.
I graduated with an overall 2:1 BA (Hons) in English Literature (I know, I'm as surprised as you are that I'm now a developer. The best explanation I have is that it runs in the family...).
Lived through the longest period in my life to date with no sleep: 3 days whilst writing my final dissertation (it paid off, I got a First for it).
Passed 4 A levels and got accepted to the University of East Anglia to study English Literature.
I created a digital newspaper for my school, called G-Mag. It was my first fully functional website. Yes, I did use front page for a lot of it. And no, it didn't have a marquee across it.
Passed my GCSEs with all A*s, and As, except for 4 Bs.
I first dabbled with HTML; yes, the page included a marquee. Maybe a little bold text as well...