Each web development project I work on is an exciting challenge. Not only am I engaged with – and improving on – my existing knowledge, but I’m also exploring new topics in order to meet the project requirements. Completing these projects, whether for a client or for myself, keeps me learning and leaves me with a renewed respect for the creative and technical aspects of web dev.

Devices Mockup by Michał Jakobsze is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Explore CA NPS

QTA

Marvelous Cards

Jerrytron

Katelyn Mueller

Community Psychiatry

Novato Tomorrow

Explore California National Parks

CLIENT: Self
SKILLS: HTML, CSS, Javascript, Lit

Looking for a hobby project, and as a fan of parks and open spaces, I discovered that the National Park Service has a public API. To control how much data would be handled and stored, I limited the scope of the project to the state of California. I imagined the app as a quick and easy way to check park information before jumping in the car. That guided my decisions to include park alerts and weather conditions. This information is kept in the browser’s localStorage with reasonable expiration dates to ensure users accurate information, while also not having to request all the data every time the app loads.

Park locations are displayed on a map using the Google Maps Javascript API, and I also integrated weather forecasts via the OpenWeather API. Both of these features improved the app’s usefulness as a lightweight trip planning tool. I love being able to load up the app and immediately gain a better understanding of my state’s national parks and monuments.

I went into some detail on creating the app in this blog post.

laptop computer displaying the Explore California National Parks website

desktop computer displaying the Explore California National Parks website

mobile devices displaying the Explore California National Parks website

Quentin Thomas Associates Website

CLIENT: Quentin Thomas Associates, Inc.
SKILLS: HTML, CSS, SCSS, Javascript, jQuery, Gulp, PHP, WordPress

The latest version of the QTA website was designed by their in-house creative. I worked directly with them to realize their vision using a bespoke WordPress theme. I gave special consideration to making it easy for staff to add and remove content. The design emphasizes high-quality photography and showcases the company’s lighting design work.

laptop computer displaying the Quentin Thomas Associates website

mobile devices displaying the Quentin Thomas Associates website

Marvelous Cards

CLIENT: Self
SKILLS: HTML, CSS, Javascript

The popularity of the Marvel movies and television shows had me digging my old superhero trading cards out of storage. All of the cards I successfully bugged my parents to buy me in the ’90s were there, in a bright red three-ring binder helpfully labelled “Top Secret.” In my opinion, the art is just as interesting today as it was back then.

Scanning the cards was the easy part of this hobby project. To share them on the web, I customized a Tumblr theme, and made sure to include my memories and current-day impressions for each entry.

laptop computer displaying the Marvelous Cards website

mobile devices displaying the Marvelous Cards website

Jerrytron

CLIENT: Jerry Belich
SKILLS: HTML, CSS, Javascript, jQuery, PHP, WordPress

When I heard that Jerry Belich, inventor of the Choosatron, was ready for a visual refresh and needed more editable functionality on his WordPress site, I jumped at the chance to design and build a custom theme for him. I started the process by interviewing Jerry, which gave me a good idea of his needs and the required features. The site featured a persistent form for collecting leads, Jerry’s creative projects front-and-center, and an events section that indicated his attendance at past and upcoming conferences. The design was inspired by material UI and was fully responsive. This site was active from 2015 – 2019.

Jerrytron website mockup

Katelyn Mueller Website

CLIENT: Katelyn Mueller
SKILLS: HTML, CSS, SCSS, Javascript, jQuery, Gulp, PHP, WordPress

Katelyn needed a simple, clean web presence that could be easily updated. I built a custom theme in WordPress that describes her professional capabilities, shows her various audio projects, and lists the many brands she’s worked with.

laptop computer displaying Katelyn Mueller's website

mobile devices displaying Katelyn Mueller's website

Community Psychiatry Website

AGENCY: Kiosk
CLIENT: Community Psychiatry
SKILLS: HTML, CSS, SCSS, Javascript, jQuery, Gulp, PHP, WordPress

I’m proud to have contributed to Community Psychiatry’s mission of connecting people with mental health providers by building this website. It features a “panel builder”-style system to make editing content easy and flexible, as well as a custom integration with the Google Maps API to assist visitors in finding providers near them. The site was designed and is maintained with care by the team at Kiosk.

laptop computer displaying the Community Psychiatry website

mobile devices displaying the Community Psychiatry website

Novato Tomorrow

AGENCY: Kiosk
CLIENT: City of Novato
SKILLS: HTML, CSS, SCSS, Javascript, jQuery, Gulp, PHP, WordPress

The General Plan is an official city document that meets State law requirements for identifying goals and polices that guide and direct the development of the City, the use of its resources, and the applications of its programs. When the City of Novato drafted the latest revision to its General Plan, they wanted to make the content available to the public.

I relied on custom taxonomies in WordPress to define the relationships between chapters, goals and policies of the General Plan.  This made it simple to organize, sort, and filter the content.

desktop computer displaying the Novato Tomorrow website