• home
• • résumé
  • portfolio
  • newsletter
  • client login
• • blog
  • gallery
  • wallpaper
  • palm

Front-end Web Developer, Sputnik Agency, Melbourne, Australia. (Sep 2007 - present)

My role at Sputnik Agency primarily involves the building of websites in (x)HTML and CSS, ranging from small, static brochure sites or microsites, eDMs (electronic Direct Mailers, otherwise known as HTML emails), to enterprise-level CMS templates for proprietary as well as Open Source Content Management Systems.

I also assist in the planning and estimation of project costs and timeframes based on concepts and client requirements. I work with members the Creative team to review and collaborate on web site designs that translate well to the front-end build stage.

I strive to be faithful to the original creative concepts and approved flat mock-ups, within the capabilities of the web browsers and markup language

With the arrival of the iPhone, I have started experimenting and am able to create mobile- and iPhone-optimised web sites and web applications.

I work with existing Sputnik Agency processes to ensure the work is delivered on-time, with proper QA, and ensuring all code and assets are under version control or archived accordingly.

Sputnik Agency has taught me the value of working in a much bigger team where everybody has role in delivering the best possible product for the client. Working here has exposed me to much bigger clients and projects which I may not have had the opportunity to as a freelancer. I have also enjoyed working with an incredibly creative and knowledgeable group of people.

Freelance Web Designer & Front-end Developer, Melbourne, Australia. (Jan 2003 - present)

Being a freelancer gives me the opportunity to work on projects that span the gamut, from e-commerce sites to small businesses needing a simple web presence. One of the highlights of the past year has to be my work on Epicure, an up-and-coming band based here in Victoria.

I've been honing my skills and improving my coding techniques and am proud to be able to claim that all the sites I've created in the last 12 months are w3c-validated, XHTML 1.0 Strict, and CSS 2.0 compliant. Most of them are even constructed using table-less CSS layouts and are semantically coded. What this means is that future updates and changes by the client are easily done due to clear and concise code.

With the separation of content and presentation into XHTML and CSS, even a redesign of the site could be done even without touching the XHTML code. A much-overlooked effect of this is that with good, clean code, search engines are able to index clients' sites more effectively, leading to better search ranking without any specific and meticulous 'search engine optimization'. This also means these sites are more accessible to alternative browsers such as screen readers and mobile devices.

Besides technical skills, working independently has taught me better time management, project prioritization and management, self-discipline and essential business skills.

Tutor/Lecturer, Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology, Malaysia (Dec 2001 - Dec 2002)

I started tutoring, and eventually lecturing at LICT, my former college, for a year. I was teaching Video and Sound Production in my first semester there, and later, Motion Graphics (using Adobe After Effects) too.

I had to prepare class notes, deliver the course, engage the students in practical assignments, critique and approve project proposals, and assess final presentation and coursework. It was an unexpectedly enjoyable experience sharing my knowledge and skills and it was great being back in the college environment.

Junior Web Designer, Neuroweb Sdn. Bhd., Kuala Lumpur (May - Nov 2001)

As a junior web designer I assisted existing production teams in ongoing projects. One major account the company was servicing at the time was Maybank Berhad, Malaysia's largest financial and banking institution. I was in the team of 2 designers handling the revamp of their corporate and online banking web site, maybank2u.com

Besides the web site, I also produced several items of 'collateral materials' for Maybank, including designs for chequebooks, flyers and ATM cards.

I also produced mock-ups and demo sites for telcos and financial institutions that Neuroweb used to pitch for accounts.

One side project I was involved in, with 2 other designers in Neuroweb, was producing a set of presentation and interstitial video clips for the PIKOM Awards night. I used Bryce and Adobe After Effects for my segments.

Intranet Web Developer, DP Architects Pte. Ltd. Singapore (Oct - Dec 1999)

Involved in the entire process of setting up a corporate intranet site, including front-end interface web design, ASP and VBScript programming to link certain web pages to existing databases via ODBC and installation and configuration of IIS on Windows NT Server. Also recommended solutions for distribution of secure company documents using PDF format.

Contract Designer, James Poh Design, Singapore (Aug - Sep 1999)

Producing 2D Graphic Design work including brochures, magazine layouts, photo enhancement and manipulation. Worked on a video presentation for a client's annual dinner, utilizing Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects.

Hardware

Extensive experience in configuring and troubleshooting PC- and Mac-based systems, upgrading various system components and resolving various PC-Mac cross-platform issues, including networking.

Software & Web Technologies

Comfortable in both Mac OS- and Windows-based environments, but my working platform of choice would be Mac OS X. Naturally, I would still test my work on Windows-based machines and web browsers.

I hand-code w3c-validated to XHTML 1.0 Strict and CSS 2 standards (and experimenting with CSS 3 while browser support for it improves). I fully embrace web standards for true cross-platform, cross-browser compatibility. I also do some basic scripting in Javascript and PHP.

I use a variety of tools in the development of websites:

• Adobe Photoshop CS3 - Web design and image retouching and optimisation
• TextMate - Code editor of choice
• FireFox - Standards-compliant web browser with some very useful extensions like Firebug and the Web Developer toolbar
• VMWare Fusion - Virtualisation system for running Windows and Windows-based web browsers like Internet Explorer 6/7/8 for testing
• Aperture - Photo management and RAW image processing
• Transmit - awesome FTP client
• iTunes - to feed my need for music
• svn - Version control system
• Terminal - Yes, I am comfortable in the command line to navigate unix/linux systems and accessing servers remotely
• W3C Validators - HTML and CSS validators on the W3C website
• Various web frameworks - JS, CSS and PHP frameworks that provide additional functionality or abstraction of code to ensure they work across all browsers without having to introduce ‘hacks’ and workarounds for each one