Welcome! I'm Jacob — a designer and coder who creates things with computers (Fig 1.) Digital Craftsman best describes my skill set.
I'm detail-oriented and specialise in building design systems, component libraries and creating digital design. I've worked in creative studios, digital agencies and as a freelancer for over ten years. Currently, I'm a Senior Creative Developer at IMA Home.
Digital projects thrive when designers understand how they will be built. Just as an architect understands how a structure is created, the same should be true on the web.
I'm comfortable leading design direction, but I also enjoy working alongside designers who are less familiar with code. I enjoy collaborating, providing guidance and helping push boundaries to create projects that catch the eye, without sacrificing usability.
Starting with a blank canvas, taking up a mouse (Fig 2) and creating something bespoke is very rewarding.
I design with usability in mind, striving to create projects that are accessible to all.
I'm comfortable with most design tools, but I often prefer prototyping directly in a web browser. I'm passionate about interaction animations.
Humane by Design is a real guiding force for the design work I do.
Developing a conceptual idea into something engaging and functional can be equally satisfying.
Each key (Fig 3) stroke is carefully considered as I try to write code that's simple and resilient. Progressive Enhancement is the philosophy I aim to work with.
My approach is project dependant, aiming to select the right tools for the job, rather than what's popular at the time.
I've worked with many modern JS frameworks, however I try to stay focused on the fundamental building blocks of the web. My go-to method at the moment is Jamstack.
For over a decade, I've worked in a variety of roles. My most recent interesting job was building a new design system & component library for Sheffield City Council.
My latest positions are listed below, I moved to the UK from Australia in late 2019 to take on a new adventure.
Senior Creative Developer
Sep 2021 - CurrentSenior Creative Developer
Feb 2020 - Sep 2021Freelance Creative Developer
Jun 2019 - Sep 2019Freelance Designer & Developer
Feb 2019 - Jun 2019Fork Digital
Freelance Creative Developer
Sep 2018 - Feb 2019Digital Designer & Developer
Oct 2015 - Sep 2018Digital Designer & Developer
Feb 2010 - Sep 2015I've been lucky to work with a real variety of clients over the journey, I've listed some of the more notable ones here.
Enough about 'skills' and work stuff. Here are some ideas taken from my brain and arranged into words. Hopefully someone finds them useful.
At the moment, I only have one lonely post, written in conjunction with launching this site. I'm aiming to allow myself time to do more of this moving forward.
Creating a personal website is something I've started many times before, usually ending up bored with the idea and unhappy with the outcome. Having finally released something I'm pleased with, I thought it worth exploring my initial thought process in this opening post... Read full post.
“Try to be kind to yourself.”
It has default styles applied by your web browser, which are designed for legibility.
This right here is the very essence of digital design, making use of what's available and enhancing it where needed.
After all, the WWW was created as a global collection of shared documents and resources.
Adding bold text, emphasis, redactions, unarticulated text, or marked content is trivial... Who even needs designers?
You can also add other badass pre-styled stuff like Thematic breaks:
Preformatted text:
if(website === awesome) {
body.classList.add('gold-star');
}Tables:
| the rumours are true | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| people | used to | create | |
| layouts | with | these | |
Details:
and Links: The perfect website.
If you want more detail on why the web platform is awesome, give the link above a read.
Or if you need proof here and now...