Thanks for taking the time to get to know me a bit. I'm a creative with a wide range of interests both personally and professionally. Currently, I spend my days slinging code in my role as Lead Developer at Craft&Crew, where I've been working since 2015. Prior to that, I worked design, print and direct marketing. If you're just dying to know more about my professional career, check out my CV.
In the evenings and on weekends, I moonlight under the pseudonym Deck Matthews, writing epic fantasy fiction. I've published a number of books, so be sure to check them out if that's your jam. I'm always working on another story!
Beyond that, I enjoy spending time with my family, reading good book, playing video games or struming away on my ever-growing collection of guitars.
I'm a designer, front-end developer and writer, all rolled into one. I've worked in both web and print, and love applying my knowledge, critical thinking and expertise to help craft amazing user experiences on the web.
My development focus has always been largely front-end and CMS customization, primarily in CraftCMS and WordPress. Every day I'm working with JavaScript, CSS, PHP and either raw HTML or some sort of templating engine such as Twig. I also have experience in building standalone applications using frameworks like Vue.
These days, I aim form my JavaScript to be reactive, relying on data, state and events to drive interaction. I was first introduced to the concept through Vue, but for standard websites I generally employ Alpine (which implements Vue's reactivity engine) to build modular, reusable components.
Of course, I do also have extensive experience with our old friend, jQuery, which was a staple of all my projects earlier in my career.
The implementation of CSS might be my favourite part of front-end development. This is likely tied to my background in design, but there's just something so inherently satisfying about watching a module or component come to life through the application of styles.
These days, I'm a huge fan of utility-based CSS, and my framework of choice in that regard is Tailwind, which I use almost exclusively across my projects—though I do still mix it with Sass for those outlier scenarios where utility classes are perhaps somewhat restrictive or cumbersome.
2005-2006
Completed an 8 month Master's program through intensive course work, helping me to further refine skills in critical thinking, research, analysis, teaching, time management and independent study.
2001-2005
Completed a standard 4-year honours program, studying a broad range of texts, with a special focus on contemporary fiction. This undergraduate program helped me develop skills in critical thinking, analysis and research, all of which have served me well as a designer, developer and writer. I graduated with distinction and a minor in Religion & Culture.
2015-Present
Currently, I'm employed full-time at Craft&Crew, where I am responsible for leading the development practice and help build enterprise-level website for clients in Canada, across North America and even around the world. I work closely with the design and UX teams, and together we are continually pushing to improve the quality, performance and accessibility of our offerings.
2009-Present
Started while working as a part-time independent freelance designer, developer and writer, Echo Enduring Media is a business entity through which I've had the opportunity to work with incredible people from all over the world, designing logos, deploying websites and contributing tutorials and articles to the design community.
Since 2019, the business has transitioned into the entity under which I am now publishing my own fiction.
2006-2015
As Creative Director at Highland Marketing, my primary responsibilities have included the design and development of marketing collateral, both print and digital, for clients and internal promotion. I have also worked at developing a suite of WordPress plugins for personalized web marketing.
For as long as I can remember, I've been an avid reader and writer. Even as a kid, I would find books that I liked and try my hand at crafting similar stories. Today, I am a self-published author writing under the pseudonym Deck Matthews.
I've authored several books and short stories and am always working on new material.