I’m a Newcastle, Ontario based web designer who loves what I do – I enjoy coding, designing, typography, photography and writing. I’ve been designing websites since 2001, when my second son was in kindergarten in Massachusetts and I became frustrated with the complete lack of usability of our school district’s websites. I taught myself web design and by the time we moved back to Canada in 2007, I was in charge of the district, high school, middle school and several elementary school websites.
Over the years, I acquired a number of clients of all sorts including educational organizations, non-profits, a community newspaper, small businesses, churches, musicians, writers and a restaurant, and have also continued doing volunteer work for community organizations.
When I started out, WordPress didn’t exist and most sites were static HTML sites; in many ways I’m glad that I began back then, as it forced me to learn HTML and CSS, which now enables me to truly customize WordPress designs for clients. And yes – if you want a static HTML site, I can do that for you too!
Good site content is extremely important, and I can help you with that. Not only do you want to make sure that your site can be found via Google and other search engines, which means making sure that your content is relevant and well-written, but you also want to make sure that your visitors can navigate your site easily once they get there. I can help you focus on what you want to communicate, whether it’s today’s dinner menu or the latest news story. Writing, editing and photography are all skills I can offer if required.
Experience
- 2001-present: freelance web design
- 1999-present: desktop publishing (newsletters, yearbooks)
- 2004-2006: Layout, writing and copy editing of special sections at The Eagle Tribune (Lawrence, MA)
- 1980-1991: practicing Landscape Architect in Toronto (Paul Ferris and Associates)
- 1980: University of Toronto, Bachelor of Landscape Architecture
Volunteer Interests
- 2017-present: Board member, Newcastle Village and District Historical Society
- 2012-2017: Board member, Leaside Property Owners’ Association
- 2012: Communications, Leaside Unite
- 2009-2014: Vice-president and president, North Leaside Women’s Group
- 2007-2009: Yearbook editor and webmaster, Northlea Elementary School, Toronto
- 2007-2009: Yearbook editor and webmaster, Northlea Elementary School, Toronto
- 2002-2007: Taxpayers United for the Future in North Andover, MA (founding member)
- 2002: Designer Selection Committee (proposed elementary school, North Andover, MA)
- 1999-2001: Co-president and treasurer, Franklin School PTO, North Andover, MA