University of London
Ravensbourne University
Hertfordshire University
Freelance Front-End Developer (August 22 - May 23, July 24 - present)
As a freelance developer, working for clients including Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, Bright Blue Day, Beep, and Chicken Shop, I've focused on the React/Node/Typescript stack that best suits my development style. I've worked on a number of marketing projects, both as a sole, self-managing dev and as part of a larger team. I've enjoyed working both as a front-end and a full-stack developer and feel at home moving between different development environments and picking up new technologies on the fly.
Storia Worldwide (May 23 - July 24)
In my role as Lead Engineer, I lead the development of the company's flagship product, Storia - a mobile app for journaling and daily creative writing. Using a tech stack that included React Native, Expo, TypeScript, Firebase, Storyblok, Mixpanel, and several other complementary technologies, our small team transformed initial designs into a full-featured, robust app now available in the App Store. I established rigorous development protocols, ensured the codebase was well organised and thoroughly documented, and built a solid team of developers and designers to maintain and enhance the product going forward. It was a fantastic project, I'm very proud of what was achieved, and I was able to accrue some invaluable start-up experience in the process.
Hogarth Worldwide (July 20 - August 22)
Working as lead developer, under permanent secondment to the world's leading technology company, my duties included management of the development team, planning and executing large-scale projects, research and development of automation and validation tools, and full-stack development.
My team was required to work on a large variety of projects, often concurrently and with rapidly evolving scope, and it was my responsibility to plan, organise, and supervise these and ensure the desired outcomes were met. Projects ranged from standard web development, to complex application building, as well as the production of scripts and tools to speed up or automate repeated tasks. Technologies used ranged from HTML/CSS/JavaScript and supporting frameworks (React, Vue, Angular) to Node, PHP, MySQL, and Bash. It was my responsibility to manage the team, ensure projects ran smoothly, and that problems were resolved quickly and without causing disruption or delay.
Freelance Front-End Developer (Dec 14 - July 20)
Working at a range of London-based marketing agencies including Hogarth, Ogilvy, VCCP, Splash Worldwide, and AMV BBDO, I've been using my hybrid designer/developer skillset to produce a range of marketing material for clients including Apple, Mercedes, Wickes, Mini, Etihad Airlines, Norwegian Airlines, and O2. I've used HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP to produce everything from dynamic banners to mini-sites to emails and websites. High client satisfaction has resulted in on-going and regular repeat bookings for all of the above clients.
As a freelancer I'm often required to adapt quickly to new development environments and, as such, I've gained exposure to a wide variety of frameworks and methodologies. I have experience with Node, Angular, GSAP, JQuery (and JQuery Mobile), CreateJS, and many other javascript libraries. I'm used to picking up whichever technologies a client prefers to use. I'm also comfortable with Agile development in a team, version control, and project management tools such as JIRA.
Bayer (November 12 - December 14)
Working for one of the world's largest multi-national pharmaceuticals companies I was required to produce a wide range of high-end, bespoke eLearning solutions for distribution online. This involved working with a broad selection of non-proprietary technologies including HTML5, JavaScript, CSS, PHP, and MySQL, as well as Objective-C and X-Code for app development. Bayer's increased focus on distribution on mobile devices, combined with my position as one of the team's senior developers, meant that I was consistently able to work on the forefront of advancing popular technology.
Traffic Digital (November 11 - October 12, freelance)
At Traffic Digital I was contracted to build from the ground up a completely reinvented, high-end, rich-media website for one of the world's leading airlines. The challenging remit required large amounts of video to be streamed and re-sized to full screen (often with a second narrative video composited on top), so the site required a huge amount of optimisation to ensure it ran smoothly on a range of devices without infringing on the client's strict branding guidelines.
Five Cool Consulting (June 11 - November 11, freelance)
As the sole front-end developer at Five Cool with AS3/Flash skills it was my responsibility to add features to and debug their generic VOD/assorted media player. The player could be re-skinned and customised for a range of clients the most notable of which was NHK, the prominent Japanese broadcaster, who use it in much the same way the BBC uses the iPlayer.
Digisoft.tv (March 11 - June 11, freelance)
Working in a small team on a diverse, set-top-box based eLearning project, my role covered a broad range of duties from debugging and optimising the app's core code to creating games, animations, and video steaming applets to improve the user experience. As I was developing an application for use by children, and for a low powered device, the software needed to not only be comprehensively optimised, but also completely intuitive to use.
BBC (March 10 - March 11, freelance)
As a software engineer for a major facet of project concord, and as part of the team for the iPlayer, I was responsible for delivery of premium quality video-on-demand software for set-top boxes, the Nintendo Wii, and mobile devices. I was also called upon to advise other sections of the company on the best approach for a variety of different projects, most notably some highly interactive, children's educational software where users could record, edit and export their own radio show. I was expected to quickly embrace a broad range of technologies outside Flash and learn about the BBC's internal processes and systems, as well as work with a number of different IDE's, design patterns, and frameworks, without the subsidised training made available to regular employees. Feedback for my work was resoundingly positive and my initial three-month contract was trebled.
Enigma Marketing (March 09 - March 10)
As the company's senior Front-end developer I acted as technical lead on a diverse range of projects for companies including Sharp, Samsung, and Trend. Work varied from producing micro-sites for individual products (using a scalable approach which allowed the sites to be easily reconfigured for future products), to e-learning materials, to a range of bespoke marketing solutions. I often enjoyed the challenge of being given an exigent brief, and always maximised any R&D time to ensure my apps were original and striking.
I took weekly tutorials with the junior developers to help align and streamline our approach to development, and to assist them with their personal development. I found this hugely fulfilling, not only due to the fact that it has a very positive impact on our development process, but also because it helped the team to bond.
Freelance Front-End Developer (May 05 - March 09)
Whilst working regularly as an eLearning developer for Saffron Interactive I have also worked as a contractor for a range of other new media companies. Most notably I accepted a three month contract at 'Instant Access Technologies' undertaking a wide range of front-end duties from producing high quality animation (taking the lead on a project previously produced by Aardman Animations) to web development (both desktop and mobile based). After producing client-pleasing work for numerous successful projects my contract was extended several times and, at the point when I chose to seek new challenges, totalled twenty months.
Quarto Publishing (2003 - present)
I co-authored the book 'Anatomy for Fantasy Artists' with 'Preacher' cover artist: Glen Fabry (published March 2005, ISBN 0-7641-2950-3) and wrote and illustrated 'Cartoon Clinic' (published March 2006, ISBN 0-7641-3257-1), a book on how to draw for cartoons and comics. Both have enjoyed considerable success with over 500,000 copies sold and translations available in more than ten languages.
My most recent book, 'The Story of Egmo' (a humorous fantasy novel for children) was chosen to front the first major child literacy campaign by the London Library Development Agency and the audio-book version has been downloaded more than 25,000 times (peaking at number 9 in the iTunes audio-book chart - retail and podcast), as has been serialised for Saint FM radio station. A spin-off story, 'Francis & Bunty', narrated by BBC presenter and comedian Adam Buxton, was used to publicise a hugely popular 2009 short-story writing competition.
Aardman Animations (2004)
I worked in the model making and post production departments as part of the large team responsible for the 'Creature Comforts' series. I gained invaluable insights into the workings of a premiere animation house and enjoyed being challenged to produce work of an extremely high standard to tight deadlines.
I am a confident and skilled professional with a broad and varied range of industry experience. I enjoy being challenged and take pride in producing quality work. I work well as part of a team and enjoy sharing skills. As a developer I like to produce work that not only meets the brief but does so in a robust, reliable, and intuitive way that pleases the client and user. I have a positive work ethic and am motivated to produce high quality work. I enjoy opportunities to learn new skills and refine those I already have and I take pride in providing excellent service to my clients.
I speak French, play classical and jazz piano, and love running marathons. I've been played, and have played live, on BBC Radio 1. I'm also a part-time comedy promoter, a qualified lifeguard, a member of Mensa, and three-time AirBNB Superhost. What else can I do? Hire me to find out :)