About Me
I prefer to think of myself as an Information Architect. But this term is broad and can mean many different things. A bit of explanation may be necessary.
Many of the things that interest me revolve around two main principles: Creativity and Technology. I enjoy creating interactive websites that focus on CSS-based standards-compliant website design. The majority of my designs utilize transitional XHTML content. I am also proficient in the use of JavaScript, DOM Scripting, Flash and PHP, where warranted. But judicious use of CSS and XHTML usually provides enough flexibility to render web pages both usable and enjoyable for viewing.
Other interests include Photography and digital photo manipulation. The tools I use to build my imagery include Adobe Creative Suite 2 (specifically Photoshop and Illustrator), Painter and to a lesser extent Poser. As for hardware, I use an Olympus C-3000 Zoom, a Wacom 3 Graphics Tablet, Scanner, and other traditional and digital tools. They are probably considered outdated by today's standards, but that doesn't deter me from trying to make the best of the tools I have.
My background is an education in English, Film and Communications. Following that path, I was lucky enough to secure employment in a variety of related fields, including IT, Customer Service, Software Quality Assurance, Marketing and finally Technical Writing. I currently work for various software companies producing internal and end-user documentation, marketing materials and content management.
There are several aspects of my background that help me produce documents, images, websites and other works. Before anything is produced, it is important to ask "Who is the Audience?" and "What level of technological knowledge do they posess?" It is also important to determine their expectations and needs; two often very different sets of parameters. A good construct will address both, providing a focussed and directed message to the correct audience.
I like to think that all these interests and fields converge and intersect in a variety of creative ways, and to exclude any of them results in inferior work. In order to document a product, for instance, you must have a balance between good visuals, strong words and creative presentation which directly impacts the correct audience, addressing their needs and expectations at their level of technological awareness. In that respect, the final construction becomes a work that strengthen the message and goal of the piece. Ultimately it should provoke and draw in the end user. It should merge creativity with functionality.
When a piece can work on all these levels, and conveys the proper message to the correct audience, it can then be considered a well-built construction. I see my job as guiding that construction, and as such I become an Information Architect.