works

I became a web designer by accident. I had been working in print for a few years when my first child was born. Babies sleep a lot and I was going crazy (I'm a bit of a work-a-holic) so I jumped at the opportunity to build a website for a band that I had been doing print work for. Part of my fee was a book called "How to learn HTML in 7 Days". I did manage to get a site built and launched in 7 days, but anyone who's worked in web design can confirm that much of what makes a good website is learned on the job, and I still had much to learn in the following years.

These days, more than 16 years later, I'm still learning. Flash/Actionscript, Cascading Style Sheets, ASP and PHP are just a few of the languages I've had to become familiar with in order to keep up with the times. A web designer who can combine a good visual experience with an easy to navigate layout and enjoy working in Photoshop as well as Dreamweaver (or my preferred programming application, BBEdit) can have a satisfying and rewarding career. I also have to give a shout out to the folks over at PublicSpace.net for A Better Finder Rename, a tool that I've used for a more than a decade and simply couldn't do without!

Since 2005 I've been with Virtuocities, a small firm on the northwest side of Chicago. I also do freelance work for musicians and other creative professionals. Visit www.CrayDesign.com for more information and for guitar enthusiasts I reccommend taking a look at a personal project of mine, www.VintageArchtop.com.