After changing my career focus in 2012 from building system engineering to programming I landed my first full-time web development job at Second Story Interactive Studios. One of my first projects was maybe the most complex frontend web application of my career. When I was presented the requirements I didn't know enough to know this project would be complex. As I reflect on it now, adding this personal note in 2021, what guided me through successfully executing this was always asking two questions: 1. what do I not understand? and 2. how do I reduce complexity?
"How do I reduce complexity" is maybe the one phrase I live by the most. This portfolio website runs on Google Sites is a perfect example. This phrase is useful for engineering things and also for designing a personal lifestyle; I should write more on that later. And as I reflect back on this project I remember this phrase enabled me to reinvent (because I didn't know this design pattern at time) a stateless render loop that emulates how React works. While this web application runs on BackboneJS it uses some odd, non-standard approaches because when you're new to something you often reinvent the wheel. But the outcome is a rather reliable. Have a poke at the link below to see the web application in action. This is maybe the work I am most proud of in my career because of the personal struggle to overcome not knowing how to build something this complex.
Role: Lead frontend developer
May 2014 - December 2014
Client
Employer
http://secondstory.com/project/browse/featured-work/object-photo
Team
Joe Condon - Project Management
Sarah Schulte - Design
David Brewer - Backend (+technical lead and mentor)
Dimitrii Pokrovskii - Frontend Lead
Technology
Require
Backbone / Underscore
JQuery
D3 / Topojson
Bootstrap
SASS
HOW International Design Awards, Merit, Infographics, November 2015
W³ Awards, Silver, Websites: Art, September 2015
Interactive Media Awards, Best in Class, Arts/Culture, August 2015
Interactive Media Awards, Best in Class, Photography, August 2015
Creativity Media & Interactive Design Awards, Platinum/Best in Category, Infographic – Campaign or Series, May 2015
Communication Arts WEBpick of the Week, March 2015
Awwwards, Honorable Mention, January 2015
http://hyperallergic.com/170957/mapping-the-material-and-social-histories-of-photographs/
http://www.inexhibit.com/marker/nyc-photos-t-walther-collection-moma/