About

Overview

Duck Whistle is the name I've given to my independent design and computing work. I have been building websites, posters, flyers and newsletters since 1999, professionally since 2004. But I have been drawing since I was old enough to hold a crayon!

I have worked in web development, in particular with PHP and Java, since 2002, and developed and built MySQL databases since 2006.

I have designed and printed posters for bands and events with EXR Music Services (formerly EXR Musicians’ Collective) for several years now, and designed their fanzine and newsletters. I built websites for various bands and the collective.

Aims

I wish to continue building my portfolio of websites and design work, and to gain more experience in building the engines behind websites.

I believe web design should be clean and simple where possible, and easy to read for everyone. I don’t think having a separate reduced text-only site for visually impared users is enough – everyone who can use a normal website will benefit from it being designed well. If the text is tiny or obscured by too much artwork, will customers bother to read it, or move on to the next site? If it takes too long to load a flashy site, or it’s being viewed on a mobile device, your customer won’t be able to read it. That's not to say all websites should be dull and plain! There is a challenge in making good, usable, versatile sites, which I enjoy.

Design

I use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, plus Dreamweaver and GIMP, although most of my web building is done by typing the code by hand.

I aim to follow W3 standards for design and accessibility. Each new site is written once (one set of pages) that can be used on PC (Windows and Linux), Mac, mobile devices (phone, PDA) and more. I use XHTML and CSS, and check that pages come out appropriately when printed to paper.

Development

Cross-platform and open source technogies make a lot of sense, and I have most experience in Java and PHP, developing under Linux and Windows. I was employed by the University of Manchester as a “learning technologist” for three years, working on my own and as part of a team, developing their in-house online assessment software, ABC. I also developed the original EXR Musicians’ Collective website, which has a searchable band directory and various dynamically generated pages relating to music events, using MySQL.

Music

I am an accomplished tin whistle and bodhrán player, having performed live on BBC radio and in the Manchester Irish Festival. I also play piano and flute, and have ten years experience as a live sound engineer.