About me - Bryan Chalker
Bleedingtree...is me.
- Design/UX/Graphics 70%
- Coding (HTML5/CSS3/JS) 30%
Latest Pretty Agency-Friendly Resume (recommended): Download from Dropbox
Latest Ugly Recruiter-Friendly .DOC Resume: Download from Dropbox
Some previous clients:
Florida Blue
Payspan
FBC Jacksonville
Soloflight
JHouse Media
All Pro Dad
Lifeway Bookstore
Ok…just to get it out front…I’m a freelance web designer. “Bleedingtree” is me. The projects, the posts, the design. They’re mine…well, along with a few fellow designer/devs I work with from time to time. But projects I post on this site, I have complete control, creative direction, and design responsibility over. I do work freelance and consulting projects still, but I do them under my Bleedingtree moniker, if they are a faith-based.
Design Agencies or Creative Consultants?
In the meantime, for those interested in contracting me out (not faith-based work), here is a bit about me as a “Independent Freelance Web/UX/UI Designer“.
I have over 14 years in the graphic design, web design, and front-end design and development industry. During that time, I’ve taken on projects within non-profit and church/ministry fields, as well as Fortune 500 and corporate environments. The full scope of design – be it UX/UI, navigation, Photoshop/Illustrator/Fireworks graphic elements, wire-framing, proto-typing (lo and hi-fi) – is my strength, along with HTML5 and CSS3 coding.
Having worked with Bryan a number of times on several projects, I would recommend him for any web project. His design skills are great, he is a very personable demeanor, works well with clients, is always responsive and on time, and overall provides great value.
Bryan was contracted to build and maintain a microsite for a Simulcast Event that I was coordinating in 2012 and again in 2013. I had a great experience working with him – he met all deadlines in a timely manner and provided great creative feedback in designing the site. If needed, I would definitely work with Bryan again!
Bryan knows what it takes to design a website. He’s quick and he’s talented. He follows instructions and takes initiative – including pertinent messaging and thoughtful copy in his designs.
Bryan is easily one of the best contractors that I have ever worked with. I have done sprint projects with Brian, and his performance makes the projects timely and successful, even when dealing with obstacles. He is incredibly easy to work with, always helpful in solving problems, and his work is always done on time and done well. We have used him as the lead designer and as a coder, sometimes even in the same project, and he shifts between roles seamlessly. He is a pleasure to collaborate with and I have asked him to work directly with clients multiple times with great results. In our company, he has fit in seamlessly and is one of the valued members of our team even though he is a contractor. I can’t recommend him more highly.
Skill-set
Graphic Design. Adobe Photoshop is a primary tool used on literally every project, and Adobe Fireworks (though Adobe is killing it off) is an indispensable tool for producing effective wire-frames and CSS-friendly interface elements. Adobe Illustrator is a heavy tool I use for any vectors and icon work.
UX Design. The user-experience and usability process is the largest part of
Development. Hand-coding HTML/CSS with any number of effective editors. If required, I’ll use Dreamweaver (code-view only…and with a scowl on my face), but I’m more at home with Sublime Text Editor. I never work within the WYSIWYG interfaces. Though I’m comfortable with PHP, I am not at a deep-developer level…and while I use Javascript and Jquery on literally every project I touch, I do not “write” JS libraries. I modify and customize to fit the needs of my project(s).
Preprocessors. Sass and Less.
CMS. Modx (the most design-friendly), Drupal (the most powerful), WordPress (the most flexible), and Joomla (the most tolerated) – all of which are PHP-based. – E-commerce: Magento, OSCommerce, and Ubercart.
Email Marketing. Mailchimp and Constant Contact, and form management using Wufoo and Formstack, are core to my project work. Regardless of the project I take on, I’ll use the proper tools for the job
Collaboration
While I enjoy working on my own, I love working within a team with similar passion for technology, that I have.