My name is Paul. I love building websites.
I’ve been building websites for over 5 years now. I’ve built websites for a wide variety of clients including not-for-profits, small businesses and government programs.
I currently lead the web team at Diabetes Australia, a national not-for-profit organisation. But a lot of my time outside of work is spent building websites for others or for myself. That how much I love it.
I believe an effective website is simple, focused on a particular audience and targeted to a particular goal. I also believe that simple doesn’t have to mean boring. By spending time to build a strong foundation we can then sprinkle on the extra wow factor to really make it shine.
A bit more about me
Funny enough, I never wanted to be a web developer. I wanted to be a manga artist, then a concept artist, then a designer, and finally illustrator. My bookcase is good proof of this.
So how did I get into web development? The short version is I started my career as a Java developer working in government. A few years into that I got moved to another role in another department. I stopped doing development work, got burnt out and quit the government job.
Eventually I found out about web development and thought it was a nice compromise of the skills I had (programming) and what I wanted to do (see list of jobs I wanted to do above). I spent about a year re-learning the fundamentals of web development, followed by another year learning how to build WordPress sites. I got my first job as a web developer in 2018, and have been building websites professionally ever since.
In the past I used to call myself a left brained artist, nowadays I’d describe myself as a right brained programmer.
My life outside of web
Most of my time outside of web is spent doing menial house chores, spending time with my lovely wife and messing around with our 3 guinea pigs (Pebbles, Pickle and Peanut).
I do have a few other hobbies though, they would be playing video games, drawing and (re)watching anime.
Video games
I love playing video games. My favourite genres are fighting games and RPGs. Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 and Final Fantasy 10 are my two favourite games of all time.
Drawing
As a former wanna be illustrator I still draw from time to time. Nowhere near as much as I would like. I’d like to spend some more time on improving my drawing skills.
Here’s a piece I did about 2(?) years ago.
Anime
I’m a big fan of anime, especially anything with interesting art direction and animation. My absolute favourite series is FLCL. My favourite anime movie is Paprika.
A few others I can recommend:
- Cowboy Bebop
- Samurai Champloo
- Red Line
- Ghost in the shell
- Spirited Away
- Gintama
- Jujutsu Kaisen
I’m a bit of an old man when it comes to anime, I’d much rather re-watch older series than watch something new. The new aesthetic just doesn’t vibe much with me. But every now and again something new will catch my eye.
That’s it’s from me
That’s really all there is to it. If you want to know more, please drop me a line at [email protected]. It doesn’t even have to be about work. I love meeting other people and learn about things that light them up.