Biography
Hello, my name is Matt. I live just outside of Chicago, and am currently accepting contract work in design and web development.
I am an advocate of web standards and prefer to use Ruby on Rails for website build-out. Some day I’m going to found my own college and teach web development the right way. With any luck, I will set aside time to paint again. Maybe even go fly fishing.
Portfolio
Proposed TinyButStrong Brand
The open source TinyButStrong project is quite lacking in a strong unifying design element. I felt in order to be more effective in it’s adoption, new users need to see a coherent look that was fresh, sleek, and encompassed all that TBS is.
- Client
- TinyButStrong
- Medium
- Visual Design
Proposed TinyButStrong Website
Along with the new brand, the website needed a major facelift. This new design utilizes a more pleasing color palette, better text treatments, and several symbolic rotating “ads,” giving life to each idea I had while pointing out key features at the same time.
- Client
- TinyButStrong
- Medium
- Visual Design, Web Dev.
Holly Hue Website v2
A dear friend drastically needed an update of her formerly Flash-based site. Like most everything I do, her new site is standards-based and much more manageable. A custom CMS was created helping her to keep track of orders.
- Client
- Holly Hue
- Medium
- Visual Design, Web Dev.
Abstract Self Portrait
This was a class project where we were instructed to create an abstract self portrait. The piece is supposed to reflect a bit of anxiety and yearning. I used a combination of Illustrator and Photoshop, with a heavy dose of Wacom tablet.
- Client
- Self
- Medium
- Fine Art
Refresh Buffalo Website
Jumping on the Refreshing Cities bandwagon, I picked up the domain of my locale and threw up a temporary page. The idea behind this site is promotion of design, technology, usability, and standards. More is to come as time allows.
- Client
- Refresh Buffalo
- Medium
- Visual Design, Web Dev.
Active Investigations Identity
A local private investigations company needed a more definitive brand, business card, and brochure. In the print pieces I tried to keep the copy open and easy to read, and creating specific areas of focus in order to emphasize key points. (Client has since modified the identity)
- Client
- Active Investigations
- Medium
- Visual Design
Sitting Nude
I’ve heard that capturing the nude body in it’s perfect form is one of the hardest things to do. I couldn’t agree more. Interestingly enough, I hated this painting when I first completed it. This was my best attempt of three.
- Client
- Self
- Medium
- Fine Art
iSpyBuffalo Website
This was the first website in Western New York dedicated to providing local apartment listings. A custom CMS was in order for this job, which allows both administrators and users add, edit, and remove multiple listings, based upon the package purchased.
- Client
- iSpyBuffalo
- Medium
- Web Development
Minuet Concert Poster
I used to play guitar in an indie rock band called Minuet, and I created this poster for one of the shows that we played. Most show flyers are thrown together, but I wanted to do a little something more with this one. I especially like how the type turned out at the bottom.
- Client
- Minuet
- Medium
- Visual Design
DaRand Land Website
A former Buffalo native contacted Schneider Digital wanting a minimalistic website to promote his house music. With that in mind, I designed and programmed this site, using a very appropriate vinyl record as the focal point. I also created an incredibly simple to use yet effective RSS-based CMS so he can keep his site up-to-date.
- Client
- DaRand Land
- Medium
- Visual Design, Web Dev.
St. Paul’s UCC of Shawnee Website
This was a pro bono project for a church in order to get them a presence on the Internet. The pastor can post messages and add upcoming events through WordPress and Google Calendar respectively. This was one of the first sites that I created attempting to use web standards.
- Client
- St. Paul’s UCC of Shawnee
- Medium
- Visual Design, Web Dev.
Self Portrait
This painting was the first time I ever tried to represent myself in any visual manner. It took a very long time to get it to look anything like me, and I still remember the one brush stroke that just brought it all together.
- Client
- Self
- Medium
- Fine Art