Listen. Think. Plan. Think. Do.

repeat

About Me

I am a designer living in Madison, WI with Julie (my wife), Charlotte & Roo (our dogs) and Iris (our cat). Originally from central Pennsylvania, we moved to Lansing, Michigan in 2004, then several years later to Raleigh North Carolina before moving to Wisconsin in late 2012. My formal education is in Graphic Design. In 2005 I worked at a small marketing agency, BCP, where I quickly transitioned my focus to web design. I worked with small and medium sized businesses and built the agency's reputation for providing quality design work. I helped to formulate the agency's web design process throughout the seven years that I spent with BCP. Complacent with the agency/client relationship, in early 2012 I wanted a new challenge. I started work with MODX, the makers of a CMS I used frequently while working for BCP. My initial challenge was to help shape the user experience of MODX Cloud. I worked closely with the marketing and development teams to build a service within the typical resource constraints that you would expect with a startup. The service was a success and continues to build user base along with revenue for the company. While my roots are still in the agency world, I am most interested in working closely with startups. While I may return to the agency world some day, for now I seek the excitement and energy of helping shape something on the ground level.

Experience

  • Dustin Walker LLC July 2013–Current

    Providing start ups design guidance and front end development services. I also work with other agencies, often collaborating directly with their client(s) along with the team within the agency, to expanding their capabilities providing user experience, design, front end development and CMS integration services. Collaboration includes: process suggestions, guiding the project from conception to completion and offering an on-going plan to evolve the project beyond launch adapting by applying iterative principles on a per-project basis.
  • MODX & SiphonLabs March 2012–July 2013

    Dallas TX based startup that creates the popular open source CMS [MODX](http://modx.com). I was hired early in the development process of their new product–MODX Cloud. I collaborated with the marketing and development team to help shape the user experience and visual design of the UI. During this process I developed wireframes, visual design patterns and branding for the dashboard and marketing materials to support the product. Later the company branched into SiphonLabs, where I continued to support marketing materials and refinements to the dashboard.
  • BCP (Blohm Creative Partners) March 2005–March 2012

    - Initial client meetings to help determine needs - Project quoting and planning - Information architecture development - Wireframing - visual design and mockups - Producing markup - CMS setup & development - Developer coordination (if necessary) - CMS training - Website installation on server and domain setup - Post launch support

Skills & Tools

  • Software Tools

    Tools that I use to do what I do

    • Sublime Text
  • Web Tools

    • Git
  • Skills

    • Agile design & development process

Education

  • 2000–2004

    Bachelor of Science in Graphic Design from Pennsylvania College of Technology