his
web site began as a project for my Interface Design class
at The Corcoran College of
Art + Design in Washington, D.C. where I completed
a certificate program in Electronic Publishing/Web Design
in 2001. The assignment was to create a portfolio of our
school work, with an emphasis on a particular theme or skill,
to show photography and other graphic arts projects. My
site started out as a travel photo portfolio of one of my
trips to France, along with some of my class projects. Over
time, it has become a portfolio site with a compilation
of all of my current and past website design projects, which
are on display on my Portfolio
Projects
page.
Although
I have not really set up a blog like many other web designers
on the net using blogging software, I update my webpage
in a semi-blogging style with new content (graphics &
colors, etc.) from time to time
to make it more interesting, with
news items on topics of interest (to me) such as global
warming, as well as links to other things like articles
and and/or music CDs. I also maintain sections for my travel
photography, and a links page of useful resources
for web designers.
There is always something new and exciting happening on
the Internet in terms of technology, but I have tried to
concentrate my efforts on the things that I know how to
do best for now in web design, and take inspiration from
reading other designers’ and bloggers’ sites like
Veerle
Pieters’,
who has provided many useful tutorials and a lot of insight
for designers (for example, the Graphic Design poster contest
she organized which is mentioned above, in the right-hand
column).
In addition to my freelance web design work I have also
worked as a web content manager/developer for a number of
associations where I have maintained larger, more complicated
websites, created things like e-newsletters, flyers, online
registration processes, and worked together with the graphic
designer to prepare photos and graphics for both print and
web design work. My freelance web clients have included
two small associations, some small businesses, a chorale
group, and a couple of sites that I designed for friends
who work in their own creative fields. I have experience
with everything from designing the site architecture, navigation
and graphics, to writing, editing, taking photos, and developing
content. You can read more about my website projects and
view them all from my
Portfolio
Projects page.
I
find the web design work to be both fun and challenging,
and enjoy the creative, artistic, as well as the technical
aspects of it. I also like to write and edit, so the web
design lends itself to doing all of these things. Before
working as a web designer, I was a paralegal and have a
degree in political science, but have always maintained
an avid interest in things like art, as well as graphic
design, so like other career-changers I decided to pursue
something that was more in keeping with my individual passions
and interests.
Thank
you for visiting my site. I appreciate all those visitors
who continue to come back - whoever you might be!
--
Jacquie Apel
last
updated, June 2008
This
month's colors:
greens, yellows, &
blues
Record
number of hits and visits for May 2008:
22,339 hits and 1,155 viists - many of which seem to
be
search-engine driven.
