About Me and My Work

My name is TJ Kelly and I'm a twenty-four year old CSS Web Designer. I'm a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication and Information Technology. I've been involved in webdesign and development for several years, gaining experience by trial-and-error until my education in the field began at UMass.

I began to take an interest in the internet and all the technology out there after learning of America Online's Homepage service in the mid-90's. I have an incredible patience for the web which I've built up over my years of searching through code. The only way to learn this stuff is long hours at a computer screen, making lots and lots of mistakes, and learning from each of them in the debugging process.

After putting together several websites for local programs, I considered turning my design hobby into a business. A brave move at my age, but one I'm glad I made. I've enjoyed working with individuals and businesses and providing them with a finished product that helps them achieve more. My involvement and production began with organizations around the UMass community, mostly with groups of which I was a member. I ventured outside that realm after two years and I've been growing in my skills and networking ever since.

I enjoy sharing a simplistic approach to web design, while spreading the word on the standards-based markup and style techniques as often as I can.

What I Do

In recent months, I have turned much of my attention to designing WordPress and Magento themes. In my experience, these two free, open-source publishing and ecommerce platforms have been the very best in the industry. They are well-documented, widely-used, very simple, and extremely flexible — all characteristics I strongly believe in and use in my designs.

As I see it, my role is to be a resource to my clients. I'm not just a laborer producing a product. Essentially, I function as an external IT department, providing advice, consultation, guidance, support, and knowledge. The process of completing a successful project must be a team effort. Though I'm a one-man design

Experience

Since late 2007, I have been working as the lead web designer for a spring break tavel company, StudentCity.com, where I am responsible for the company's web-presence and identity. I work with a team of very talented developers and another brilliant designer, the company's Creative Director, who deals mainly in print and static graphics.

Connect

Please feel free to Google me, look me up, and connect with me. I can be found in the following corners of the interwebs... my Facebook profile, MySpace page, LinkedIn listing, Virb profile, Twitter profile, Flickr photostream, and Technorati profile.