Donald designs and builds interfaces.

Hi. I write frontend code like I mean it: that includes semantic markup, CSS, and Javascript both under and outside of the “HTML5” umbrella. I believe that constraints foster creativity¹, so I’m a natural standards geek. Of course, those same constraints make sites usable, accessible², and machine-readable. I pride myself on building sites that match the mockup perfectly when it’s called for–but, more importantly, differ from the mockup significantly when that’s called for.

I also design interfaces. The most important part? The writing³. But the fancy interactive scripting⁴ is cool, too, as long as it degrades gracefully. A page needs to look good, feel nice, and stay out of your way.

I’ve been making websites since 1996 (ahem, the sixth-grade Barnyard Moosletter). I’ve done occasional freelance work but have spent the last five years making beautiful sites⁵ for colleges and universities with the wonderful folks at White Whale Web Services. There, I was also the chief interface designer of LiveWhale, a CMS used by schools nationwide.

I make creative things and sometimes put them online. Ten years ago, I designed and developed an online poetry workshop now home to 40,000 poems and several hundred users⁶. Once upon a time, I wrote a popular lightweight photoblog script. I write poems, take photos, and ride a bike⁷.

I left White Whale so I could spend the spring and summer of 2011 traveling in Europe, during which I took 11,000 photos. (Current status: sorting through.) But I’m back and ready to meet thoughtful web people.

Get in touch.

(Oh, and if you want something to attach to an email or to an actual piece of paper, there’s a PDF version of this content: my résumé.)