I create things on the web; I design and I build. I am passionate about the enabling power of technology and the humane sensitivities of design.
My Journey
Part of who we are is driven by our experiences. I am lucky that in my life I was able to live in different countries, to experience different cultures and see different perspectives. I was born in Ukraine, grew up in Israel, then lived in Winnipeg and finally settled in Kitchener-Waterloo. I think this journey thought me empathy and adaptability, to find the positive in every situation and to pursue a positive outlook on life.
Love of Design
Ever since my earlier childhood I loved to draw. I remember being fascinated by the emblems of different cars, they seemed so cool. With drawing I became interested in animation and specifically 3D animation.
To pursue a career in animation I was admitted to the University of Manitoba Fine Arts program, winning the Queen Elizabeth II entrance scholarship. In art school I enjoyed painting, new media and especially graphic design.
Graphic design has completely hijacked my plans, I just loved it. The challenge of solving a real communication problems using all of the Gestalt design principles, leveraging typography added purpose to the act of creative creation. I guess there is a reason why I was interested in car emblems after all.
Then after moving to Kitchener-Waterloo, my dream came true. I became part of a growing new design and marketing agency, Crankworks Creative. Everyday at Crankworks I faced a new challenge that pushed me further as a creative and as professional. I was fortunate to work on very large projects with real impact. Eventually my role became focused on the web, where I spent most of my time designing and building for the web, from micro-sites to large scale apps, working at an agency helped me learn fast.
Passion for Computing
My first experience with programming was taking a QBasic class at the age of 11, I remember writing down the source code of simple programs into my notebook so I can try them out at my friend’s 486. My most vivid memory was a fractal program that was generating repeating line drawings. Later on came the revelation of HTML where me and a group of friends were learning web development to build a Pokemon fan site all in table-based HTML with inline styles.
In high-school I have staretd learning real programming; principles of Computer Science in C, Logical programming in Prolog and web development in HTML VBScript and ASP.
Later as part of my studies at the University of Manitoba I’ve picked up Flash, ActionScript Java as part of the Computer Science classes. After I graduated as Graphic Designed I decided to double down on web development, focusing on HTML5, CSS3 and jQuery. Since then my Kindle library is constantly growing with technical books.
Fast forwarding to the recent past, I continue to learn on my own, delving deeper into server side development with Ruby and Rails and taking my JavaScript knowledge to the next level. With each additional skill or technology I feel more empowered and capable to create richer and experiences and more holistic products.
While the field of software development and web development in particular keeps on growing, I am stiving to be a generalist. I really like the idea of full-stack development as it empowers an individual to create an end-to-end experience from nothing more than one’s imagination. This drives me curiosity and motivation.