Web Design Experience
Over the years, I've created and maintained a large number of web sites. Spurred on by the concept that the Internet was an accessible publishing medium as well as a great research tool, I began creating web sites as a hobby around 2001 using a program called Arachnophilia by CareWare designer Paul Lutus.
In those days, the name of the game was to force web content to behave itself by encasing it in html tables using table, row and column tags. Every font, every paragraph, every link, in fact everything on the page was styled individually by adding style tags wrapped around each component on the page. It was cumbersome, messy and extremely difficult to maintain, but it was the only way to get the job done before the popularization of CSS.
Inspiration
Although I consider myself an early adopter of Cascading Style Sheets, it wasn't until I stumbled upon a web site called CSS Zen Garden, that I was inspired to forsake table based designs in favour of the much more efficient and adaptable CSS standard.
Learning the new way of doing things was facilitated by an Australian software developer Westciv and their Stylemaster program. I still use Stylemaster from time to time and was happy that the company supported Mac as well as PC operating systems.
The Switch To Mac
Working for a newspaper put me in touch with Mac computers like never before. With the release of OS-X 10.3 (currently 10.5) I knew the time had come for me to make the switch.
Along the way, I've used Sandvox by Karelia software and have modified open source web templates designed by the likes of Andreas Vikland and DreamLogic using my favourite code editor, skEdit by Sean Kelly. I still maintain a number of sites including the Spirit of the Hills and Clarion Boats websites entirely using skEdit. If you need to build a site from the ground up, this is a great program to do it with.
Rapidweaver
Many of my more recently built sites, including the site you are looking at now were built using Rapidweaver by RealMac software. This program is extremely flexible allowing me to apply a large amount of customization to the bare bones of a wide variety of pre-existing skeletal structures. This means I can spend my time creating a site that is unique to you rather than re-designing the wheel. This keeps my costs down and allows me to charge as little as I do.
WordPress
While Rapidweaver is very flexible and can produce great looking and highly functional web sites quickly, it does require me to perform all updates on behalf of my clients. For many people this is not a problem, however if you need more control of your website and the ability to update yourself without contacting me, then WordPress is a great way to go. An open source content management system or CMS, WordPress sites offer the ultimate in client control. WordPress sites are also great if you want to run a blog on your site. Ultimately, the choice of which type of website fits you best is your decision. Let me know what your needs are and I will outline your options and guide you towards the best solution for your needs.
Print Ad Experience
As an ad rep for a local newspaper for more than 10 years, I have created print ads to fill the needs of hundreds of small businesses and community organizations. I find the same skill set I used so successfully for my work designing ads, invaluable for creating web sites.