Hello, my name is Christopher Griffin. I program, design, and develop websites from start to finish. I live in Morgantown, WV with my wife Ashley, our new baby girl Olivia, and our cat Chloe.
Let me give you the short version of how I started designing web sites. In August of 1999 I left my seaside home in Toms River, NJ for the landlocked state of West Virginia to pursue degrees in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. During my sophomore year I wanted a way to keep my family and friends back home up to date on what I was doing while at school. Remember, this was before facebook, youtube, twitter, etc... So, I started looking at what it took to set up a simple website where I would post pictures and stories about what I was doing at that particular time.
After about a year or so of having a site where only a handful of friends and I updated the site, I wanted to figure out how I could let my distant friends and family comment, upload their own photos, and connect with me through the website. This started my parallel life as not just a web designer, but a web programmer. Alongisde my course work I learned how to program in PHP, Javascript, and ASP. I expanded my graphic design skills by utilizing software like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. Soon, friends started asking me to create websites for them, and they were willing to pay.
Well, here I am 10 years later, pursuing a PhD in Aerospace Engineering, while still further developing my passion for web design and programming. What fascinates me most about the internet is that vast knowledge that is available to anyone with an internet connnection. But, what motivates me the most is when information is delivered in stale, unimaginative ways. It does not take much effort to deliver information in exciting ways that keep readers intrigued and customers coming back. That is what I strive to deliver and I truly take pride in everything I create.
Some software I use:
- HTML-Kit (freeware) - Great text based editor for a variety of languages (HTML, CSS, PHP, Javascript). I really like the ability to make my own code shortcuts.
- Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator - Still the industry leader for graphic development and photo editing, although GIMP (freeware) has greatly improved over the years. I use GIMP when working on my Linux machine.
- Macromedia Flash - Great for animation, although I use it sparingly since I hate Flash based websites.
- ColorPic(freeware) - A must have for anyone creating graphics on a computer. Allows you to grab the information about any color on your screen.
- Screen Calipers (shareware) - Another valuable tool for web and graphic designers. It is a ruler for your screen, allowing you to measure pixel lengths on your screen.
