S2UDIO.COM

about

jess-bwS2UDIO is a one-woman freelance project that I started over 18 years ago, focusing on web development/design and graphic design (Hi, I’m Jess!).

I’ve been doing graphic design and designing/building websites for fun since 1998 and I’ve never stopped.  I’ve even managed to turn this hobby into a full-time, professional career for over a decade.  I try to leave my style on everything I work on, and although I use modern practices and designs, I don’t just follow “web trends“.  Your content and call to actions are the most important part of your website, not over-saturating it with large images or cluttered/disorganized content.

Visually overdone layouts command and shift audience focus, which is good for call to actions but it could overwhelm viewers from getting to other areas of the website.  The most important thing is keeping balance on people’s attention on what’s important – your message/brand, updates and being visually appealing .  I want you to have your objective shine through, and not get lost in the big sea of look-alike, themed sites.

I choose to build all websites on the WordPress platform, so that my clients have the ability to login and make changes to their website content at their leisure.  The possibilities of site customization for people is limitless, which I find very important for my clients, and i enjoy making it as easy as possible to maintain their content.  It’s a wonderful convenience.

Lastly, I am strictly a hand-coder.  Your website will be built from the ground up, so that if something breaks, I know exactly how to fix it.  No blocks, no point and click builders, no complicated purchased theme(s) and a small amount of plugins (for site speed).  I’ve put in a lot of years, while gaining knowledge, to create this templated setup.

I also always keep in mind that my clients should have a stable, well-crafted product that any web developer can jump into and work in, without a headache (should they choose to take their services elsewhere).

Please feel free to contact me with freelance front-end or content management opportunities.

 

skills & SOFTWARE

the Fundamentals

HTML, CSS/Sass, PHP, jQuery

WordPress, web design, website development, responsive design, Command line/Terminal, LAMP development, database management, editing javascript, Photoshop (web and print), Pods CMS, WordPress as a CMS, PSD to WordPress conversions, Git/GitHub, SVN, Jira, Trello, Trac, Slack, Tumblr templates, PDFs, refactoring code, implementing SEO best practices, meeting web accessibility standards, creating landing pages and crafting call-to-actions, MailChimp, creating and maintaining detailed documentation and being a frequent liaison to non-technical co-workers/teams.

 

Work Experience

Currently:

FEBRUARY 2019 – PRESENT
(Full-time) Senior Front-end Developer/Designer at Hachette Book Group (HBG)

Previously held titles at HBG: Web Content Producer, Front-end Developer

Duties

Creating author sites, creating and maintaining HBG property websites (the main website, internal websites, community websites and domain/child themes), training marketers and new team members to use our highly customized CMS, creating author/title specific landing pages on the fly, maintaining HBG content/pages, author care, creating and maintaining CMS documentation, refactoring legacy code, editing author and title information as necessary, graphic design, maintaining the code repository (reviewing and approving code pull requests for my team), troubleshooting broken areas of website/code and maintaining several imprints

Imprint Duties

I am assigned multiple Imprints to maintain at HBG.  This includes updating/maintaining their content and being the technical liaison for HBG IMPRINTS and their marketing teams.

I am currently assigned to:

little, brown and company – back bay books, little, brown spark, mulholland books, voracious, LBYR
orbit/redhook
running press – RP kids, RP adults, RP minis, RP studio, black dog & leventhal
hachette go/hachette books
workman – storey, timberpress

I was formerly assigned to:

hachette audio
hachette nashville – center street, faith words, worthy publishing, worthy kids
moon.com, avalon travel
basic books

previously:

2018
Freelance contractor @ loudegg.com

Joe Maracic provided me with work to stay afloat throughout most of 2018, during a transitional period.   He is an ongoing professional affiliate and is proficient with graphic design/fine art, print work and SEO – i highly recommend his services.

– – – –

JULY 2013 – FEBRUARY 2018
(Full-time) Front-end Developer for CafeMedia.com

Duties

I maintained and created modules and site elements, updated and maintained legacy code, implemented sales sponsorships and built microsites for 7 different owned & operated properties.  Before leaving CM, I solely built a redesigned property on the WordPress platform – at the time, it was the only one in the entire company! (one of adthrive’s accelerate summit websites)

– – – –

JULY  2012 – JULY 2013
(Full-time and freelance) Front-end Developer for Nylon Technology

Duties

General front-end work for various sites, but mainly responsible for converting copious amounts of Power Point files into four static websites, for Fidelity bank.

– – – –

MAY 2008 – DECEMBER 2012
(Full-time) Web Developer for (an unfortunately now defunct) edit.com (#RIP ♥)

Duties

Full website builds: static websites, WordPress installations/builds, PSD > WordPress builds, static to WordPress conversions, general website maintenance, custom website work, technical support work, I setup hundreds of websites for our DIY editor, SEO assessment and reworking for best practice, installing 3rd party tracking implementation, general front-end work, themeing/templating, function tweaking

personal interests

In my spare time, I enjoy: