Below is a selection of case studies from various projcts, some are just for fun projects and some are client projects. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me.
The Elizabethan Insult generator
Challenges:
Everyone knows about the random generator project that all good developers should have in their portfolio, but what if you want to handle multiple arrays? Well, this was a challenge that I set myself after a rather heated discussion on our JS student slack group. Of course, you can use the concat() method, a spread operator or push to handle multiple arrays but this is how I solved this particular challenge.
Solutions:
In the beginning, the arrays contained just numbers (even numbers, odd numbers and prime numbers) but then I thought spicy Elizabethan insults would be a better way to showcase this project. Using the Math. function I was able to manipulate the arrays which were now populated with either an adjective, adverb or noun to randomly generate a saucy insult and TaDaa! You now have a fun way to insult friends and family. Oh, and I used mobile-first design and made the site fully responsive with flexbox.
Rift Valley Fencing
Challenges:
Rift Valley Fencing is a recently launched fencing contractor company in Naivasha, like all new companies they had a limited budget and needed a fast, elegant website that would showcase their services and form a backbone for their digital marketing strategy. One of the key challenges of this small project was being found on Google.
Solutions:
Firstly, the site had to be designed and built for WordPress, this would give the website room to grow with the company as well allowing the client to make content and product changes. The content writing for this project focuses on SEO and specifically on ranking high on Google searches, which has led the site to rank within the first 3 listings on Google.
To create a Fizz Buzz web app in JavaScript.
Challenges:
As web developers, we are so familiar with Fizz Buzz as it seems to be the go-to code assessment in job interviews, and they normally try to trip you up by asking you to do something slightly different (such as not printing out all the numbers, or only printing out the Fizzes or the Buzzes) Now, strangely I have only ever been asked to do this in Ruby, never in JS so I thought why not code my own version in JS
Solutions:
HTML is pretty standard, CSS is also standard but I did get carried away with the neon glow effect, the JavaScript is also pretty standard, though I did try very hard to concatenate the code. The whole project is hosted on git hub (what better way to practice git commands) and for added pizazz I also (like any good front-end web dev) used mobile-first design and made the site fully responsive with flexbox.
Create brand a new cafe menu whilst adhering to a vague style guide
Challenges:
This project was more of a how-to-deal with clients than a visual design project. The old menus were pieces of A4 paper that were stapled together, the owner had all the ideas in her head and wasn’t too sure how to put them down on paper and was also a little vague on how she wanted the menus to look.
Solutions:
With clients like this, it is always best to just shut up and listen to what they are saying, take loads of notes and you may need to record (with the speaker's consent) all conversations. If you can do this and then review all the information you can get a pretty good idea of what the client is looking for. So with all the info gathered, I was able to get the correct brand colours, fonts etc for the cafe, I managed to create a simple layout for a menu in Canva (so the client would be able to change the menu when needed) that the client approved and once all the food descriptions and prices had been finalised we were able to print out the new menus.
Kwa Kila Hali Safaris
Challenges:
One of the most difficult things to deal with as a freelancer is clients who have been abandoned by another developer and now have a site that is outdated or broken. With this project we decided to create and build a totally new site (again, trusty WordPress to the rescue) and I was halfway through the project when the client informed me that they couldn’t read anything on the site due to the colours
Solutions:
A WordPress site for easy maintenance and a careful selection of colours to create a pallet that has the right amount of contrast and then checking to see if the colour and font combinations could be easily read by the visually challenged, as well as creating high contrast text shadows on all text that has been overlaid on photos and coloured backgrounds.
Design a logo and product labels for a small skincare company.
Challenges:
I personally struggle to create logos but this seemed like a good project to push my visual design boundaries and I needed to hone some illustrator skills. The clients wanted something fresh, vibrant, clean (almost minimal) and timeless, but easy to update if needed for both the logo and product labels.
Solutions:
I decided to go with a simple graphic logo, pairing an elaborate display script font in bold bright blue with a modern and clean font in dark navy blue for the logo. The labels echo those design choices, with the logo front and centre on the product labels, a circle of blue to brighten up and enclose the company’s tagline and dark readable text for the product information.