Mobile-First Responsive Web Design for Portfolio Websites

For some, a personal website is the first introduction to a person. For others, it is a digital reflection of the person they already know. But no matter who the audience is, one’s personal website reflects the image they want to project to the world. And no matter who the audience is, they’re probably seeing that website from their cell phone. So it better be ready.

(That was a preview of my “Principles of Responsive Web Design” strategic document. Read the full thing here.)

A Typographic Tutorial

After a year of copy editing and a semester spent editing the opinion pages of the Trinitonian — Trinity University’s sole source of independent, hyperlocal student journalism — I’d learned much about typographic design principles through osmosis. But it wasn’t until my year as editor-in-chief that I seriously dedicated myself to better understanding the foundations of good page and web design.

Dr. Melissa McMullen, assistant professor of communication at Trinity, and Ina Saltz’s “Graphic Design Foundations: Typography” series on Lynda.com acquainted me with the skills and vocabulary of quality typography, and greatly improved my ability to convey meaning through the written word with as much impact as possible.

All of the Panels, None of the Crowds: My (Virtual) SXSW 2018

I didn’t catch South by Southwest 2018 this year, but the festival archives the panels and lectures on YouTube, so I spent a few hours watching the videos that caught my eye. Naturally, that short playlist included two discussions on journalism, one between Jeff Goldberg and Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic and the other a presentation by Vox co-founder Ezra Klein. Finally, I waded into unknown territory and braved strange buzzwords: I watched a bunch of investors and lawyers discuss blockchain startups.