Resumé

Contact

5868 Secret Island
Las Vegas, NV 89139

Phone: (702) 513-4835

Email: brian@brianegan.com
Website: http://brianegan.com

Work Experience

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, University Libraries. March 2008 – present

Web/Multimedia Designer

I am responsible for the front-end design and implementation of web-based library projects. My goal is to generate excitement and interest in Library holdings, events, and digital presentations through the use of intriguing, high-quality design to feature some of the wonderful content housed by UNLV Libraries.

I have dramatically improved my ability to write JavaScript, leading to the creation of dmMonocle, a web-based image viewer for CONTENTdm, a prominent Digital Asset Management tool. The enhanced viewer allows zooming, panning, and rotating of Digital Assets on the fly, stitching together small tiles of the image to form a larger whole, much like Google Maps or Zoomify.

In addition, I have gained knowledge on working within large democratic organizations. Planning and vetting require special considerations within these environments, and I’ve learned how to rigorously test my ideas, and solicit feedback more effectively in a way that advances, rather than hinders a project.

Brian Egan, Web Design and Marketing. January 2005 – March 2008

Web Designer and Marketer

I worked with small business to create web sites that brought true value to their company. I attempted to make my designs attractive, enticing, and easy to use, all with the themes and goals of the particular business or organization in mind.

During that time, I developed my communication skills by working with various marketing and sales methods, including a great deal of copy writing, as well as direct customer relations via email, phone, and face-to-face meetings.

I also learned a great deal about optimizing search engine placement through the use of well-written, relevant content combined with well-coded pages. GhostOrb.com, my second professional website, generated 350% more business than their sales forecasts had predicted.

Spectral Fusion. October 2003 – June 2005

Web Designer and Programmer

I designed attractive and usable web sites for the University of Montana, College of Arts and Sciences, using the latest W3C appropriate technologies, including XHTML Strict and Transitional, CSS, and JavaScript. I also enhanced my skills with PHP and ColdFusion, and began working more closely with MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, and Microsoft Access databases.

As a public institution, the University of Montana must adhere to strict accessibility standards. I’ve not only created accessible sites from the ground up, but I also performed a number of automated accessibility tests and worked closely with disabled website-testers to ensure our sites were accessible to all.

Taking an active leadership role. I helped guide the company toward more standards compliant websites, implemented coding standards, a coding training manual, and a quality control system.

I helped put in place systems which allowed Spectral Fusion as a team to work more smoothly. This includes refining a common folder structure, time card system, project management system, and a working draft of the Spectral Fusion training manual. All of these used Microsoft Project & SharePoint services.

Internet Connect Services. September 2002 – December 2002

Technical Support

Effectively and efficiently solved a variety of dial-up internet related problems for both PC and Mac. Provided friendly and courteous customer service to customers with a wide range of technical ability. This allowed me to develop critical listening skills which are key to resolving the true problem a customer is experiencing.

I learned a great deal about effective communication with clients while they are facing troubling and frustrating circumstances.

Education

Drury University, Springfield, Missouri

BA Sociology, Minor in Business, 3.3979 GPA

Drury University required by far the most writing I’ve ever done. While I felt I was a strong and competent writer before, my skills vastly improved during my time in Missouri.

In addition, the majority of my Sociology degree was earned at Drury, giving me a solid background in creating psychological and sociological tests, conducting statistical analyses, and scrutinizing the robustness of my results for areas of improvement.

University of Montana, 2002 – 2005

I took classes ranging from Financial Accounting to Social Psychology. I learned a great deal about business law and finance, with a particular focus on entrepreneurship.

Skills

Writing

A demonstration of my writing ability can be found at the following locations:

XHTML & CSS

  • 12 years experience programming HTML, 8 years experience programming CSS.
  • I’ve now made well over 100 sites using CSS and XHTML.
  • I’ve worked with a number of theming technologies, including WordPress, Drupal and Django templates, HAML, Mustache, EJS, ERB, and Jinja2. I have to say I’m partial to the Django templating system.
  • After writing traditional CSS for 6 years, I’ve been using SASS and LESS recently to improve the clarity of my stylesheets while reducing development time.

JavaScript

  • 5 years experience with JavaScript, with the last 2 years of solid obsession.
  • Author of several jQuery plugins.
  • Dabbler with NodeJS. Nothing in production, but excited by the potential.
  • Experimentation with single page app frameworks, such as SammyJS, JavaScriptMVC, and jo, is a hobby.

Additional Languages

  • Experience with Python, notably the Django and Twisted frameworks.
  • Knowledgable about PHP, especially in the form of WordPress and Drupal theming and customization.
  • Some experience with Ruby.
  • I’ve done both simple animations and more advanced ActionScript with Flash, including PHP and XML integration to pull content into flash files.

Website Performance

  • Experience benchmarking sites with a variety of tools, such as YSlow, Google Page Speed, Speed Tracer, DynaTrace Ajax, and the Audit Tools found in the WebKit Web Inspector.
  • In-depth understanding of how to implement front-end performance techniques, such as CSS sprites; concatenation, minification and compression of HTML, CSS and JavaScript; and the use of tools such as Lab.JS to eliminate blocking scripts.

Source Control

Teaching

  • I’ve taught CSS techniques at Macromedia Users Group meetings (you read that right), and JavaScript skills at VegasJS Meetups (more recently!).
  • I also taught basic Dreamweaver classes at Ozarks Technical Community College.

Misc

  • Highly proficient with the Adobe Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Photoshop, Fireworks, and Flash. But I always code in Textmate, and tend to be a complete Terminal junkie.
  • As a sociologist and computer nerd, one of my favorite fields of study is Usability. I work hard to make web pages that are both attractive and easy to use, and I have done a great deal of reading and research into this topic.
  • Accessibility. While many people overlook this critical function, it is imperative to never exclude any part of your audience – including those with disabilities. I’ve worked a great deal with both blind test users and various reports to ensure the pages I create are highly accessible to those with various impairments.

Awards

Portfolio

Recent Work

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