meet sarah neal: super-creative and crazy-talented pretty much sums up her skills.
What do you do at GDS?
I make our websites pretty. Basically that means using Photoshop, Flash (the animation technology that you seen in our sites) , and whatever other necessary ingredients it takes to design an amazing website. Once the design concept is complete and approved by the client, I chop them up and put Flash into them so that the rest of the team can move forward and make the sites do what they're supposed to! I am also on occasion the resident photographer.
What's your background? How did you get into this racket?
I was first exposed to a primitive web design program in my Canadian high school - and although it had serious limitations, I fell in love with the process . Since the web didn’t progress to having a lot of rich content at that point, I found that none of the college programs I looked into fit what I wanted to do. After finishing a desktop publishing program, I got into a Web Developer program that focused on the end application of sites while neglecting the design side. As luck would have it, though, a classmate lent me a copy of Photoshop and I immediately began to see how this powerful program could make all the ideas in my head happen. I built a small portfolio of sites for friends and neighbors - which bought me a graphic design position straight out of college with a prominent Ottawa agency. A year later I resigned to become a freelancer and was self-employed for four years before signing on with GDS and have spent the past 5 years with them. The team here really compliments what I do and makes my sites be as functional as they are "pretty".
What types of projects are your favorite?
It is really hard to pick one. A couple that I like are Big Sky, Gonzalez Insurance & Unique Office. Mainly I love the sites that make people feel like they've had an "experience". The web is capable of a lot more than a brochure - so why not stretch it to it's limits?.
What accomplishments are you most proud of?
In life? Having a child. I guess as far as work goes, I'm most proud of how the clients respond to my work. I think it's a big accomplishment to have a client throw vague ideas at you and be able to come back with something that they love. I'm also proud of having mastered quite a few different styles on the web. I think I've covered everything from clean to grunge, modern to retro, traditional to quirky. Stay tuned though - there are lots of other things I want to accomplish. Philippians 4:13!
What do you do when you're not at work?
Entertain my two-year-old, who is the most lovable character in the world so luckily it’s more like fun than work! I love the outdoors - preferably if I'm in it with my husband and daughter, and my camera. I love camping, hiking, canoeing, exploring - pretty much anything that involves fresh air and a reasonable amount of sanity (no - I'm not into the extreme stuff). I also love traveling - the farther away the better. Photography has been my recreational distraction for as long as I can remember. I shoot pretty much anything and everything. I also love listening to and playing play piano and guitar - occasionally acting as my church's pianist. Other than that... eating a home cooked meal with my family. I LOVE good food.
Quick Stats
Key Accomplishments and Qualifications:
- Completed Web Developer Program & Coop Placement through Algonquin College Ottawa, Canada 2001
- Four year owner of successful freelance design business prior to being purchased by GDS
- Ten years of experience designing and building over 500 web sites
- Self taught photographer- shooting a variety of subjects "on the side" including products for various GDS web sites
- Recipient of dozen of design awards for web design
Can Often Be Heard Saying:
- A lot of really sarcastic things punctuated with "eh?" at the end. (she's Canadian)
- "Dan... I like your hair... you look like a biker! No... not a cyclist biker... a Harley biker!"
- "Is this really their logo? Can I redo their logo? In that case... NO... the logo can't be bigger!"
- "But I LIKE drop shadows!"
My Favorite Things:
- All things CSS
- God
- My daughter, son and husband
- Tall whole milk lattes (unsweetened)
- Chocolate at precisely 3 in the afternoon
- Canon cameras and my my f1.2 50mm lens
- Photography blogs
- Arizona
