About Me
My name is Ben Harvey, I am a User Interface Specialist and Web Designer based in Leicester. I specialise in creating websites that are straightforward to follow (the way any user interface should be), but at the same time try and show some originality in it’s design and appealing to the user.
At 23, I have 1 years work experience as a Web Designer, having worked for Activ Web Design up until March 2010. In 2008 I graduated from De Montfort University with an MSc in Creative Technologies, following a BA(Hons) degree in Music, Technology and Innovation.
Building websites is something that I have been exposed to from an early age, learning very basic HTML from the age of 13. At that age, I was more interested in playing the guitar and making music, than building websites. This continued right through to when I started my Music, Technology and Innovation degree, planning on working as a sound engineer in a recording studio.
It was during my Music, Technology and Innovation degree that I discovered the art of Programming for Creative Music Technology, a module on the course that allowed you to create your own music software for live music and video performance coding in Cycling 74′s Max/MSP/Jitter. I really enjoyed using Max/MSP/Jitter and discovered how when the boundaries between creativity and technology become blurred, you can create some truly inspiring work.
I found myself looking for ways I could turn my knowledge of Max/MSP/Jitter into a job and begin a career working in something that I really enjoyed doing. After a few months I had struggled to find a job in computer programming as Max/MSP/Jitter is a platform design for musical expression, rather than learning something like C++ which are much wider used programming languages.
I started looking for ways I could take what I had learnt and apply that to a programming language that would be recognised by potential employers. Then I received an email from De Montfort University advertising a brand new Masters degree programme, which looked exactly what I was looking for. It was on the course that I developed an understanding of content layout for the web and user interaction, which was a natural extension of what I had been learning when using Max/MSP/Jitter.
The penny dropped when I realised that I could quite happily get paid to sit in Photoshop and then build websites. I had found my calling and set about learning more about HTML, CSS and Flash, surrounded by other people who were on hand to help me learn and were very patient when asking some n00b questions.
Once University had finished, I worked for Activ Web Design, thanks to my good friend Matthew Fedak, and developed my knowledge of web design practices through commercial web design projects I took on.
A year on and I now have a portfolio of work that I can be proud of.
For a full copy of my CV, please contact me.