About Me

from developer to designer and back again

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mark roma

Changes from Developer to Designer and back again!
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In October of 2016 I was hired by Snow Software to oversee the corporate Drupal website. As the company evolves and grows to meet the needs of thousands of businesses throughout the world, the website must reflect that evolution.

Notable improvements made to the site throughout 2016 include improvements to the menu system, the introduction of a filterable case studies and testimonials view, simplification and improvements to the blog, and dozens of other structural changes. The work is incredibly rewarding, and bigger and better improvements are on the way for 2017!

In 2013 I was hired by ChenMed LLC to work as a member of their newly formed Marketing COE (Center of Excellence) in Miami, Florida. As I began to learn about the company and dive into their rich and complex backlog of projects, I realized there was more development than a single coder could produce.

After being relocated to Richmond, Virginia, I was promoted to a newly-created position: Digital Services Team Lead. From this position I oversaw a group of coders who worked on both the externally-facing websites (developed in Drupal) such as ChenMed.com, JenCareMed.com, ChenMedicalCenters.com, PMRMed.com, CTech.net as well as the Microsoft Sharepoint based inside.chenmed.com that served as the access-controlled corporate intranet. The list of projects continued to grow as my team supported marketing campaigns with landing pages, providing vital analytics data to allow the Sales and Marketing wing of the company to calculate vital information about the ROI for various media campaigns.

In early 2011 my wife candice and I created EMuse Creative LLC, our own creative firm with a goal to work with small businesses to produce unique sites and designs to help them grow. The leadership skills and client relationships I cultivated during those years remain with me to this day

In 2012 I joined the awesome team at Monkee-Boy.com to help serve their clients by maintaining, improving, and developing websites.

From 2006 (after I graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design) to 2011 I worked for a variety of firms and development companies including:

  • Systems Connect in Savannah Georgia (2007-2008) - I served as the lead developer and took my first steps into learning PHP and open source CMS systems (starting with WordPress.)
  • WebII in Austin, Texas (2008-2009)- I worked on the team as a junior designer and developer, helping create and code sites in a variety of platforms including basic HTML, WordPress, Joomla, and Zencart.
  • Special Audience in Austin, Texas (2009-2010)- I served as a junior designer and developer as part of this team, which exclusively serves nonprofit and legal clients.
  • Umbrella Media in Austin, Texas (2010-2011)- I served as an assistant coder for this small firm that works almost exclusively in Drupal. Here I began my deep love for the platform and its versatility that continues to my work today

Before 2006 as I worked my way through college I was employed in a wide variety of jobs for various companies:

  • I worked as an assistant manager at a Blockbuster Video.
  • I did data entry at a greeting card company.
  • I was a telemarketer selling windshield replacements.
  • I developed laboratory websites for Cornell University.
  • I was the student manager for the community service office at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
  • I worked in large format (digital) printing and production as well as vinyl graphics installation.

BA, Graphic Design, SCAD (2006)

Inspired by my success with design and layout at Corning Community College, and just beginning my career in web development (building pages for Cornell University,) I left upstate New York for one of the most prestigious art schools in the country.

The Savannah College of Art and Design, located in Savannah, Georgia, is the incubator for some of the finest artistic talents in the world today. The rigorous Graphic Design program is taught by industry professionals, and encourages real-world projects and competitive classroom scenarios.

Programs at SCAD are based in the Bauhaus model of education, which means that all students (regardless of their course of study) must prove artistic competency in a variety of "foundations" courses including color theory, two dimensional design, life drawing, and history before progressing to more specialized courses. Within the Graphic Design major courses focus on typography, page layout, print production, and digital page design.

AS, Arts and Sciences, CCC (2001)

At Corning Community College in Corning, New York I had the opportunity to study under Dave Higgins, a truly gifted painter and a talented designer. Dave identified my aptitude for design and aesthetic problem solving, and encouraged me to continue my training and education in fine arts as well.

While studying under professor Higgins, I received recognition for my skills as a designer, as well as my improvement as a fine artist. His training allowed me to bypass several of the introductory level "foundations" courses at the Savannah College of Art and Design, a rare feat in any course of study at that college.