[web-developer]

What is a Web Developer?

A web developer is a professional who understands both the capabilities of technology and the needs of people—then designs the right solution where those two meet. In practice, web development spans four interlocking disciplines: Design, Presentation, Function, and Service.

Design

Creating the general artistic theme and binding the experience together

While I have worked as a commercial artist, my focus today is not just how a site looks, but how it communicates, guides, and interacts. Sometimes I design the interface myself, and other times I collaborate with a graphic designer or use a client’s existing brand styles.

Either way, design establishes tone, clarity, hierarchy, and trust. Good design makes users feel oriented—even before they begin to read.

Presentation

Making the design consistent across platforms and browsers

Presentation is where visual theory becomes real code. It’s where designs turn into responsive layouts, adaptive assets, accessible typography, usable navigation, and device-aware displays.

This involves HTML, CSS, responsive grids, accessibility standards, and attention to browser/OS differences and performance. More and more, presentation is about ensuring the experience works equally well on phones, desktops, tablets, Retina displays, and high-impression environments.

I explain these core concepts in more depth in Four Internet Design Considerations Every Client Should Know .

Function

Making the site intuitive, interactive, and user-focused

Function is where visitors begin to “use” your site—not just view it. This means intuitive navigation, instant feedback, smart interactions, clear paths to help, searches that actually find, forms that are not painful, and pages that update quickly and smoothly.

This layer is largely powered by HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (including modern frameworks and APIs). It’s also where usability, accessibility, and behavioral flow become the central design language.

Service

Making the site work—accurately, securely, and intelligently

Service is the server-side world: where data is stored, retrieved, secured, and made available through dynamic pages, APIs, or web services. It includes databases, inventory, authentication, encryption, file storage, user accounts, forms, and transaction processing.

These solutions rely on PHP, MySQL, secure server configurations, intelligent database design, and increasingly—intelligent automation and user-personalized systems powered by AI. Service is what makes a site work.

This is what I do for my clients—whether it’s a small interactive form, a full business site, or an intelligent, secure, database-driven automation platform. I work on a project basis using scope, function, and goals to provide realistic time and cost estimates.

In many cases—especially things similar to the tools demonstrated on this site—hiring me to install, adapt, or configure a solution is the most efficient use of time and budget.