John Kavanagh : Indie Web Developer

For people outside of computing, or even who aren’t directly involved in some way with web development, it can be very difficult to understand the different levels and roles of various members within a team and who become responsible for creating their website. Of course there isn’t any set-in-stone roles, many developers transcend and have skill sets expansive enough to cover more than role, but it’s usually the case that if you want the very best, you don’t necessarily want one person who claims they can design and develop your website for you. You might find you end up with a technically perfect website with a nice, but not a visually amazing design. Equally back-end developers don’t generally like the front-end stuff, or don’t have the same level of skills that a front-end developer (should) have. So the problem is conveying this to non-developers (and most commonly: clients and potential clients). I’ve found myself trying to explain the concept of three different roles (design, front-end, back-end) in a variety of ways but over time I’ve developed my “Highstreet Store Analogy” and I’m not saying it’s perfect, but I’ve helped a lot of people grasp the concept of different development roles using it: Read more

In 2006 whilst working for Catalyst Pictures in Manchester we were offered the opportunity to produce a “Habbosode” for Habbo Hotel (a large on-line children’s virtual world). As part of the pitching process, fourteen animation studios from across the globe were invited to create a short animation using very specific characters and with a huge bible of guidelines covering everything from environmental settings to character temperament (remember: this was aimed specifically at children). We were allowed to develop our own storyline and cast our own voice artists though.

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Welcome to the New TV Studios!

This was part of a pitch put together whilst working at Catalyst Pictures and shortly after Apple introduced their QuickTime VR technology: a way of encoding and displaying 360° panoramic views, and a way of submersing the user in a 3D virtual environment, looking around using their mouse.

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Now a very popular part of Mattel and Matchbox’s toy offerings, in 2006 the Mega Rig Shark/Squid Attack play set was nothing more than a Styrofoam and parcel-tape mock up listing badly to one side in a bathtub and a pile of sketches.

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