Fifteen years of building, and still learning

I have been building websites for fifteen years, and I teach web development at CVO De Verdieping, where I am also responsible for the school's website.

That combination is the point. Teaching keeps me sharp, because explaining something well enough that someone else can run with it is a higher bar than just applying it yourself. The school site keeps me honest, because it runs at real scale, with real users and real consequences.

My background is a Master's in Multimedia Design, covering app and web development alongside game design, concept art and 3D. That mix still shows in how I work. I do not outsource design and then build whatever comes back. It is the same craft, so less gets lost along the way.

I do not start with a quote and a template. I start with a conversation.

Most people come to me with a fairly clear idea of what they want, but without the words to say it precisely. That is normal. The first job is figuring that out together: what your business actually needs, who has to work with it, and what would make it a success a year from now.

After that we settle on the best route. Sometimes that turns out to be a bigger project than you thought. Often a smaller one. Either way you know why, before anything gets built.

And after launch I do not disappear. I host and maintain what I build, so there is always someone who knows your code when something needs to change.

Just as clear about the other side.

• Sell templates as custom work.
• Fifteen-page quotes for a five-page site.
• Build something you do not need, because it is more interesting to me.