In 2018 I decided to go to back to college to learn something a bit different from what I'd done in the past. So after reviewing my local colleges I decided that Edinburgh College would be the best place for me to Learn Web Development. Over the years I have had extensive experience using computers in both work and play but I had never really touched on Web Development much. To me it seemed to be an exciting industry to be a part of that is very active and ever changing, which to me seemed like the perfect route to go down in the next chapter of my life.
Below are a few examples of some of the projects I completed while studying Web Development in Edinburgh College and Edinburgh Napier University, which of course also includes this site you are on now. As a first semester project I was tasked to build a website from scratch without the use of frameworks, bootstrap or templates. It was to be about a made up bike shop called Bike King Borders
Another site, that was part of a team project which is no longer live sadly, where as a small group we had to design and build a website based on an affordable, luxury product. We chose Whisky and created the 'Aqua Vitae Whisky' brand and site using the CMS Joomla! My team mates on the project were Marek Gołębiewsk and Aleksander Gąsiorek.
The first project of my second year studying Web Development was to design and create a website for a fictitious cinema group called iCinema, I was tasked to create a dynamic website that pulls movie data from a database, a specific section for users under the age of 18 with the ability to register and login as well as an admin panel to manage all the data on the site.
As part of my main project for my second year graded unit I was tasked to find a project that would include an e-commerce section on the site. I reached out to a friend that I knew had an Etsy site selling hand made D&D accessories like dice bags and trays as well as various embroidery and art pieces. She also had a WordPress blog where she would write about her projects. I had heard that she was unhappy with the experience Etsy was offering so I offered to develop a website for her that would combine both a blog as well as a brand new e-commerce store that would allow her to sell her products without having to go through Etsy. That site is Stray from the Line.
Once I moved on to Napier University there was a little less focus on developing websites and more on the different aspects of the industry. However, I did work on a couple of developments during my time there. Firstly was a group project where we had to find a real world client to create a development of some kind for. One of the people in the group knew of someone who had recently started a business buying up properties to renovate and then sell on. During client calls with him, we established his wants and needs and together we developed the Smith Housing website. My contribution consisted of designing the wireframe and then translating that into the main body of front end development.
For my Final Honours Project I was to create a development that did not already exist. I had to develop a project plan, conduct research to show the gap in the market and why the project would be useful. I then had to design and develop the website. What I came up with was a website that would allow artists within the TTRPG (Tabletop Roleplaying Game) space to upload and sell their maps in a more accessible way than currently exists. I came up with Cartographers Emporium.
Most recently a friend of mine reached out to me to develop a small website to help market their first and future books. I created a simple but effective single page site to allow him to advertise his book and keep people up to date with future projects.