Welcome to the home of Harley

Hi, I’m a UI/UX artist who specialises in WordPress Design and Development. I’m 18 years old, and have been fascinated by the webs since the shy age of 13. But don’t let that put you off. I’ve done a whole bunch of stuff in my short life that is sure to impress you.

What do you do?

Over the years, I’ve collected a very niche skillset that has enabled me to freelance successfully since 2007. The languages and applications I know have lead to a distinct blend of front and back end development, or for the non-savvy I code and design. Here’s some details:

Where can I find you?

Talk to me! you can find me on twitter as @the_new_harley, or head over to the contact page and drop me a line! That goes straight to my emails, so I’ll be sure to get back to you ASAP.

A book at 15!? Are you a prodigy?

No, I’m not a prodigy. I just seriously love what I do.

When I was the ripe age of 11, I had to make a website for a major school project- back in 6th grade. Using tables. Needless to say, I spent more time on my website than any other part of the project, resulting in a mad last minute rush with my parents the night before to get the rest done.

Having uncles that were web designers, I flew over to New Zealand to learn their wise words of wisdom- and learnt to use Photoshop. I was wrapt.

Once hitting 13, I decided it was time to be serious- Let’s learn HTML! Now at this point in my life, tables were being phased out of the web industry in favour of CSS- so I jumped on that bandwagon too, and thus started a lifelong (so far anyway) love for designing and coding beautiful websites.

Arriving at 14, I decided I wanted to learn something dynamic. PHP looked like a bunch of jumble mashed together, so I seeked out a more elegant solution- hail WordPress. I tought myself WordPress and jQuery by learning something new and cool I wanted to do- then wrote an article about it, which I would sell to nettus.com in exchange for play money. My parents stopped giving me pocket money at this point!
Whilst working at Nettuts, I got chatting to Collis Ta’eed about an article I wished to write, to which he responded

Hey! That sounds like this book I’m halfway through writing, but have
run out of time to finish it. Can you do it?

Um, sure?

So I spent a few months out of the 15th year of my life writing what is now known as How to Be a Rockstar WordPress Designer, Rockable Press’s bestseller.

From there, I gained some media attention and got approached by a representative / organiser of WordCamp Australia, and went on to speak not only at the 2008 Sydney WordCamp, but also the 2009 Wellington WordCamp.

I then began freelancing (having already done a commisioned site previously), and freelanced all through the end of school, and to support myself once leaving.

In August 2011, I applied for, and successfully landed a job at SitePoint.com as their WordPress Gun- yep, that’s my official title there. I’ve been learning every day about the professional web industry, and the inner workings of how successful internet startups make their way to the top. For now, I’m loving learning new technologies that come out every day, such as HTML5 & CSS3, jQuery Mobile, and new database engines (because I’m cool like that).

In the future, I’d like to have my own startup. For now though, I’m happy living in a chill place called Melbourne, in the sunny country of Australia. I’m still freelancing for jobs that take my fancy, but am focussing on gaining valuable experience!

Cool Story Bro. Wank some more?

I’ve got nothing. I owe a lot of my artistic merit to my (gorgeous) HSC art teacher, who managed to push me through my final year and earn me a place in the Art Express Student Exhibition which showcases the top bodies of work throughout New South Wales. Check out my portfolio to see some of my best work. Other than that, good day to you sir!