I’m Theo Pape, an award-winning web development specialist in CMSs, such as WordPress and HubSpot. Over a fifteen years’ experience.
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Being involved with the Internet on a daily basis is exciting to me because I relish innovation. I grew up around computers and technology, and am passionate about the ways that we can utilise them to enrich our lives. I have worked very broadly across the industry, having specialised in ecommerce (with Magento) and WordPress-based builds, emails and bespoke applications with an emphasis on responsive design. I am also experienced in UX/UI design and am fully proficient in Photoshop.
I worked at Haymarket Media Group. Officially, I was working for Autosport.com, however I worked broadly across their motor sport devision (Autosport, F1 Racing and Motorsport News) with responsibilities in both front-end development and design. I created a completely redesigned and responsive website for autosport.com, extensive ad-campaigns, such as for this year’s re-launch of http://gppredictor.com/ which also had to be made more responsive, various emails and job templates, and many other things.
Before this I did freelance work for NWP Creative. The assignments involved building/testing emails for Sainsbury’s.
I worked as a front-end developer/designer for Digivate. My latest projects here were a CSS3/JavaScript/jQuery-based nail-colouring application, a bespoke build for a start-up named PKTMNY and a Magento-build for ActionAid. Whilst here, my responsibilities went beyond development/design: the role was client-facing and I was expected to give presentations to clients, write proposals and quote on prospective work. I was also given responsibilities with regard to managing projects and colleges.
Before this I worked for 6 months as a contractor focusing on Magento and WordPress-based front-end development. I worked for TBG Digital building their current WordPress-platformed website and did development work on various Facebook apps and fan pages. I worked at Redbox Digital in a small team building a store for Clinton Cards. I also worked for Oliver Marketing where I helped to build a store for Britvic with the overall aim of turning Magento into something resembling more of a bespoke application.
Prior to this I worked at Session Digital, a web design/development agency that specialises in offering enterprise-level ecommerce solutions built upon the Magento platform, as a front-end developer. I worked on a large range of projects during my time here: from a Football League website; to a private sales site for I Love Brands; to helping build a shop for the French fashion label Kookai. However my main responsibilities lay in carrying out all front-end and some back-end work on the Warner Music artist stores. I also worked as a developer/designer for Halycon Design and Manufacturing, and as a content manager/developer for Phorm.
My abilities lend themselves more strongly towards front-end development at present, however I do possess back-end skills and I am constantly aiming to improve my existing skills whilst at the same time striving to learn new ones. A good example of a project in which I used all of my skills (conceptualisation, design, back and front-end development) was CultureRater, a personal project and the first website I created. And as this site would suggest I have a vast array of interests: everything from playing/listening to music, watching films and sport, to technology, live comedy, computer games, graphic/web design, reading and writing, to socialising and going out with my friends. So the real excitement for me comes in how I can combine these different skills, interests and experiences in the work that I produce.
I feel that I have approached web development from an interesting viewpoint – much more of a layman’s point of view – and that this has resulted in a real awareness of usability and functionality. It also enables me to communicate fairly complex technical concepts to people who perhaps aren’t quite as technically-minded as me. And on that note, I am a very strong communicator and a real people-person. I have studied and worked with people from all over the world and greatly enjoy working in an industry where this continues to be the norm. I like to have a laugh with my colleges, but my people-skills obviously lend themselves towards more managerial qualities as well.
I have a strong understanding of business, being the son of a man with a very successful toy design company. I am an avid follower of Dragon’s Den and keep a keen eye on the financial and business-related developments of companies such as Apple and Sony. At this stage in my working life though, I am looking to continue working as a developer, with a view to moving up to the level of a project/product development or business development manager.
On a final note, I should mention that I am passionate about the ways that technology can enrich our lives, and being a perfectionist, I always strive to produce work of the highest possible quality. I am a very creative, innovative person and have a lot of ideas about the future of the web, media and technology in general.