scripflipper.com

michael ciccarelli is a web designer & developer out of buffalo, ny.
I am currently available for freelance and other opportunities.

Brandstack Closing

| no comments

sidenote

Today I found out that Brandstack, A popular buy & sell logo design service, is closing due to significant fraud. Apparently people were using stolen credit cards to purchase logos and while Brandstack was middle manning the deal and paying out the designers, they ended up getting screwed.

From their home page:

Talk to any successfully entrepreneur about the impact of fraud online and you’ll hear some interesting stories. I have been fighting the impact of this fraud for months. Unfortunately, it’s ripple effects have caused serious waves… I did not have the flexibility or capital to withstand it.

I’ve used their service in the past, thought it was a good concept, very affordable and I feel bad about this.

Facebook Unveils Timeline

| no comments

sidenote

Yesterday during the the F8 Developers Conference, Facebook revealed Timeline, which is basically just their new profiles that are redesigned and also include some fancy new features to “tell your life story”. They’ve also been rolling out new public features such as the news ticker, that many people have been complaining about and also a music app that appears to integrate with Spotify in order to share the music you’re listening to with your friends.

I followed these instructions to activate the developer (beta) version of Timeline on my own Facebook account but it is currently only visible by other developer accounts.

Redesign 2011

| no comments

sidenote

I’ve been neglecting this site over the past last year. It’s purpose has always been, to provide a canvas for me to practice new web design trends, techniques and discuss topics of interest in my blog. Without much effort, I’ve met some of the made some of the most important connections in my life by writing articles and meeting people through my site.

A few weeks ago, I decided to try out tumblr. Thinking the simple UI and iPhone app would motivate me to start posting some web dev/WordPress articles and other types of content other than my meaningless twitter feed and random iPhone photos. But after a couple weeks, I decided it’s proprietary platform was too limited, and reverted back over to WordPress where I have more control/flexibility. I’m building a new custom WordPress Theme from the ground up, using the latest web technologies such as HTML5 & CSS3. Sometimes it’s good to de-clutter your stylesheets, frameworks and kind of reset. You’ll find you start to do things much more efficiently each time.

Anyways instead of completing the design off-line and then uploading it when I was done, I decided to start with a barebones stylesheet and build everything out live.

Bonnaroo

| no comments

image

Tent life for the next 4 days for Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee

Back to Vegas

| no comments

sidenote

A few weeks ago I posted about Moving to NYC to take on a new job and city. What I didn’t mention was an offer I got to remain in vegas a few days before leaving. The contract would pay more then the position i had waiting for me in NY but I still decided to give the job I’ve already accepted at WBR a fair chance. Fortunately for me the Vegas offer remained on the table while I tested the waters in NY.

I lasted only 2 weeks in the city, mainly because the job wasn’t what I expected at all but also because I was having no luck finding an apartment. I was really hoping to get into a team environment that would give me an outlet to learn and collaborate in real life, everyday with people that share my passion and interest in web design. It wasn’t long before I learned i was 1 or a 2 person team, and the other member was another amateur web designer around my age…a nice guy but it just all wasn’t the “team environment” I expected so I bailed.

Anyways now I’m back in Vegas, living in these sick high-rises right on the strip (panorama) per my new contract..I also got a new car. I’m happy with my decision, I would have likely regretted not taking this opportunity for the rest of my life and after the 3 years I could always try NYC again.

Moving to NYC

| 3 comments

sidenote

I’ve been living in Las Vegas about 2 years now and I can’t really complain, it’s a great city, nice weather and plenty to do. I just kind of want a change of my current lifestyle, which has become rather lazy and and unproductive. I’m going to try living in NYC where everyone is on the go and give myself some more opportunities to network with people with less distractions.

I took a Full-Time position in the web development team at WBR and continue to freelance on the side. I enjoy freelancing and the freedom it provides but all that aside it’s never been great money unless you really are willing to commit and apply yourself by putting in countless hours of work, making new clients/connections and finding as much work as you can handle.

I’m pretty excited about the position I’ll be filling at WBR. Basically the company coordinates events/conferences all over the world for many different industries. Each one of these events needs a website and each website has a a 3-stage cycle including an annual redesign. So given the amount of events they already host there should be plenty of website design work for me during my time here. I’m happy with the starting salary they offered me and the job comes with lot’s of benefits, which is something I haven’t had while freelancing.

I think all in all it’s going to be a good change, waking up each morning hoping a train into the office to work until 5 then I can leave my work at the office and not always think about work. That is what I would end up doing while freelancing, never not thinking about work or rarely not on my computer when at home. Even though I’ll still continue to work on personal projects of mine and on some freelance work I imagine it will be in a much different state of mind, since it’s just side work and not my main source of income.

The office I’ll be working out of is located on 5th Avenue right around 45th St. which is midtown east Manhattan. I’m looking for apartments in manhattan but until I find something permanent I’ll most likely take a roommate situation temporarily, because I need to get out there by next week. I’ll also be only a few hour drive away from home so it will be nice to be able to visit more with my friends/family in Niagara Falls.