Matt Ward

Designer / Developer / Writer

Hello there! I'm a designer, front-end developer and writer, all rolled into one. I've worked in both web and print, and love applying my knowledge, critical thinking and expertise to help craft amazing user experiences on the web.

This CV/portfolio summarizes my professional experience and collects some of my best work.

(skip to portfolio)

Skills & Proficiencies

Design

Development

Tools

Writing

Languages

* Completed 12 years of Ontario's French Immersion program. I still consider myself proficient at reading, but do not speak as well as I once did.

Experience

Highland Marketing

Creative Director

2006-Present

As Creative Director at Highland Marketing, my primary responsibilities have included the design and development of marketing collateral, both print and digital, for clients and internal promotion. I have also worked at developing a suite of WordPress plugins for personalized web marketing.

Echo Enduring Media

Creative Lead

2009-Present

As a part-time independent freelance designer, developer and writer, I've had the opportunity to work with incredible people from all over the world, designing logos, deploying websites and contributing tutorials and articles to the design community.

Accomplishments

Smashing Book 2

Co-Author

Together with Alexander Charchar, I co-authored Chapter 1 of The Smashing Book 2, entitled "The Principles of Good Graphic Design."

Survd App

Designer & Developer

Designed and developed Survd, a small, self-hosted application that allows users to create and deploy simple surveys to their websites. This application has not been in active development for a number of years now.

Personalized Web Marketing

Developer

Developed a suite of proprietary WordPress plugins for Highland Marketing, which allows for the creation of personalized pages, based on contact data that is maintained through the WordPress admin.

Education

Wilfrid Laurier University

M.A., English Literature

2005-2006

Completed an 8 month Master's program through intensive course work, helping me to further refine skills in critical thinking, research, analysis, teaching, time management and independent study.

Wilfrid Laurier University

B.A., English Literature

2001-2005

Completed a standard 4-year honours program, studying a broad range of texts, with a special focus on contemporary fiction. This undergraduate program helped me develop skills in critical thinking, analysis and research, all of which have served me well as a designer, developer and writer. I graduated with distinction and a minor in Religion & Culture.

Volunteer Experience

Board Member

Central Pentecostal Church

2014-present

Was elected to this board by the church membership. Duties involve assisting in providing guidance in the direction of the church, as well as input on financial concerns. I have also served as a member of the policy review committee.

Youth Leader

Central Pentecostal Church

2007-2014

Spent time just hanging out with youth, giving guidance and structure to events and pouring into their lives. I also lead worship at a number of Friday night services.

Personal Interests

Ralph & Lou Logo

This was a fairly small scale design project, but one which remains one of my favourites. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law are active vloggers on YouTube. They post under the moniker of Ralph & Lou, and approached me about designing a typographic logo to represent their online brand.

Obviously, I agreed! It was a fun little project that provided me quite a bit of creative freedom. The only direction I was given was that they wanted something with a typographica treatment and a retro feel.

That left things pretty open.

A mockup of the Ralph & Lou logo. Mockup template by GraphicBurger.

From the outset, I knew that I wanted to create a striking visual contrast between the two names. To this end, I set about creating two vastly different typographic treatments. For Ralph, I created blocky letterforms with tapered edges and a negative inset, while I gave Lou a unique, cursive treatment. The two names are held together with a simple banner to complete the overall effect.