About Sarah
Back in high school I started editing as a more of a hobby. I also became interested in languages during that time, beginning with Japanese, then German, Spanish, and Finnish, with a smattering of French, Scottish Gaelic, and Hebrew. I had a knack for picking up the grammar and sounds and compartmentalizing the different languages. I also learned I had a talent for helping others understand languages, among other subjects, and became a private tutor throughout high school and college. During my exploration of languages I started honing my translation skills, which I hoped would be useful to others, and came to understand this as an art I wanted to take pride in.
Having studied various languages from high school through college, I graduated from Portland State University in 2016. Along with editing and translating as a freelancer, later that year I was contracted as a math curriculum design assistant with Global Step Academy, where I gained more experience maintaining, writing, and editing content in a consistent format and managing a large collection of documents.
I had dabbled in coding while in high school and was the webmaster for a local chapter of a German heritage organization. Now I've decided to pursue this interest as a career path, currently earning a Web Assistant II certificate at Portland Community College. Learning computer languages is admittedly a bit different from working with spoken ones, but I'm excited to round out my repetoire of content skills by focusing on the visual aspect. In a world wide web filled with ugly, outdated, and broken sites, I hope I can make a difference.
Design Philosophy
User-Consciousness
Design should not distract from but compliment the content it frames and assist in functionality. Good design is a visual extension and representation of the author's message. From an online user's perspective, the design of a site should immediately convey its goal. This is good SEO practice as well.
Balance in Everything
One lesson I've learned in all my time of creating, customizing, and decision-making is that trying to scrunch all my eclectic favourites into one place is recipe for disappointment. It's all about balance. There is an appropriate place for a given color, shape, or tone. Creating something beautiful isn't about picking out everything I happen to like; it's about a series of complimentary and appropriate choices. If you were to break down the colours of a flower or sunset into a colour pallate, you might not like each colour very much on it's own, but they harmonise, balance each other, and don't compete for your attention.
The Delight is in the Details
Attention to detail can be the difference between a good design and an exceptional one. Some users will appreciate the small touches that show you care about their experience but all will benefit.
Consistency
Consistency can make even the most simplistic design look professional. If each page or section on a website looks like it was designed by different people or at different times, it creates confusion and a negative impression for the user. Users want to know that the look and functionality of one part of your site can be expected across all of it.
Tell a Story
Your design is a visual and sometimes interactive representation of your content. Don't settle for making your site look good when you can use your design as an opportunity to show the user what you're all about before they read a single word.