Let’s get to know you first. Tell us about yourself.
I’m Marc Bodmer and I am a web developer with a focus on front-end development. I recently graduated from University of Guelph with a degree in Computer Science and am now working as a software developer for the best online photography community, 500px.
I started working on Open Source projects while still in University and that introduced me to the world of web development. Since then, I have been working extensively with all kinds of tech stacks for the web. I love being challenged on creating software in a short amount of time and as a result enter myself into online programming contests and local hackathons. Furthermore, I enjoy attending tech conferences and local tech meetup groups in Toronto, and even speaking at them when I have an opportunity to do so. Check out some of the stuff I have been working on through my Github profile.
In my off time, I love to explore the world, rock climb in the summer and ski in the winter.
Cool, so what’s the story behind your website and its design?
My initial website was created in June 2012 as a portfolio for job interviews. It was a very simple one page slider that displayed my basic info and projects I was working on at the time. Over time, it evolved as a playground for various new web technologies and design principles I was coming across.
The most recent iteration still exists as a one page site describing myself and showcasing my projects. Nowadays, I use it as a reference for people I meet to find out more information about me and where to find me on various social networks.
What part of your website is your favourite, and why?
The giant Bokeh texture background image that exists as the landing image for my site. I am a sucker for large background images in web design, so I of course had to do the same for my website.
Is there anything you wish you knew when you first started building your website?
Keep the content simple. At first I was adding too much content, and it became a hassle trying to organize the content efficiently and make the site responsive.
Technologies, languages, frameworks, or libraries?
I kept it pretty simple technology wise with basic HTML, Javascript and CSS. However, I did find a bunch of useful jQuery plugins that saved me a bunch of time writing code:
- Sticky: Make elements on your page always stay visible
- Magnific Popup: Responsive lightboxes and dialogs
- Backstretch: Full size dynamically resized background images
Any upcoming changes we should look out for?
I am in the looking to define some personal branding (i.e. logo), create a new blog using Ghost and add more side projects.
