About Artistic Web Design — David Salahi

I went into web design in 2008 after 30 years as a software engineer. Prior to starting my web design business I worked for ten years at Thomas Bros. Maps (makers of the Thomas Guide), a subsidiary of Rand McNally. Before that I worked for nearly 20 years as a software engineer for a company that made software for civil engineers.
While at Thomas Bros. Maps, I saw the software engineering field change from one in which most software ran on PCs or mini-computers to one in which much software runs on the internet. Toward the end of my tenure there more and more of my work was on websites and related internet technologies. Also, in the 1990s, in my spare time, I began creating websites for non-profit organizations and later for friends. A couple of years before I left my job I began branching out to do websites for businesses owned by friends of friends.
I found that I loved creating websites and I got good feedback from clients. After 30 years working as a software engineer I was ready for a change. Web design was a perfect choice for me because I was able to leverage my extensive technical skills which are essential in creating and maintaining websites. But web design isn’t just about writing HTML and CSS code and all those other techie things. It also draws upon a person’s skills as a designer. Although I don’t have any formal training in the arts, I believe I have a natural talent for design. I’ve been an avid amateur photographer for many years and I’ve been told by professional artists and photographers who have seen my photos that I have an artist’s eye. So, in web design I’ve been able to combine my hard-core left-brain software engineering skills with my right-brain enjoyment of creating aesthetically pleasing visual designs.

What It’s Like Working with Me

I’m a good communicator and I like to help people. When you engage me to design or update your website, you get a professional who is a good listener and who will be attentive to the needs of your business. I respond promptly to phone calls and emails, usually the same day and often within minutes. I explain complicated technical concepts clearly and simply so you can understand what’s important about any technical considerations; i.e., what’s the impact on your business or on costs? I give you the information you need to make decisions about technology. I use screen sharing technology, when appropriate, so that if you have problems or questions I can see what’s happening on your screen and quickly advise you or fix any problems.
I’m a good writer and can help you fine-tune your web page copy. I’m detail–oriented and you’ll rarely find a spelling or grammatical error in any copy that I’ve edited. I can help you choose words and phrases that will increase the marketing impact of your website without sounding like hype.
And I’m very creative. Beyond simply wordsmithing your text, I can offer ideas for website content that you might not have thought of. Here’s one small example of how I was able to proactively help a client in this way recently. Many businesses have a slogan or tagline that sums up in a few words the benefits they deliver to their customers. Taglines are an excellent way for you to quickly communicate your value proposition to your customers and to develop a brand identity. However, this client was expanding a portion of her business into a new area and hadn’t yet thought of using a tagline for it. After I suggested creating one, she came up with a strong nine-word tagline that tells her customers what they can expect from her and why they should become customers. This tagline is prominently displayed on her website.
When I work with you, I try to think like your partner. I learn as much as I can about your business and look for the ways that you deliver value to your customers and I make sure that those things are clearly communicated on your website. And I’m always looking for new ideas that can help your website perform with maximum effectiveness.

Value vs. Price

There are lots of web designers you can choose from, some of whose rates are cheaper than mine. First, consider what you’re buying when you buy a website. What you’re buying are not web pages. What you’re buying is a marketing vehicle for your business. The way to judge the effectiveness of a marketing campaign is to compare the cost of the campaign with the amount of business it brings in. The best marketing campaign is not the one that is cheapest. Rather, it is the one with the highest ROI. I don’t just make HTML pages. I work with you to craft a marketing tool that delivers a high ROI.
I also work to cultivate a long-term relationship with you. I want to do not only your initial website or redesign but also your ongoing updates and any changes that may be needed later. And, I want to develop your trust so that when your associates ask if you know a good web designer you can enthusiastically recommend me.

Tools & Technologies

In my web design and software engineering roles, I’ve used the following tools and technologies:
Adobe Creative Suite 3 (CS3), including:

Dreamweaver
Photoshop
Flash (including ActionScript 3)

Web languages, including HTML, CSS, XML, PHP, Java, JavaScript, JSP, Struts
Microsoft Visual Studio, including ASP, ASP.NET, C++, C#, VB6 and VB.NET, MFC, ATL, COM, DAO, ADO
Web servers: IIS & Tomcat
Eclipse

Education

B.S. in Applied Ecology, UC Irvine; magna cum laude
A.A. in Business Information Systems, Orange Coast College