Pondering Possibilities

All Design/Development (Nov. 2009)

Abby Bernstein

After being selected by Artistshare, Abby Bernstein (an up-and-coming New York singer-songwriter) knew she needed a polished site to showcase her music and keep her fans updated about upcoming shows and latest news. I used Jessica Ginsberg's gorgeous photography and Abby's love of textures and ornate design as a starting point; the design evolved from there. The site was recently featured on gallery.kreativeshowcase, a "best inspire design showcase."

IA (Feb. 2009)

The New York Observer Redesign

As the Lead User Experience Architect for the Observer.com redesign, I invented the site concept, conducted focus groups, created wireframes and site maps, authored requirements, and led the project through visual design, front-end development, and Drupal 6 integration. The site was one of only two U.S. newspapers (in addition to The New York Times) nominated for a Webby for Best Newspaper.

All Design/Development (Aug. 2007)

Apple.com: Digital Media 101

I interned on the Apple.com team in Cupertino, California. In addition to designing pages for apple.com as part of the site redesign (I designed the site map and the Quicktime page), I developed a prototype for a site to help non-digital music users understand iPod+iTunes which I presented to Apple's VP of Marketing. The team worked on the project through the fall and launched it on apple.com in December 2007.

Design/CSS (Sep. 2009)

Truth.Travel (Conde Nast Traveler)

I was hired by Conde Nast to invent and design a blog for the Traveler staff to use as an alternative to the limiting Concierge website framework. I served as the lone information architect and designer for the project. Once the Truth.Travel site was built (the developer used MovableType), I completed all CSS styling to match the original design comps.

All Design/Development (Aug. 2009)

Danny Ross

I designed the original, all-Flash Dannyrossmusic.com in 2006. Though it served its purpose at the time, two years later I knew Dannyrossmusic.com needed a makeover, and the release of Ross's inspired new album 'One Way' seemed like the perfect catalyst. The new site showcases the album's beautiful branding, as well as extensive new functionality and features.

All Design/Development (Nov. 2009)

NYU News and Documentary

The NYU Journalism department contacted me in need of a site that would keep alumni up-to-date on alumni news and recent news from NYU's News and Documentary program. They wanted a quick and easy way to update content, so I decided to use Flickr, Twitter and Tumblr as easily updatable 'content management systems'; all blogs, statues and photos on the new site are fed through these sites.

All Design/Development (Aug. 2009)

Odyl

The Odyl team articulated their want for a simple, elegant, minimalist website that featured their brand color (purple), their mascot (the furry Odyl), their social media feeds (Twitter and Tumblr), and their product (BEonFacebook) - all with a "Web 2.0" design aesthetic. I chose to use simple fonts, glossy buttons, and subtle gradients to give them that Twitter-esque, Web 2.0-y feel they desired.

All Design/Development (May 2008)

Master's Thesis: Wanderlust

In 2008, I completed my Master's thesis: a social networking site for backpackers titled Wanderlust. The project's written documentation is online. You may also watch my live presentation of Wanderlust, delivered in May at NYU as my Master's thesis defense.

All Design/Development (Nov. 2007)

Surrender Tango

Emmy-award winning filmmaker Marcia Rock approached me because she needed a website for her latest documentary, Surrender Tango. After watching the film and listening to her articulate her desire to immerse the user in the Surrender Tango experience, I decided to use Flash to convey the proper movement/animation, music, and tone to the site.

All Design/Development (Nov. 2008)

Salt Harvesters

After the success of the Surrender Tango site, Marcia Rock again came to me to design the site for her next documentary, Salt Harvesters of Ghana. Observering the film's beautiful cinematography, I knew the site needed to be one that showcased the beautiful photography and music that accompanied the film. Again I chose to create a Flash site to immerse the viewer in the Salt Harvesters experience.

All Design/Development (Sep. 2008)

Ten Waverly

Ten Waverly was created for a small New York accessories company that needed an online store - but also wanted to keep the project small and the design minimalist and simple. My solution included a very simple site organized by product line, featuring a popup product window and full Paypal integration.

Ongoing

Writings

Recent works on the anthropological aspects of social software:

• The Facebook Phenomenon: The Allure of Small Networks and Malleable Identity Articulation
• Facebook and Real Life: When 'friend' becomes verb
• "Is Web 2.0 ... too much?": Applying Hardin's "tragedy of the commons" to social software

(May 2006)

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

I spent most of my time at Mac studying representations of race in pop culture, reading Foucault and bell hooks, and examining (both academically and personally) the implications of Whiteness. For my honors thesis, I chose to examine what was (at the time) one of the most popular TV shows on the air: The O.C.. The thesis argues that Jewish identity on television has become perfectly compatible with normative Whiteness. While The O.C. is filled with signifiers of Jewishness, they are cultural rather than religious and are celebrated rather than rejected by WASPs. The analysis highlights the way Jews have been transformed from racialized "Others" in popular culture to Whites who embrace Jewish cultural styles, especially Jewish humor.