About

Hi, my name is Karly.
I'm a web developer based
in Chicago.

As a developer with over eight years of experience, I specialize in crafting responsive, user-friendly web interfaces that balance performance and design. My passion lies in enhancing user journeys through thoughtful UX animations, supported by a commitment to clean, organized code and best practices.

Lately I've been focusing on building and maintaining websites, ensuring scalable, maintainable architectures are tailored to each project's needs. My expertise extends to creating custom plugins, implementing performant animations, and optimizing user interactions to deliver polished digital experiences.

Skills  

What I Know

Web Development

  • HTML
  • CSS/SCSS
  • Tailwind
  • GSAP
  • SVG & CSS Animations
  • Figma
  • JavaScript
  • React
  • Next.js
  • Craft CMS
  • Prismic
  • REST APIs
  • Postman
  • Web Accessibility
  • Agile/Scrum Development
  • Astro
  • Vercel
  • Git
  • JIRA
Work  

Experience

Developer

September 2022 - Present

One Design Company

  • Builds and maintains responsive websites using the PHP framework, Craft CMS, ensuring the system’s architecture meets each project's specific needs
  • Translates bespoke, static design mockups into systems of reusable components that can adapt to various viewports and devices
  • Develops custom plugins to extend the functionality of Craft CMS's monolithic architecture
  • Collaborates with other developers through GitHub to share and review code while managing code changes
  • Creates performant, user-friendly animations and micro-interactions to enhance UX without sacrificing speed
  • Helps configure hosting services across a variety of website architecture types

Notable Projects

  • Led the migration of a large-scale Next.js/TypeScript web application (5,900+ URLs) from Prismic to Craft CMS, improving maintainability and editorial workflows
  • Developed and integrated a robust scheduling feature, leveraging custom Craft CMS (PHP) endpoints to facilitate seamless data exchange with a third-party REST API to enable real-time data exchange between frontend and backend
  • Built and comprehensively documented a reusable component library in Eleventy, empowering the client to build new templates independently with clear guidelines using modular components within the static site generator

Senior Frontend Developer

October 2019 - August 2022

Reach Creative

  • Led client-facing demos to showcase development work completed on marketing sites, using various microservices and headless CMSs, such as Prismic, Sanity, and Strapi, while addressing questions and conveying technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders
  • Collaborated with business administrators to offer technical recommendations and estimates for new projects
  • Collaborated with designers to make principal technical decisions in the UI area and to refine animations on interactive components
  • Provided code reviews for peers, encouraging good code organization and offering feedback when appropriate
  • Ensured development team documentation was thorough, organized and up-to-date
  • Continued to build out frontend templates with well-structured, maintainable code

Frontend Developer

January 2017 - October 2019

Reach Creative

  • Designed and developed codebases based on visual mockups or wireframes, incorporating JavaScript libraries like React and Vue for dynamic, modern web applications
  • Wrote efficient, modular HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, leveraging frameworks such as React, Next.js, and Vue to enhance functionality and maintainability
  • Built responsive websites to function seamlessly across all devices and browser sizes
  • Performed cross-browser compatibility tests to check for bugs and inconsistencies, ensuring reliable performance with various JavaScript frameworks
  • Optimized websites for maximum speed and scalability
  • Worked collaboratively with other engineers, designers, and product managers to ensure on-time delivery and final web application meet client requirements
  • Kept up-to-date with the latest technological advances in web development

Full-Stack Web Development Student

September 2016 - December 2016

General Assembly

  • Wrote HTML/CSS and JavaScript for modern browsers
  • Developed back-end web applications and APIs using MVC web development frameworks
  • Consumed web APIs from third-party sites
  • Collaborated within teams using an agile development workflow and Git collaboration practices

Assistant Web Editor

Dec 2011 - Aug 2016

Tennis Warehouse

  • Created original descriptions for apparel featured on website
  • Wrote in-depth product reviews
  • Contributed blog entries for the official Tennis Warehouse blog
  • Managed the Pinterest social media account
  • Assisted with writing and editing web content

News Contributor

Jan 2016 - April 2016

Indie Shuffle, LLC

  • Reported newsworthy music stories, which include breaking news, album releases, tour dates and interviews
  • Fact checked and referenced reliable sources
  • Coordinated with other contributors using a CMS to prevent duplicate articles
  • Ensured article formatting was consistent