It’s been awhile since I’ve made any posts around here. I’m just going to blame that on me being busy. Yeah.

Actually, it’s true. I have been quite busy the past month or so. After a weekend in Vegas (in which I made a mini pilgrimage to L.A.) I flew back to Colorado for two days and then flew to San Diego to visit my friend Amber and attend Comic-Con. More on that later.

Aside from all the travel, the real reason I have been so busy is because… I have accepted a front-end web developer position at Zappos and will be moving to Las Vegas at the end of August. I’ve had an amazing run at Burns Marketing for the past three years and feel incredibly grateful for all the things I’ve learned and all the wonderful people I’ve become friends with. Even so, I’m very much looking forward to working at Zappos – learning new things, meeting new people, and experiencing a new place.

So that’s it. The past few weeks have been spent getting things in order for the big move, spending time with friends, and trying to squeeze some “me time” in there (which has recently been spent watching Heroes – yes, I’m just now getting into that show). I promise, Comic-con posts are coming soon!

Note: Don’t forget that Ignite Fort Collins #2 tickets go on sale tomorrow at 9:25am!

In my last post I discussed whether or not design/creativity is something that can be learned, and thus decided to test the theory on myself by going through the steps outlined in Elliot Jay Stocks’ new book, Sexy Web Design. My friend Steve has kindly allowed me to use his current portfolio for the experiment (lucky him!). So, let’s begin.

The first step to Sexy Web Design is Research – something I admittedly don’t spend much time on. The only research I tend to do involves asking the client which websites they like, although I was happy to find out that this is indeed an important element. However, one element I don’t spend much time thinking about is, “What exactly should the website DO?”

Fortunately, I was able to get quite a lot of information from Steve when finding out what he wanted to accomplish with his portfolio:

• Blog for posting ideas, projects, articles, thoughts
• About page with information on who Steve is and what he does
• Project page with links to all his current and past projects which will include screenshots and additional information
• Homepage to include callouts to recent projects, recent blog entries, etc

As well as a list of sites he liked and why:

• http://www.cssjockey.com/ – navigation
• http://css-tricks.com/ – footer, simple design
• http://marcgrabanski.com/ – page layout
• http://www.netdreams.co.uk/index.php/what-we-do/ – colors
• http://crushlovely.com/ – footer, colors, navigation
• http://www.45royale.com/ – page layout
• http://orderedlist.com/ – colors, page layout

With very little design experience, Steve did what he could to showcase his work in a professional and simple manner. Since then, Steve’s focus has changed from wanting to purely showcase his work to also wanting a place to include his thoughts and other ongoing projects, all with a much less formal look. In the end, I will not only be designing his website, but most likely also establishing other elements of his online identity. While Steve has given me almost complete creative freedom, he did have some other thoughts on what he would like to see with the design:

• Simple, less formal
• Incorporate skiing somehow – also highlight other elements of Steve’s personality
• Footer style containing random information (Twitter, copyright, etc)
• Look AWESOME (I’m glad he cleared this up)

My next step will involve Wireframing – another element of design I rarely take into account. Stay tuned!

In the past month, I’ve been asked several times if my degree in Computer Science has helped me in my web development career. I always find this question hard to answer.

Part of me wants to say that yes, it helped me. I learned Object Oriented programming. I learned about design patterns, use cases, and documentation. I learned how to work on team projects, how to program on a Linux OS (ha!), and how to take tests. Mostly, I learned that I do not care for software development.

Even so, a large part of me wants to say no, it did not help me. Almost everything I know in regards to web development (HTML, CSS, SQL, PHP, Photoshop, the list goes on…) I know because I took it upon myself to learn it in my own time. Outside of class, I did web projects for myself and others. I found two internships that allowed me to practice my web development skills because I did not have that opportunity in my classes. If I had done nothing in my own time and relied entirely upon my schooling in CS to find me a web development job, there is absolutely no way that would have been possible.

I’m positive I’m a better web programmer because of my CS degree and it certainly helped when looking for a job. Every job application I’ve seen for web development wants a CS degree or equivalent work experience. It’s nice to know I have both.

However, I also feel like what I learned in those 4 years of school (and $30k later) I could have learned in my own time. In this day and age – where a 12 year old kid can teach him or herself C++ from the comfort of his or her bedroom – I’m not entirely sure college has as much value as it once did. With information becoming so widely available on the internet, should the same importance be placed on a college education as it once was? Who’s to say that a high school graduate, who has been doing web development since he/she was 10 years old, is not as qualified (if not more qualified) than a college graduate who only has 4 years of CS under his/her belt?

But I’m not here to undermine the importance of college. College is very important for some fields. I’m glad I had my college experience, and I would probably do it again if I had a chance (although maybe a different degree). But as far as I’m concerned, my own motivation, initiative, and passion for web development is what got me where I am today – not a $30k piece of paper.

What do you guys think? Was college useful for you, or not? If you didn’t go, are you happy with your decision?