Mike Ilsley ~ Beantown Design
Beantown Design is the website, portfolio, and growing design firm of me, Mike Ilsley.
A walk down memory lane
Ever since I was young I enjoyed art. As a teenager I was fascinated by graffiti art. Something about people breaking the law to paint artwork so beautiful that it could be in a museum really intrigued me. In high school we had a graphic design class on tiny Apple computers. We designed things like stickers and t-shirts. I liked it so much that after high school I went on to Endicott College of Beverly Mass, to study graphic design.
During my schooling here, I worked at a variety of design firms. Business Image, Alphagraphics, and CreativeInk. At the same time my freelance career was picking up on the side. I've always enjoyed direct interaction with clients; working with them from start to finish on a variety of projects is a satisfying experience.
The web!
So a few years after I graduated College the internet really started to come to life. I decided this was the future; not only of technology, but of art also. To brush up on the latest web design / development technologies, I took the web design certificate program at Umass Lowell. This was a great program, the school has some great professors, who not only teach, but also work in the industry; so they had some great real world examples.
Today
So there you have it! That was a few years ago, and I've been designing websites ever since. One of the reasons my websites are so great *pat myself on the back*, is because of all my experience in the graphic design and web design industries. If you only go to school for web design, you'll miss out on a lot of the main foundations of design that graphic design school has to offer.
I've used these design skills to make sites that make my clients happy. I work contract work for a variety of companies around the Boston area, and Beantown Design's client list grows weekly.
Hopefully you enjoyed this little insight into my past, I hope to add you as a client!
~Mike (or ilz as my friends call me)
