Dear Laracasts,

Receiving an unwanted email can be bothersome, so the least I can offer is a bit of effort to earn your attention.
This is both a way to convince you that I can be of use (if not now, perhaps in the future), and a way to show my appreciation. It's not easy to condense everything into an email, so I preferred to let this page speak through examples, ideas, and some additional information about myself. A CV is limiting, whereas here I can be a bit more creative.

Show me something

Instead of showcasing potentially irrelevant web works with Laracasts (of which I'll add some links below), I'd like to take a step back and provide more fitting examples.

pinkary.com website screenshot.
pinkary.com

Homepage design

studioatomic.net website screenshot.
studioatomic.net

Development

agape-milano.it website screenshot.
agape-milano.it

Development

accurat.it website screenshot.
accurat.it

Design&Development

70materia.com website screenshot.
70materia.com

Development

Let's take the (fantastic) series "Build a Forum With Laravel" by Luke Downing, or "Build a Web Shop From A-Z" by Philo Hermans. Their aim is certainly not to focus on the layout of these web apps.
Sometimes starting with a "prebuilt" layout could even be detrimental because it adds noise. There are other cases where seeing what you want to build can help viewers understand the goal.
However, in both cases, it's likely that at some point in the series, there will be some tweaking needed to the app's style as well. Tailwind UI is helpful but doesn't have all the answers (fortunately!), so different solutions may be found case by case.
These challenges are what excite me.

How to Choose the Right Web Development Framework for Your Project?

by John Doe

5 replies

What Are the Best Practices for Responsive Web Design?

by John Doe

3 replies

Troubleshooting Common CSS Issues: Tips and Solutions

by John Doe

12 replies

How to Optimize Website Performance for Faster Loading Times?

by John Doe

5 replies

Exploring the Pros and Cons of Frontend vs Backend Development

by John Doe

2 replies

What Are the Essential Tools and Technologies for Web Developers Today?

by John Doe

4 replies

How to Secure Your Web Applications from Cyber Threats?

by John Doe

0 replies

Best Practices for SEO in Web Development: Boosting Your Website's Visibility

by John Doe

6 replies

What's New in JavaScript: Exploring the Latest Features and Updates

by John Doe

9 replies

Getting Started with Web Development: Tips for Beginners and Resources to Learn From

by John Doe

3 replies

Back to the forum.
A forum can be represented in many ways. It can be barely sketched, more classical or completely crazy (as long as it makes sense).

Your contributions

How to Choose the Right Web Development Framework for Your Project?

by John Doe

Latest replies

Consider project requirements, team expertise, community support, scalability, and performance.

By Sara Ferguson - 4h ago

I'd say Laravel is often a solid choice. It offers robust features, a supportive community, and streamlined development processes.

By Paul Atreides - 2h ago

5 replies

What Are the Best Practices for Responsive Web Design?

by John Doe

Latest replies

Prioritize mobile-first design, use fluid grids and flexible images, optimize performance, and ensure cross-browser compatibility.

By Link's Awakening - 4h ago

3 replies

New topics

Troubleshooting Common CSS Issues: Tips and Solutions

by John Doe

12 replies

How to Optimize Website Performance for Faster Loading Times?

by John Doe

5 replies

Exploring the Pros and Cons of Frontend vs Backend Development

by John Doe

2 replies

What Are the Essential Tools and Technologies for Web Developers Today?

by John Doe

4 replies

How to Secure Your Web Applications from Cyber Threats?

by John Doe

0 replies

Best Practices for SEO in Web Development: Boosting Your Website's Visibility

by John Doe

6 replies

What's New in JavaScript: Exploring the Latest Features and Updates

by John Doe

9 replies

Getting Started with Web Development: Tips for Beginners and Resources to Learn From

by John Doe

3 replies

New topic

The important thing is to adapt to the course's objective, conform to the general style (of Laracasts, in this case), and find the right balance between originality and usability.

There are many ways to achieve the desired outcome. Sometimes it's easier; other times, it requires multiple attempts. For some, this work can be tedious. I enjoy experimenting with CSS (whether vanilla or through Tailwind) and I know Laravel well enough to avoid disaster (thanks, Laracasts!).

Why Laracasts?

The reason is quite simple: I have tremendous respect for the project and how it has been carried forward over the years by Jeffrey (and all the collaborators). I hold teaching in high regard in general, but on the web and at this level, I don't think there is anything better. Being able to collaborate with you would be a source of personal satisfaction.

But why should Laracasts choose me?
The reason is that I am obsessed with interfaces. I like to experiment and try new approaches, and even though my background is in design, I have a decent knowledge of web development. The idea is to be able to collaborate both with other more "traditional" designers (i.e., those who prefer Figma to the browser) and with developers through functional prototypes and redesigns.

And it looks fun, too!

About

Presentations can get extremely boring, so I will try to be succinct about the more "institutional" part and focus on my experiences/epiphanies in the digital field.

Work experience

Moku

2012 — 2023

Product and UI/UX designer for a digital agency.

Iperstudio

2014 — Present

I co-founded the tiny Iperstudio collective.

Multiplo

2017 — 2022

Front-end developer in a creative direction studio.

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Industrial Design, IUAV University (Venezia, 2008 — 2011)

Master's Degree

Design, IUAV University (Venezia, 2012 — 2015)

...And in the meantime

Circa 2003

I "played" Pierrick Calvez's Days in a Day, a kind of visual adventure in Flash. I realized that I wanted to work in the web.

Adobe Flash logo.
2006

I started copying (badly) what others were doing on the web.

Adobe (ex. Macromedia) Dreamweaver.
2010

I came across the work of people who have inspired me a lot to form ideas about design and the web: Jeffrey Zeldman, Jason Santa Maria, Shaun Inmann, Jeremy Keith, Ethan Marcotte. And then Paul Jarvis, Valerio Proietti, Lea Verou, Chris Coyier, Tim Van Damme, Sara Soueidan and many others.

Jeffrey Zeldman avatar. Jason Santa Maria avatar. Shaun Inmann avatar. Jeremy Keith avatar. Ethan Marcotte avatar.
2012

I first heard about Ruby on Rails, and after a few years about Laravel.

Ruby on Rails logo.
2014

I co-founded Iperstudio, a tiny collective of developers and designers. Iperstudio still exists after 10 years (and a hundred projects).

Iperstudio
2015

Flex is an established reality, and the first grid drafts are making their way in. I get hooked on CSS.

										// and the meme is over
											.center-me {
											  display: flex;
											  justify-content: center;
											  align-items: center;
											}
										
									
2018

I joined Laracasts.

Laracasts logo.
2020

I keep testing (for work and for fun) various JS libraries and frameworks: Next.js, Nuxt, Sveltekit, Remix. None of them convinces me 100%.

React logo.
Marco Mezzavilla avatar

Thanks for your attention!