When I accepted the position of Web Services Developer at George Mason University School of Law in October 2011, I took on the technical challenges such as server administration, content management system support and database maintenance. What attracted me the most to the job, however, was the opportunity to design the school’s web site. In my twelve years of experience in web-related fields, design has always played a major role in my career path.

My passion for design started in my sophomore year at La Salle University where I received my undergraduate degree in Digital Arts and Multimedia Design. Even though I wanted to do creative work, I had no clue about design. When I turned in my first web page for a class in digital art, the professor shook her head in disbelief. The page had six different typefaces, a bunch of uncoordinated colors and a handful of animated graphics. The expression I saw on the professor’s face, which I still remember today, gave me a hint that I didn’t do something right. We had a talk and she suggested that I start from the basics.

I took her advice to heart, and began learning color, typography and white space. Working with these three basic visual elements, I developed an appreciation for simplicity. When designing web pages, the minimalist approach allowed me to concentrate on the content and message. My style came together when I landed my first professional job as a web designer at Vassar College. In addition to creating design work for the school, I was surrounded by a group of talented individuals including graphic designers, illustrators and typographers. I have learned so much from this group simply by our daily interaction. By taking each other’s constructive criticisms and insightful suggestions, we grew together as a team.

After Vassar, I took on a new position as a web developer at the George Washington University School of Business. Although my main role was to maintain the school’s web pages in accordance with the University’s unified web presence, I always sought out creative opportunities like creating banners, book covers, print ads and web promotional materials. In addition, when not working at my fulltime job, I took on freelance web design projects to keep my creativity flowing.

Over the years, design has stayed with me no matter what career I embark upon. Pursuing a Master of Art in Graphic Design would not only strengthen my professional career, but also channel and broaden my passion for design. I am looking forward to studying the theory of graphic design as well as advanced topics including typography, brand identity design and web design. One of my goals in the future is to share my knowledge for design, and the Master of Arts program at George Mason University School of Art will qualify me to do so.

(Written for Master of Arts in Graphic Design George Mason University Admission)

Over the weekend, I spent an hour updating this site’s CSS for mobile-first, responsive design. I used em unit instead of pixel for breaking point, which I have reduced to just one media query.

I added a new testimonial from my latest client.

Also a big shout out to the Text Link Ads for the sponsor links on the right column. Vistaprint also renewed its ad placement for 2012.

Some of my family members who are avid Amazon shoppers asked me to put up the Amazon.com’s Affiliate link so that they can make me some money. Thanks for the support.

Paul Krugman:

Think about it: someone who really wanted equal opportunity would be very concerned about the inequality of our current system. He would support more nutritional aid for low-income mothers-to-be and young children. He would try to improve the quality of public schools. He would support aid to low-income college students.

We started co-sleeping with Dao when he was very young and now he needed one of us to be his side. Now that we have Dan, Dana sleeps with him so that she could nurse him at night and I stay with Dao. I really enjoy being with him. In the beginning, I was irritated that he keeps on rubbing my arm and scrapes my skin if he runs across something rough like a scratch or a cut. He even presses down on my keloid sometimes, which stings a like needle. Now I don’t mind at all. In fact, I get to kiss his smooth and soft cheeks, thanks to all the organic milk he has been drinking.

When Dana was pregnant, she told me that she would train Dan to sleep all by himself in his own crib, yet every time I come over they both sleep in bed. Unlike Dao, Dan likes to be nursed constantly and now he has unlimited access to the breasts. He wants to be fed too often that she just nursed in in bed until they both fall asleep. His cheeks are getting puffy now and I can’t tell if he’s getting chubby from the milk or his jaws are getting swollen. Either way, they are perfect to be kissed. Whenever I get the chance, I kiss those cheeks until he screams.

Dana says that she enjoys her time with Dan because she is now less worried. With Dao, we didn’t know much and anything appeared a bit unusual put us in a panic mode. Now we know what to expect and we can navigate our way around him. I also enjoy being with him. He stares right into me whenever I talked to him or playing with him. I can feel the special connection between us. It’s the kind of connection that makes it worthwhile to be a parent, even though it’s a tough responsibility and it is only get tougher as time goes by.

We just learn as we go along. It’s a very long journey so we might as well get used to it. One of Dana’s uncles warned us that if you let your kids sleep with you, they will until they turn 18. I don’t think he’s exaggerating. Well, if that’s how long it will take than we might as well enjoy it.

Dr. Ken Murray:

Of course, doctors don’t want to die; they want to live. But they know enough about modern medicine to know its limits. And they know enough about death to know what all people fear most: dying in pain, and dying alone.

Insightful and informative. Must-read.

Introducing a blog for Ambulance Service of Manchester (ASM) and Aetna. My role for the project was to implement WordPress. I worked with the graphic designer who brought me into the project to turn her design into the blog. I worked directly with the client to create all the requested functionalities. I also provided training on using WordPress to its full potential. The project was a nice collaborative experience, in which I didn’t wear my design hat.

Thanks to Ms. Kristin Bair O’Keeffe for the referral.

New year starts out with a brand new site. I am very exciting to relaunch a small-but-fun professional web site for Jennifer Karin. The new site highlights Ms. Karin’s creative boxes that are “filled with books, awards, and accomplishments.”

Having worked with Ms. Karin in the past on her blog, I am delighted to have another opportunity to rework her web site. She has once again given me full creative freedom to shape the design. As a communications expert with over 25 years experience, Ms. Karin knows the important of clear and concise content. Before we even settled on the agreement, Ms. Karin already sent over all the contents. Comparing the new copies to the ones on the previous site, she cut the texts down to its essential.

After reading the contents, I know that the site needs to be simple, attractive and readable. The boxes she used in her writing gave me the idea of using icon box for each of her profession. Alex Brush, an elegant script typeface, is used for the header as well as the background, which is also a typographic treatment of her initials. Furthermore, I wanted each page to have its own color scheme to showcase the distinctiveness in her area of expertise.

Behind the scene, the site is written in HTML5 and CSS3 with the help of the awesome HTML5 Boilerplate. Of course, the layout is responsive to be viewed on various tablets and mobile devices.

This project makes a perfect beginning for 2012. Let’s hope the new year will bring more fun and excited opportunities like this.

To celebrate Đán’s “đầy tháng” (full month), I put together a short slideshow as a special dedication to my second son.

Similar concept I used for my first son, Dao’s, this slideshow features black-and-white photos with a short jazz sampling. This time around, I used Stacey Kent’s rendition of “What the World Needs Now is Love” to support the images.

When I heard this song for the first time, which was a few months ago, I was going through some dramas. The world around me seemed to be very cold and lacked compassion and the song was just what I needed to lift me up. I also thought of my second unborn whenever I listened to the tune. What the world, at least my own world, needs now is a lovely boy and that’s how I selected the tune for this slideshow. It’s a perfect complement.

Happy full month my love!

This year we welcomed the newest member into our little family. He’s healthy and lovely. His big brother continues to challenge us and enlighten us. As a father and a husband, I am very fortunate to have such a dynamic, vibrant clan. We’re also very lucky to have the unconditional support from our parents and siblings.

This year I took on a new job and the new position has been nothing but positive. I enjoy coming to work everyday and interacting with a nice group of people around me. Like it or not, work plays a big part of our lives; therefore, work can make us miserable or pleasurable. I am fortunate to have found the latter. Let’s hope it will be that way many years to come.

This year freelancing has been a very interesting. I had much more inquiries than previous years, but landed on less projects than before. The economy might have something to do with it. Clients shopped around for cheaper price than quality of work. Some prefer a pre-made WordPress theme over a customized theme that is tailored to their business. Some would rather pay for an existing template than a unique design for their brand. Even though I have done my research and offer fair prices, I couldn’t compete with lower bids, especially with HTML5 and responsive design as part of my standard offering. Since freelancing is only a side job and my time is very limited, thanks to the two boys, I didn’t worry about losing bids. I want to take on projects that are worth of my time and effort. So a few rewarding projects (big or small) are better than just taking on everything. I will be satisfied If I can get a few of those next year.

In our recent bedtime stories, our imaginative Dao puts his own spin on Stan and Jan Berenstain’s The Bears’ Vacation. He replaces the Bears’ family with his own and he reinterprets the illustrations with his own narration. It’s quite hilarious to hear him reads the story using his own account.

In the original story, Mother Bear tells Baby Bear, “Small Bear! Small Bear! Don’t go too far. I want to see you wherever you are.” Dao reads, “Mommy noi Dao dung di xa qua.”

In the story, Papa tells Baby Bear, “Here it is… rule number five. Watch what you touch. It may be alive.” Based on the illustration, Dao reads, “Turtle [bites] daddy’s butt.”

All I can say is that I get a kick out of these precious time.