Benjamin Knight

Seoul, South Korea

Member since November 13, 2014

Benjamin is a web designer and developer with experience across the web stack beginning in his early teens before web standards. He codes with an eye towards providing a quality user experience and interaction, and enjoys making creative decisions. He loves Python and JavaScript (the good parts) and has worked in a variety of environments, from a large engineering team to a smaller startup and independent freelance work.

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Portfolio

Thumbtack (via Toptal)
React.js, Babel, Redux, React-Router, Create React App, Visualforce, Apex
Homely (via Toptal)
React.js, Babel, Reflux.js, Sass, Gulp
Yelp
Python, jQuery, Closure Library

Experience

JavaScript, 10 years
Python, 5 years
EcmaScript 2015 (ES6), 2 years
Node.js, 2 years
React.js, 2 years

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

OS X, Unix, Git, SASS, Atom

The most amazing...

...and notable brand identity I've had a hand in is Yelp, spearheading the design of their public style guide and precipitating a company-wide change in approach.

Employment

Front-end Developer
Thumbtack (via Toptal)
2016 - PRESENT
- Built a help center from the ground up using Create React App.
- Built a Salesforce integration layer using Salesforce's Force.com platform.
Technologies: React.js, Babel, Redux, React-Router, Create React App, Visualforce, Apex
Front-end Developer
Homely (via Toptal)
2015 - 2016
- Built front-end using React-based component architecture.
- Implemented a design for product features.
- Created mobile-first, responsive interfaces.
- Utilized advanced ECMAScript 6 and 7 language features for more expressive, flexible code.
- Effectively worked with a remote team in a distant time zone.
Technologies: React.js, Babel, Reflux.js, Sass, Gulp
Front-end Software Engineer
Yelp
2012 - 2014
- Worked closely with the product team to build new features for the desktop and mobile site.
- Had a lead role on the small team that produced Yelp's first UI style guide, and then made it available to the public. The style guide precipitated an organization-wide push towards modular design.
- Completely rebuilt Yelp's most important page--the business page--from scratch, using advanced CSS features for layout and interaction.
- Led the development of a complete overhaul of all email templates, including Yelp Weekly, which is sent to millions of users per week.
- Gained unique experience working on a large-scale software project with hundreds of contributors. Learned extensively about release engineering, including testing and deployment, as well as common web security vulnerabilities.
Technologies: Python, jQuery, Closure Library
UI Designer/Web Developer
Couchsurfing
2011 - 2012
- Designed multiple experiments focused on optimizing user onboarding, using Optimizely's A/B testing platform.
- Had a fluid role within a startup environment, ranging from coding to graphic design and product management.
- Used Scrum.
- Redesigned the website's main navigation.
- Overcame challenges involved in modernizing the front-end of a 7-year-old codebase.
Technologies: PHP, jQuery
Web Developer
Perch Design Studio
2009 - 2011
- Turned beautiful Photoshop designs into WordPress sites.
- Built some Shopify sites.
- Learned how to use WordPress as a framework for general application development, not just for blogging and static content.
- Built mobile sites using both custom mobile stylesheets as well as media queries when they were still a new technology.
- Got to work with many local businesses in and around my home town of Portland, Maine.
Technologies: WordPress, PHP, jQuery

Experience

Thumbtack Help Center (Development)
https://help.thumbtack.com
Built Thumbtack's help center using React and Redux on top of a Salesforce back-end.
Homely Agent Profile Page (Development)
https://www.homely.com.au/agent/frankcolacicco
My keystone project while working with Homely was building their agent profile page.
DemocraticAds.com (Development)
http://www.democraticads.com
I designed and coded the landing page as well as redesigned the app.
Yelp Styleguide (Development)
http://yelp.com/styleguide
I had a lead role on the small design team that created Yelp’s public styleguide. The styleguide precipitated an organization-wide effort towards modular design across all platforms.
Namecheap Blog (Development)
https://blog.namecheap.com
Namecheap's WordPress blog, launched in January 2015. I designed and coded it.
Namecheap Mobile Promo (Development)
https://mobile.namecheap.com
I built this simple Twilio integration app for getting an app store download link through SMS. My role was co-designer and lead developer. The back-end was built in custom PHP. The responsive front-end is built using the Inuit.css Sass framework.
Philips Hue Alfred Workflow (Development)
https://github.com/benknight/hue-alfred-workflow
I created this handy dandy workflow for controlling a Philips Hue lighting system, built in my favorite scripting language, Python.

Skills

Languages
HTML5, JavaScript, EcmaScript 2015 (ES6), CSS, Python, PHP, Apex
Libraries/APIs
React.js, Google Maps JavaScript API 3, Google Places API, jQuery, Node.js, D3.js, Polymer
Paradigms
Responsive Web Design (RWD)
Platforms
Web, WordPress, Shopify, Unix, Google App Engine, Salesforce
Misc
HTML Email, Styleguides, Rendering Performance, BEM Architecture, SA, Squarespace, Chrome Extensions
Frameworks
inuit.css, Bootstrap, Foundation CSS, AngularJS, Visualforce, Django

Education

Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and Computer Science
Colby College - Waterville, Maine
2005 - 2009

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