About Louie
I’m a Chicago‑based front‑end developer most recently at DePaul University, bringing over a decade of front‑end experience. My background blends visual design (Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator) with solid front‑end fundamentals (HTML, SCSS, JavaScript, Git) and newer full‑stack capabilities gained through intensive training in React, Node, Express, and PostgreSQL.
My work balances aesthetics, usability, and performance. At DePaul I advocated for accessibility and helped evaluate tools to surface SEO, performance, and accessibility metrics, moving our site toward more inclusive and higher‑performing experiences. In a recent team project, I helped implement authentication, authorization, and a RESTful API backed by PostgreSQL, demonstrating my ability to deliver vertical slices that span through complex data layers. In my previous career, I contributed front‑end work for Ogilvy & Mather, which added exposure to my experience in agency environments.
I’m seeking roles where I can own end‑to‑end features—designing interfaces, building the front end, and connecting back‑end services—while continuing to improve inclusivity/accessibility across products. When I’m not building websites I make cat parents happy by building custom window patios for cats (catios) it's where I practice my patience, precision, and love of making things.
Skills
I'm constantly learning, improving, and growing as a developer, designer, and as a person in general. It's impossible to know everything in tech because the industry, like the universe, is constantly expanding but here is my best guess of where I'm at.
Resumé
Assistant Developer + Production (Freelance)
2021
Ravinia Music Festival, Highland Park, IL
- Updated general pages and website content.
- Assisted in weekly blog postings and building newsletters.
- Created social media image assets, announcement emails, ticket pages for performances.
FRONT END DEVELOPER + Digital Media Production
2015 - Present
Ogilvy, Chicago, IL
- Works closely with designers to ensure products are built according to agency standards that results in beating seemingly impossible deadlines.
- Formulates efficient solutions for a variety of challenges in large volumes.
- Performs QA of all graphic materials in order to ensure quality and accuracy of the design.
- Leads skill share sessions and coaches teammates to update group skillsets.
Freelance Designer + Developer
2014 - 2015
Quill.com a division of Staples, Lincolnshire, IL
- As a developer, wrote HTML landing pages and also managed WordPress posts.
- As a designer, collaborated with the email marketing team to redesign email assets and introduced responsive email templates to the team.
- Managed WordPress postings and designed social media graphics.
Lead Designer + Developer
2010 - 2014
Media Made Great, Chicago, IL
- Lead in the design, development, and implementation of the graphic, layout, and production communication materials.
- Developed a collection of marketing (logos, style guides) and web assets (banner ads, promotional emails, websites, wireframes, storyboards).
- Managed up to 5 projects or tasks at a given time while under pressure.
- Consulted with clients and managers on the most appropriate technologies for each project.
Blog
Mixin it up
I recently took on a skills assessment test for a job that required building out pages using bootstrap and sass. The challenge was deceivingly simple but, like any project, it didn’t take long for the stylesheet to get crowded and harder to manage. As I always say, writing code is like solving a puzzle that […]
Continue...Preconnect
When referencing resource links on your website, there’s a new keyword you can add to force your page to load that first before anything else. This helps your code from briefly loading incorrectly or not loading in important parts altogether, it’s called preconnect and it fixes those issues known as render blocking. It basically lets […]
Continue...Having too much fun with WordPress
Years ago, I started to use WordPress because everyone else says to use it. There was no other reason for me to jump on the band wagon. I didn’t know what I was getting into. You probably can’t tell my age (ahem), but I have been creating websites since the days of Geocities, that’s the […]
Continue...Semantic HTML
Hopefully, you found this post because you like making websites and are excited to make them and you always try to do the best you can when building. Even when no one can see it, you’re the type of person who wants to make sure everything works correctly under the hood. That’s great, it’s called […]
Continue...The first 3 WordPress plugins I install when building
If you’ve ever worked with wordpress, you know there’s a whole world of plugins within the platform. There are tons of plugins available to help customize your blog or site with but there are some that as a developer, can level up your build. Here are some of the ones I love to use: Advanced […]
Continue...Let's work together
Say hi, send me a quick message, or tell me about your project!