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Allow me to introduce myself - I am Nic, otherwise known to my parental units, certain governments and past ladies of good public repute as Nicholas Hoferichter. Alternative callsigns may be discovered during times of intense passion, jovial spirits or when captured by the resistance...
I am an old soul in a dashingly-suited exterior, keen on world domination, daft travel plans and boundless adventures.
According to my manufacturer's tag I was produced in South Africa, am aged 29 and should be washed in warm water by hand and not tumble-dryed.
Past travel and work experiences include Summer Camp work in North America (Pennsylvania and New Jersey), casual labour in much of England and Scotland and travel across vast expanses of Europe and a good deal of southern Africa. Apart from that I've been to, and have worked at, many wonderful places in my head...it's pretty vast up there, so I've covered a lot of terrain.
I am dandy with a computer, pretty peachy with my writing and can organize a lot of stuff, usually with ease. World Peace is still on my 'To Do' list though...
I'm not phased by much and am game for pretty much anything. Alcohol, Mind-altering substances and poppy 'hits' are a hard ask though.
My CV is available for download in PDF format below, along with examples of my writing and just for good measure, a dandy photo of my mug.
I'm a pretty handy chap, and would like to add picture framing to my CV. I'll need this skill if I get to put your organization on top of my CV. ;)
This page is an example of my accessible web design abilities and is comprised of valid W3C XHTML 1.0 Strict & CSS code . It is multi-browser & resolution compatible, scalable and degrades gracefully. See if you can guess where images have and haven't been used - you might be surprised.
For those of you with disability-induced browsing aids, this page is also Section 508 and WAI-AAA compliant.
Dedication, pedantism, adventure and a perfectionism are words whose definitions I lead with. Wit, opinion, intelligence and lateral thinking are terms I am proud to say I am often credited with.
Whether in a team or on my own, I am able to exceed the contribution you seek within your organisation.
I enjoy restoring and eventing vintage cars, antiques and mountain biking as my hobbies, have a strong interest in pychedelic rock and early Jazz & Swing music and partake in adventure travel whenever possible.
I am originally from Cape Town but grew up in the concrete jungle of Johannesburg. This is where I am currently based. I am open to relocation though.
I have my Matric, with university exemption, and did a small IT web-related course many years ago. For the most part my skills have been gained and honed on-the-job and through business mentorship though.
My travels have taken me across much of Europe, the UK and the USA. International living and work experience has opened my eyes to the world, to travel and to global business practices and customs.
Thanks for your time.
Like many of my generation who grew up buggering around on an old PC at home, something clicked and I caught on to the coming IT wave.
Over the course of my career I've had exposure to a multitude of hardware and software setups. Mostly Windows-based in reference to the former point.
Web technologies reared their head and I grabbed the reins - web design, web hosting and domain setups, email & IM, P2P, etc.
A short but intense stint in IT security got me involved with both hardware security and the likes of encryption and Linux GUI-based firewalling.
Proprietary and open languages have been an evolving mainstay over the course of my career. I've worked with languages from as far afield as PressTalk, HTML and its variants, PHP and mIRC.
If I don't know, I'll learn it.
Variable Data Printing, or "VDP" and "TransPromo" (Transactional Promotional) are the new buzzwords in the print industry. In essence, it's about targeting your customer with new extremes. Taking Direct Marketing to a whole new level by analysing the existing information you have on your customers and then using it to drive truly unique marketing to them via existing transactional documents.
Planet Press is a VDP package from the Netherlands, and it's with this product that I learnt the ins and outs of VDP-based programming.
My initial contact was in early 2009 via a week-long course instructed by OL lecturers from Holland. Since then I've been able to enhance my skills through the regular and advancing complexity requirements of live and in-house jobs.
GMC is a major player in the European market and PrintNet T/Inspire (v. 8+), its idea of a VDP application, dwarfs Planet Press in scale and ability. I have my Level 1 Certification for the product, with a pass rating of "Excellent".
I've lightly sampled various other related products along the way too, chief amongst which was Printsoft's Pres GUI Designer. This has given me good insight into the VDP software spectrum.
Do you have a "VDP guy"?
Freelance writing and copy editing are a strong interest of mine.
I am the Tech' writer for Entrepeneur SA magazine - a premium business magazine in South Africa with international ties.
My freelance writing work has involved subjects as varied as adventure travel, motoring interests and corporate blurb.
I have written on request for Torque Magazine, the Porsche Club of South Africa's club mag' and various blogs.
Copy editing experience includes both financial reports and corporate documentation.
My writing has gotten me to the finals of the South African Guild of Motoring Journalist's annual bursary.
Witty, serious, informative or corporate - what are your needs?
In reverse chronological order, here are the major players in my employment history...
The primary roles are listed in red.
Time gaps in the above were occupied with a variety of extended international travel and work experience opportunities, and local temp' & self-employment.
How can I help you?
I have been involved in some way or another with web design since '98.
In this time my skills have been honed and continue to improve on a constant basis.
I now code to W3C CSS & XHTML 1.0 (or 1.1) standards and where possible (and requested) to WAI-AAA & 508 accessibility standards.
I have dabbled, and continue to do so, in the world of PHP, Javascript and the Linux web host manipulation files .htaccess & .htpasswd
A complete web solution is compiled of many technologies, all of which need to work to their optimum in order to produce the best possible result. Do the terms robots.txt, meta tags, accessibility, compliance, graceful degradation, .htaccess, web content, CSS and XHTML mean nothing to you? Most likely. Few people know them. Even amongst the world of "designers" will you struggle to find those who know all of them - and then fewer yet who know how to put them all to work.
There is a huge difference between Joe at the corner store with his 1,000-buck boxed website and a genuinely successful 'site.
A well-run well-built website requires a team of experts.
Do you have an expert?
My three latest works are available for sampling in the tabs to the right.
Exquisite Interiors is a Jo'burg-based interior design agency.
The brief was to design an online catalogue of the agency's abilities and to make it an ally of the existing design theme.
The 'site utilizes browser-specific code seperation and an email obfuscation script modified for XHTML compatibility.
Created to promote the availability of classic vehicles for hire, this 'site was designed with a minimalistic approach.
It utilizes floating spans to show content, triggered by the hover function.
Whilst no longer available due to corporate ownership, three screenshots of the former Biodata website are available for perusal.
A matched HTML newsletter was part and parcel of the Biodata website and was dispatched to customers a number of times per month.
The Biodata 'site reduced the overall size and loading time of its previous incarnation to a fraction.
It used CSS overlays and PHP templates for maximum efficiency and style manipulation at a time when Biodata's competitors were lagging behind with antiquated and deprecated HTML 'sites.
The brief was for the 'site to resemble its competitors' 'sites at the time, and to present a professional 'large corporate' image to the public.