Kalisti Design is a web-design and development firm owned and operated by myself (Brendan McGuigan) and occasionally employing outside help for special projects.
I'm 22 years old, and have been building websites professionally for over five years. I began using the Internet over 10 years ago, when it was still primarily the domain of government employees and privileged students, and have been enamored with it ever since. I am based in Northern California, in the small town of Mendocino, which I love dearly. As a result of my remote location, I most often work with clients via email. This has never proven to be a problem. In addition to web design, I also write fiction extensively—I have completed two novels, which I view as warm-ups, and am currently working on a third, for which I will pursue publication. I am a vegan and a social anarchist. I have a deep and abiding love for all life.
I am highly competent in html and css. I am versed in JavaScript, php and the use of mySQL databases. I also have ties with a number of highly trained programmers whom I employ for programming jobs beyond my technical capacity. I keep up on the trends and movements within the search engine world, and am skilled in the placement of online advertising. I practice copywriting and am adept at copy-editing. I am highly skilled with Photoshop and a passable amateur photographer. I enjoy challenges and learning new skills, both computer related and otherwise. I have been told I am easy and fun to work with, and have extensive experience teaching computer related topics to people of all skill levels.
I believe deeply in the value of the internet as a tool for both commerce and information distribution, as well as personal communication. To facilitate this, I am a firm supporter of web standards and movements towards browser compliance and a greater awareness on the part of web developers. In general I feel that web designers have contributed greatly to the inaccessibility of the internet through their failure to comply with universal standards, and I try to keep my work at the highest level of quality while remaining entirely standards compliant. You can read more about this in our design philosophy.