Masuga Design, LLC

I recently completed a series of Flash ads for Great Lakes Scrip Center.

I recently updated and rebuilt casperelectronics.com using WordPress, and added an AJAX-driven photo gallery. For the Flash mp3 “casperplayer” I put together a script that searches for a directory with the same name as the piece you are on, and then scans that directory for mp3 files, parses the tags of each file found, and dynamically constructs an XML file that the Flash file reads. What did Pete think of all the updates? “Freekin awesome!!! totally amazing! It looks great. It’s super easy! You rock dude!!!!” View this project in my portfolio »

I’ve added a new section to my portfolio called “Other Work” that contains some information about sites I’ve had a hand in creating in the past. This section is a collection of small summaries describing how I contributed to each project. There are some decent sites in there including work for PRStore and Nature’s Earth. You can view my “Other Work” section here.

A short while ago John Mills (of CSS Remix) asked if I’d answer a few questions about web design and related things. I was more than happy to do so (not to mention flattered). I think the CSS Remix interview category is about 3 designers old right now, and I’m the third one – right behind Veerle Pieters and James Mathias for crying out loud. I think it’s safe to say I’m the first relative “unknown” on the list, as far as web design goes. Thanks for giving me some exposure, John! With that, head over there this minute and …More »

Before going solo, I worked for a web design company in Grand Rapids that puts out a (primarily interactive) promotional piece every year. The piece I worked on while I was there was an interactive game (sort of like Myst) that incorporated numerous areas and hundreds of images from downtown Grand Rapids. All the hours spent in Photoshop on this project paid off. It won a Gold ADDY award and was a Judge’s Choice pick, but best of all it was featured in a book titled “Innovative Promotions That Work“ published by Rockport Publishers in April of 2006. And there’s …More »

I took a canoe trip this weekend, and forgot to take my cell phone out of my pocket before heading out on the river. We didn’t plan on tipping over, but who does expect to do that? At any rate, the dunk in the river turned my cell phone into a small aquarium. I’m heading out to get a new phone today. If you’re trying to reach me, I aplogize for the inconvenience. I should have a new phone and be up and running again later this afternoon. UPDATE: I got a new phone. It’s the RAZR V3m which has …More »

Masuga Design has been listed in a recent design set entitled Super Clean – Part 2 over at Design Melt Down. Referring to this set of sites, they write: “This set of sites is not for the faint hearted, clicking through my result in vast discouragement as you realize some people really bring some serious game to the table. This set does nothing but inspire me to focus and work harder.”

After a long weekend up north, followed by an East Coast road trip that took me through Ontario, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, I’m back in Grand Rapids and ready to get back to work. I guess you could say that by taking my iBook to make sure I had access to email, visiting a few of my East Coast clients (like casperelectronics and Bully Dog Bikes), and answering the phone a few times, that I never really stopped working. To some people, staying so connected while on vacation might be anathema, but when you really love what …More »

Many thanks to the teams at CSSRemix and CSSMania for calling attention to my new Masuga Design site! You can see the archived pages for Masuga Design at: CSSRemix and CSSMania. Thanks so much for posting my site. My Mint stats are going ballistic, and it’s nice to see that my design and layout is getting some decent votes on both sites. UPDATE: Looks like this site is making the rounds of the CSS-inspiration sites. I was just looking at my Mint stats and noticed that the unique count for today was into four digits. All the latest hits are …More »

Lately this site has been having connection problems, as the server it is on is slightly overloaded (as I’ve been told by the web host). This doesn’t only affect this site, but all of my client development sites, as well as a few live client sites. I want to apologize for any delays or disruptions in service that you might have experienced lately, and I want you to know that I’m on the problem. There will be some server changes made by this weekend. These changes should improve connections, eliminate timeouts, improve overall speed, and fix email issues. Thanks for …More »