About Me
David Keys
Freelance Digital Developer
Now
So now ... well I am loving motion graphics, but native mobile is where my heart is. I have my own self-funded Apps out there notably Creepy Ouija which has crazy user support. Don’t get me wrong building this site was heaps of fun and has made me rediscover HTML/JS/CSS/PHP. It's not that hard kids ;) I'm still learning and sharing my knowledge.
OMG I almost missed my greatest moment of 2015-2016, working on the HUD for Zombi, a port to PC/XBOX/PS4 from WiiU. I got to develop not only a Multilanguage interface but a multiplatform one. While i will take credit for a lot of the HUD success I can't ignore the great work of the high end devs, they babysat me through my baby steps into C++.
Not to long ago
I leave primary education and move into corporate where I created my first award winning E-Learing Product, Palya, later to be renamed as Buda Jitcha. It took education to indigenous people with their own faces and voices. The template I created went onto even greater success thanks to the work of Ashley Norris, Sam Hill, Brenden Lewis and Deach Desai. But my time was done before then as I moved onto freelance work. Firstly developing another two award winning courses then getting silent fame by creating kiosk installations for the Melbourne Museum (Dinosaur Walk touch screen Installation).
After that high point I expected to fade into world of the average, but was given more inspiration by yet another insightful person. From which came more awards.
The Past
A few years pass and I am enjoying my ignorant bliss, when my little brother shows me his new PC. More importantly a web page, it strikes me that it’s not a word doc like I remember the first HTML pages being. I pushed him aside and started coding/learning again. I decided I must have one of these "PCs". It is just a hobby I tell myself.
So still working and enjoying manual labour and especially the people I meet from so many cultures, I decide to go to University and learn more about what I have taught myself. It does not last long before a man I respect to this day "Micheal Pyor" hires me. I then work at Harcourt Education now Pearson Education for 5 years. The amazing thing about that time was the faith in new tech.
Ancient History
Yes I was one of those kids who was obsessed with the Atari 2600 and when the Tandy 500 came out I was in heaven. I know looking back that I should have been out playing sport and chasing girls, but BASIC was my love. So many hours spent learning code :). I then moved onto a commodore 64 when I should have known what a commodore car was. Ah discovering that code was about more than text was a golden time. But then comes along the internet, eh. Webpages are just word docs, I'm drawn towards IRC and quickly get snapped up channels (No not the seedy ones) to write custom scripts(reminds me of PHP). In those days there was no online money but ChanOps was of great value. Although you can only earn it so many times until you get bored. I don't know if Computer Science or Debating class taught me more, but I needed a break and headed off into the world of manual labour.
Update(04/04/2016): After writing this up I looked up intergrating IRC into a webpage and its been done ... yay. Now back to working on the real content of my site :)
What Client’s Say
David’s the kind of front end developer who you give your brilliant ideas and scripts too, and he gets it, develops it and makes it better. David takes a lot of pride in his work and the results speak for themselves. Work with him and you will see what I mean.
David has worked on various projects for The Learning Hook, such as higher-end full online course designs and builds, client communication pieces using visual storytelling, along with many rich media opening animations that we use in other online course. His understanding of briefs, ability to work with a wider team, wicked sense of humour and dedication to deadlines makes working with him a breeze. I really couldn’t recommend him more highly, I just hope his freelance work doesn’t get so busy he doesn’t have time for us!
David's professionalism, skills and commitment to his projects are outstanding! We were most fortunate in having David work for us on a complex, interactive app for Health Care professionals and patients, and he delivered an outstanding product that met all requirements of the spec, on-time and within budget. A true professional who will give the 'extra' required! I fully endorse his skills and services.
To be a volunteer at Matang, it is essential that one is able to work as part of a team, both with fellow volunteers and other employees at the centre. David showed himself to be a competent team player, and worked well with many different people. His enthusiasm was constant, regardless of the task set, and he had energy for all jobs, however hard they were.
Since his time at Matang, David has been a very useful, on-call, tech assistant for any issues that arise with our website in particular, or any other IT malfunctions we may have. David continues to fulfil this role for us, completely voluntarily, and provides very useful remote assistance to our endeavours.
We've worked with David on a number of occasions, particularly because he is incredibly fast, proactive and truly owns the project he manages. The best part, it comes back right, the first time, without any sacrifice for quality! He just gets it. We can't recommend his services enough.
David is a great addition to anyone’s team when you need a developer with hybrid skills. I admire his hunger for learning new skills and he is definitely not afraid of challenges.
He deals well with stressful situations and does not let his pokerface fall even in the toughest moments during production. Happy to recommend him and looking forward to working with him again in the future.
David has a wide skill set that can be difficult to find amongst developers. We’ve worked together for several years across a range of projects, but more recently through Rock Agency developing Mobile Applications for both iOS and Android platforms. His level of work is always at an industry leading standard. Couple that with a high level of professionalism and approachable manner and you have a freelancer that I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending.