minusfive logoStylized letter V (roman numeral 5) with minus sign on top, forming a triangle

Hey,
I’m Jorge Villalobos,
Web Designer / Developer

Front-end, Mostly

I’ve been desiging and developing web applications for about 16 years. Started teaching myself to code in the mid ’90s, been doing it professionally since the early aughts.

Over the years I’ve been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to work with some lovely people, on some great teams (mostly the 3 above), on projects for organizations of all sizes.

Projects

  tap logos

Jorge was a frequent subcontractor for my previous consulting company. He was the first person that came to mind whenever we needed outside help. In addition to being a talented front-end engineer, Jorge was a pleasure to work with because he was so reliable. He is excellent at communicating his progress and proactively getting feedback and guiding course corrections when needed. Hiring him was always an easy decision. I would recommend him without reservation!

— Cory Forsyth, Co-Founder, 201 Created

Some developers master their craft by diving deep into a particular language. Others by scrambling to keep abreast of a perpetually expanding field. Jorge does it by exposing himself to ideas you don’t get from a black screen. Architecture, astronomy, a passion for design principles make him an interesting, relatable, and creative digital problem solver. Hire him if you need clear thinking made interactive.

— Barry A. Martin, CEO, Strategy + Design Lead at Hypenotic

Jorge was a delight to work with. His work came quickly and professionally, and we wouldn’t hesitate to work with him again in the future! He’d be a valuable member of any team.

— Roby Ward, Co-Founder, Discourse

It was a pleasure working with [him] and I was very impressed with the insightful nature of [his] input in developing an outstanding e-commerce solution, design and architecture for FINsix. [He has] a great blend of skills coupled with great client communication and management, which is unique among other providers offering similar services. …I certainly know who I will contact in the future when I need to develop a site or strategize on ecommerce or architecture/stack issues with regards to web.

— Mark Wentley, Marketing Director, FINsix

What I Use

  • Ember.js (since it was called Sproutcore.) Been learning some React, Vue and Angular, too, but I’m not proficient w/those yet.
  • JavaScript itself (since Netscape.)
  • Ruby [+ Rails] (since when it was still “cool”.)
  • Sass (since Hampton invented it at Unspace.) Though lately I’m using pure CSS more, with some PostCSS magic.
  • Git (since I recovered from SVN / CVS.)
  • Various hosting providers and CDNs, services and APIs for serverless apps like AWS, Heroku, Firebase, Netlify, Contentful, etc.
  • Various Continuous Integration tools.

And a bunch of other stuff I’m forgetting, DBs, server config and such; but, though I may know how to do some of these things, they’re not my bread and butter and you don't want that list, do you?. I also worked with WordPress for several years, many years ago, like basically every coder my age.

A while back I transitioned to designing directly in code. It may not always feel as efficient initially (though it often can be, with the right tools/scope), but I find it helps me get more direct feedback on ideas, and course correct earlier in the process based on browser limitations, performance and such.

About This Site

This site is a perpetually unfinished, bug-infested playground where I experiment with stuff I’m interested in at the moment, most recently:

And a love letter to the design of Pelican/Penguin book covers from the mid-20th century.