Kara Anderson

Web Designer & Front-End Developer

Sites that satisfy both the left and right brain.

After forking off from marketing on a new career path in web design and development, I've had a lot of fun building awesome sites from well-thought-out designs. The best part? Getting to help clients bring new life to their businesses. Check them out below.

Professional Projects

Below are a collection of sites I've built (and some designed) from scratch, with customized WordPress themes and using Bootstrap framework.

Preview image of SBD Marketing Jobs site

Stanley Black & Decker GCX Careers Site

Front-End Development

Custom landing page featuring jobs within Stanley Black & Decker's Global Customer Experience team built using a customized WordPress theme, Pods framework and YouTube API.

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Preview image of Dry Angler Apparel site

Dry Angler Apparel eCommerce Site

Front-End Development

Custom eCommerce site for online retailer built using WooCommerce and Pods framework.

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Husqvarna Carolinas Landing Page

Front-End Development

Custom landing page for leading outdoor power equipment company built using Google Maps API, Backbone.js and Pods framework.

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Mid-States Construction Site

Front-End Development

Custom site for construction company featuring a project portfolio built using a customized WordPress theme.

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Law Offices of Young & Nichols Site

Front-End Development

Custom site for personal injury law firm built using a customized WordPress theme.

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Seattle U Stories Landing Page

Front-End Development

Custom landing page/blog for Seattle University's Stories campaign featuring custom video player module built using Pods framework and Backbone.js.

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Hegg Memorial Health Center Site

Front-End Development

Custom site for non-profit health center built using a customized WordPress theme.

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Preview image of Williams Golf & Country Club site

Williams Golf & Country Club Events Site

Design & Development

Template site for golf and country club built using WordPress Divi theme.

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Kercher's Orchards Site

Front-End Development

Template site for orchard and farm market built using WordPress Divi theme.

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Personal/Academic Projects

Some of my earlier projects built as part of my Udacity Nanodegree and just for fun.

JS + CSS Clock

Design & Development

A basic yet snazzy analog clock created as part of Wes Bos' Javascript 30 Challenge.

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Interactive Neighborhood Map

Design & Development

An interactive map of popular locations in my neighborhood built using Knockout.js and Google Maps and Foursquare APIs.

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Neighborhoods of Baltimore

Design & Development

A responsive page built from scratch featuring six Baltimore neighborhoods. Transitions were created with JavaScript and CSS.

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Résumé

PROFILE

Motivated front-end web developer and designer with a background in marketing. I love designing and building awesome sites that bring new life to clients' businesses.

ABOUT

Name: Kara Anderson
Location: Baltimore, Maryland

CONNECT

Email: karashirl@gmail.com

EXPERIENCE

Front-End Web Developer at Stanley Black & Decker (Baltimore, MD)

September 2017–Present

Provide front-end development support for 12+ iconic brands on Stanley Black & Decker's Global Customer Experience team
Build fully-responsive landing pages and custom-coded modules for Sitecore and WordPress sites
Work closely with design/UX team to ensure designs translate well and create a great user experience
Develop branded email templates that follow best practices and are optimized across all email clients
Practice company coding best practices and workflow/organization standards

Web Designer & Front-End Developer at Compulse Integrated Marketing (Baltimore, MD)

July 2016–September 2017

Lead front-end development of custom WordPress sites and landing pages using HTML, Bootstrap framework, Sass/CSS, jQuery, JavaScript, PHP, third-party APIs, Git and Gulp
Communicate with design team and client throughout process to ensure great user experience is developed and client needs are met
Configure and customize plugins to add eCommerce, event registration and other functionality to sites
Work with development team to seamlessly integrate back-end
Integrate content into CMS to allow for updates to be made easily by clients

Interactive Marketing Specialist at United Way of Central Maryland (Baltimore, MD)

August 2012–June 2016

Oversaw organization’s web marketing strategy by creating engaging content that drives users to action
Created and managed all content for WordPress site (uwcm.org), reported on traffic and analyze trends using Google Analytics
Assisted with site updates and debugging
Served as project manager for all web marketing projects, ensuring efficiency and consistently meeting tight deadlines

Marketing Consultant & Project Manager at MOS Creative (Columbia, MD)

April 2012–August 2012

Researched, developed and helped execute creative online marketing initiatives to help clients connect more effectively with their target market and generate more leads
Conducted thorough competitive and market analyses to understand the state of clients’ industries, analyzing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
Developed content to engage and convert leads to customers, leveraging social media, blogging, targeted email campaigns and search engine marketing
Developed and nurtured strong client relationships with open communication, constantly exchanging ideas and encouraging feedback

Instructor of English as a Second Language (Jundiaí, São Paulo, Brazil)

January 2011–March 2012

Managed classroom and in-company lessons for more than 15 groups of foreign language students
Created personal brand identity and carried out marketing activities to attract both individual students and large companies as customers
Gained experience targeting a foreign audience with different purchasing behavior and attitudes
Developed and maintained strong relationships with students by communicating effectively, anticipating customer wants and needs, and offering periodic promotions and incentives

Marketing Project Manager & Graphic Designer at ECI-Find New Markets (Columbia, SC)

September 2007–September 2010

Managed development of comprehensive branding and communications strategies for over 20 domestic and international companies while advancing internal goals of marketing company
Boosted client brand awareness and exposure by planning and implementing marketing, advertising, public relations and social media campaigns, working within tight budget constraints
Encouraged learning and development in the community by conducting social media and general marketing training sessions for local businesses

EDUCATION

Udacity (April 2016–August 2016)

Nanodegree, Front-End Web Development

Online nanodegree program built by industry leaders, including Google, AT&T and GitHub
Complete a variety of projects focused on building mobile-first responsive websites from scratch
Advance knowledge of and experience with HTML, custom CSS, JavaScript and Bootstrap framework

University of South Carolina (August 2005–August 2010)

Bachelor of Science, Business Administration (Major: Marketing)
Bachelor of Arts, Journalism & Mass Communications (Major: Advertising)
GPA: 3.9

University of Hawaii at Manoa (August 2008–December 2008)

National Student Exchange Program

TECHNICAL EXPERTISE

Professional Skillset

HTML
CSS
Sass
JavaScript
jQuery
WordPress
Bootstrap
JSON
Git

Working Knowledge

PHP
Gulp
Backbone.js
Google Maps API

Tools

Adobe Creative Cloud
Sublime Text
Bitbucket
Google Adwords & Analytics
Microsoft Office
Slack

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA) of Baltimore City (January 2015–Present)

Serve as an advocate to represent the best interests of abused and neglected children in Baltimore City

United Way of Central Maryland (August 2012–Present)

Volunteer at local food banks, farms and schools, and annual Project Homeless Connect event