Selene M. Bowlby: Biography
I am a web designer and front-end web developer
with ten years of professional experience in the
design industry.
Island Girl
Island life was great, with beautiful, white sandy beaches - where you can be neck deep in the water but still be able to look down and see your toes. Absolutely nothing compares to it! It is a very relaxed and easy-going environment - family and friends are very close-knit, and everyone knows (almost) everyone else.
I received a great primary education at one of the best private / college prep schools on St. Thomas. I attended the same school from Junior and Senior Kindergarten up through to Senior year of High School. This is a great example of the island being a close-knit community, in that I graduated from high school with some of the kids that I had known since I was four years old. Not many people have the opportunity to attend school together for fourteen years.
Higher Education
The island is of course small, though, with few options for higher education and not many job opportunities for a web / graphic designer, since the primary economy of the Virgin Islands is geared towards the tourism industry.
So, I attended college in Florida, going back home for Christmas and Summer vacations. I met my future husband while at school and we were engaged during my senior year of college. We were married just over a year later. We are still happily married, and now have a very opinionated sweetie-pie of a toddler running around underfoot.
Art & Design
Ever since I can remember, I've always held an interest for art and design, in some form or another. The earliest career goal I can remember was to be an art teacher. Kind of strange since I am a total introvert, but anything for the sake of art, I guess. Another early aspiration was to be a gardner for the aesthetic beauty of placing flowers and other plants. Other aspirations included fashion designer, interior designer, fine / studio artist and graphic designer (for print work).
Little did I know, but this early exposure to computers would lead to my current career passion - computer aided design... specifically web design.
In high school, I attended an after school and summer art program. The focus here was on the fine arts. I learned a lot of great studio art skills and techniques. My favorite being acrylic paints. I created quite a few art pieces during this time - a few of which were sold at the annual art show which was held at the end of each year.
As much as I enjoyed painting, I had at the time also just discovered the internet. This crazy, newfangled thing that began in 1994. I had even more fun creating my first web site and searching the world wide web on bulletin boards and playing text-only online games with my friends. Who knew that would lead to the internet that we know and love so much today!
Early Career
At that point, though, the internet was nothing more than a hobby for me. My career goal at that point was graphic design - computer aided design for print work... creating advertisements, corporate identity, posters, etc.
I majored in Graphic Design in college (graduating Magna Cum Laude). During my summer vacations back home, I interned at the Virgin Islands Daily News (originally a Gannett Publication, although it is now published independently). I learned a great deal in the Creative Services / Advertising department here.
it still doesn't quite prepare you for life in the real
working world.
While interning at the newspaper, I also produced graphic and web site designs for a couple other small companies on the island. This helped foster my interest in web design. Of course, all the while, I maintained my own personal web site (you are currently viewing the tenth design this site has taken on in the last fourteen years).
True Calling
To be truthful, I am actually self-taught in web design. The majority of my college courses concentrated on various aspects of print and graphic design (aside from the core curriculum classes like english and science, etc.). I jumped on the opportunity to take a web design class as soon as it became available, but it was such a new course, and I had been teaching myself web site design and development for so long, that I pretty much already knew everything that they taught in the class.
I'll never forget when we had to develop web sites for real clients in the class (free work done by the students for the experience of working with a client). When I was showing my site to the class, pointing out the javascript rollovers... the teacher was quite impressed and asked how I did that! I have to admit, that it felt pretty good to have been able to do something the teacher could not do at the time.
Of course in the real world you have to take a job that pays the bills, so initially half or more of the work that I did was print / graphic design work. It wasn't long before my job title changed from Graphic Designer to Web Designer / Developer, though. I'd say 97% of my full-time job is currently aimed at web design, and other internet related tasks. I am not fond of the outdated term of webmaster, but it does somewhat apply, as I perform all of the internet / administrative tasks involved with web design. I won't bore you with the details... that's what my resume is for ;)
Today
I officially moved to Florida right after graduating from college in 1999, where I took on a full-time job with a graphic and web design company that I had interned at during my last semester of college. Eight years later, I am still working for that same company.
for more than just a 9-5 job.
That is why I constantly maintain my own personal web site. It is also why I freelance as a web designer in my spare time. I started my own company, iDesign Studios, seven years ago to aid in this.
Although lack of time is always an issue, especially with a toddler, I am constantly reading up on the latest web design and development techniques. One of the reasons that I love web design so much is that it is an ever-evolving medium.
you learn a new technique - especially if it was a
struggle to get to that point.
About Selene M. Bowlby
By The Way...
My name is constantly butchered - I've heard every pronunciation imaginable, and it usually takes a few tries for people get it right.
So, just for the record... My name is pronounced Selanie M. Bowl-Bee.
Like Melanie with an S....
or Sel-a-Knee.
And yes, that's a Bowl and a Bee.
